The gorge has a botanical park that you pay to get into. It is very disappointing with hardly any botanical flowers and few botanical plants and lots of areas that are not looked after. You pay 9 euros to walk round and then you can use the lift to go down to the gorge. The gorge is spoilt by over use of signage and fencing and has lost its natural look. The whole park is very commercial and ruins the gorge which is worth a visit.

We arrived quite late in the day so could only get the "basic" ticket and view the main gorge from the little beach. Absolutely stunning and next time I will make sure we make a day of it as there are several hiking trails and a reasonably priced café. There is also allegedly a free entrance but this is not recommended in winter - we were told it was "a miracle" they were even open as the river usually floods in January - keep an eye on the weather forecast and the morning skies if you are planning a visit.

The gorge is about a half hour drive inland from Taormina and is well worth a visit. There is a small car park across from the gorge and a ticket must be purchased from a kiosk just up the hill. You can buy a combined ticket for the gorge and the botanical park or either separately. From the botanical park there are several lookout points down into the gorge below. There are steep steps down to the bottom of the gorge or a lift if you pay extra. You can walk through the gorge until the first set of rapids and the rock formations are really interesting - further access is only allowed with water activity staff and you must be in wetsuits and helmets. There are lots of activities available if you enjoy water sports but it would be best to pre-book. It's a beautiful site and very interesting. Lots of people sunbathing by the river and I imagine it would be very busy in high season. Access to the river and gorge is only in the summer months so do check if it is open if going earlier or later. A small café serving drinks and snacks at river level and a restaurant and shop at road level.

This was an add on to our tour of Mt. Aetna. We drove south for almost an hour to visit for maybe 45 minutes before driving another hour back to Catania. The water was fairly low so we were able to walk up into the canyon in water knee high. I went barefoot, which is OK, but better with river shoes since it is rocky. Great on a hot day. Popular and deservedly so.

Insanely fun and great offline experience with my teen son! Highlight of our trip! There was a wide age range. Young sporty guys, adventurous families and couples. Everyone loved the experience.