Hike : Mount Vesuvius

To get to Mount Vesuvius without stress, you first need a car. Otherwise, you are going to have to deal with all the local expensive businesses