Mount Vesuvius from Naples

In 79 AD, a huge eruption of the volcano Vesuvius buried two of Italy's most famous cities: Pompeii and Herculaneum. Although its last eruption was in 1944, this volcano is still active and is one of the best excursions from Naples.

If you are planning what to see and do in Naples, visiting Vesuvius will allow you to enjoy incomparable views of the entire Amalfi Coast from the top of its 1200-metre peak and the entire beautiful bay of Naples. Read on if you want to know all about the options you have not to miss this wonderful visit.

With a stop in Pompeii

Pompeii and Vesuvius Day Trip from Naples

Forget about planning how to get to Vesuvius and book the most complete tour.

With this tour of Vesuvius and Pompeii you can choose your pick-up point in Naples and you will have transport, guide, entrance fees and even lunch included.

From £98 at Hellotickets

Visit Mount Vesuvius with no logistical worries. Join the excursion to Pompeii and Vesuvius from Naples where you will visit both the National Park of the volcano and the archaeological site of Pompeii, thanks to the tickets included in the activity. You will also be provided with transfers from the city of Naples and you can choose when booking if you prefer to be picked up at the hotel, the port or the train station.

On the other hand, in this 7-hour excursion you will have an expert guide at your disposal who will tell you the details of the eruption of the volcano and the life of the citizens of Pompeii. It also includes pizza and drinks to make the experience even more complete.

Recommended if... You want to get to know Pompeii and the volcano that buried it thousands of years ago on a guided tour that will save you headaches in planning.

With stop at Herculaneum

Herculaneum and Vesuvius Day Trip from Naples

Visit another of the cities buried after the eruption of Vesuvius.

Tour the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum and the Vesuvius National Park with this excursion including transport from Naples.

From £86 at Hellotickets

Among the organised excursions to Vesuvius, another very popular one is the one that stops at Herculaneum, a city that was also overwhelmed in 79 A.D. by the virulence of the volcano. This place also has an Archaeological Park where you can visit thermal baths, slave houses and even an inn that strangely survived the ashes of Vesuvius.

With this excursion to Herculaneum and Vesuvius from Naples you'll have the entrance fees included to all the archaeological sites you'll visit, as well as bus transfers. However, there is no guide as in the previous excursion.

Recommended if... You want to discover the city of Herculaneum at your own pace and climb Vesuvius without having to organise your own transport or find your own tickets.

The most convenient way to get from Naples to Vesuvius is to hire a guided tour. Organising transport when you are on holiday in a new country can sometimes be a bit tricky.

But a guided tour includes transport by air-conditioned bus to the entrance of the Vesuvius National Park. This is something to bear in mind when deciding what to do in Naples in summer as the temperatures are usually quite high.

The maximum group size is 18 to 25 people, and you will be accompanied by a professional English-speaking guide. The price of the tour starts from €74 and includes entrance to the National Park.

The advantage of this type of 4-hour tour is that, if you are cruising along the coast of Naples, you can choose the option of being picked up from the Port of Naples and make the most of your stay.

On the other hand, if you have more time, you can combine your visit with an excursion to the ancient Roman city and archaeological site of Pompeii, another of the things to see near Naples.

Many tourists usually visit these two attractions on the same day due to the proximity of the two sites. You'll also have transport and guide service included, and all entrance fees are included in the tour price, which starts from €88.

Details of interest

• Price: from €74
• Duration: 4 hours
• Advantages of this option: the comfort and the professional guide.
• Disadvantages of this option: it is not the cheapest option for this excursion.

If you are travelling by car in Naples you can easily reach Mount Vesuvius. To do so, take the A3 highway to the Torre del Greco or Herculaneum exit.

The toll is €2 and in just under an hour, you'll be at your destination. The Vesuvius National Park car park costs €6 and is located one kilometre from the crater.

There is a visitors' centre in the car park where you can buy a ticket for €10 per person.

If you don't have your own car, a rental car is a common plan for tourists who want to visit Mount Vesuvius from Naples. Car rentals are around €70 per day, but keep in mind that petrol and tolls are added to this price.

Travelling by car gives you flexibility in time and itinerary, and if there are several of you, it can even be more economical. Another advantage is that you can book directly online and pick up the car either in the city centre or at the airport.

Interesting details

• Price: from 70€.
• Duration: 45 minutes each way
• Advantages of this option: the flexibility of the itinerary.
• Disadvantages of this option: you have to adapt to the way of driving in this part of Italy, which is notorious for being chaotic and messy.

Getting to Vesuvius National Park by bus is very easy. From the end of Piazza Piedigrotta, you can take the EAV Naples-Vesuvius bus.

This service runs directly from the square to the Gran Cono trail, at an altitude of 1000 metres. The line runs every day except January and February.

I recommend you check the timetables on the official website. The journey costs €10 per leg and takes around 50 minutes.

Useful details

• Price: from €10
• Duration: 50 minutes
• Advantages of this option: comfort and price.
• Disadvantages of this option: you have fixed timetables for the daily services, but they are often not respected.

Another convenient way to get to Vesuvius National Park is to take the train from Naples. The line called Circumvesuviana runs from the famous Piazza Garibaldi station, the Central Station.

To get to Garibaldi station where you can catch the trains, you can take the metro service. Line 1 and Line 2 are the ones you can combine with the trains.

You should choose the service that goes to Sorrento station, more specifically line 1, and get off at Ercolano Scavi or Pompeii Villa of the Mysteries station. I recommend you check the timetables on the official website.

The train journey takes about 40 minutes and a single ticket costs €2.80.

From Pompeii station, you can catch the blue EAV tourist bus service right in the square in front of the train station. The journey takes another 50 minutes and costs about €4.

From the Ercolano stop, you can simply take a private shuttle to your destination.

Interesting details

• Price: approximately 7€ each way
• Duration: 2 hours
• Advantages of this option: the price
• Disadvantages of this option: you have to combine transports that do not always keep to their timetable, and the journey time is considerably longer.

You already know that Vesuvius is one of the most visited sites in Italy, so there are a variety of possibilities to get to Vesuvius from the popular Naples. I'll summarise all the options in the table below:

• Be aware that the climb to the crater of Mount Vesuvius is a demanding activity. Although the distance you have to walk is not that long, the terrain is really steep.
• I recommend that you wear comfortable shoes and clothes for the situation.
• Remember to bring water, although once you get to the top you will have different tents.
• Don't underestimate the hot weather and take some warm clothes. At the top of the volcano the weather changes rapidly, and is not always similar to the weather at the base of the volcano.
• If you want to eat around the volcano, near the Pompei Scavi station there are several restaurants with inexpensive menus so you can recharge your batteries.
• If you are planning to visit Pompeii, I recommend that you plan your visits so that you can visit both Mount Vesuvius and the archaeological site of Pompeii on the same day. This way, you will save time and money on your holiday.

If you still have time, or are still curious and want to explore more of this amazing area of Italy, here are two archaeological sites you can visit, even in the same day.

Pompeii

Pompeii is an ancient Roman city that was buried under lava from an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius, just 25 kilometres from the city of Naples. Many years have passed since that tragic day in 79 AD, but it wasn't until the year 1500 that it was rediscovered and archaeological expeditions began to make incredible discoveries.

Today, Pompeii is an archaeological site that you can visit on your holiday in Naples, where you can relive this history and discover those perfectly preserved buildings and frescoes. In fact, it is one of the main tourist attractions in Italy.

There is a lot to see and do in Pompeii but I assure you that walking through its cobbled streets, you'll feel like you've travelled back in time to 2000 years ago.

You can read my article on how to buy tickets to Pompeii for everything you need to know before visiting this unique destination. Generally, many tourists combine a visit to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii in one tour to be done on the same day and make the most of their stay in Naples.

Herculaneum

As I mentioned, the volcano Vesuvius erupted in 79 B.C. But what I didn't tell you is that it not only destroyed the ancient city of Pompeii, but also many other small cities, among them Herculaneum or Ercolano.

This Roman city is another of the attractions to see near Naples, and it is said that it corresponded to a higher social class than Pompeii, formed by the educated and intellectuals.

Herculaneum is a great archaeological treasure of the Roman civilisation located only 13 kilometres from Naples, as well as another must-see if you are passing through the city, where you will learn how the people who inhabited the area lived so many years ago.

Because it is closer to Vesuvius, the layer of ashes was greater so it has a better state of preservation, so don't miss it.

Many travellers combine their trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum in the same day, and even Mount Vesuvius. But you can choose what you prefer according to the amount of time you want to spend on each of them.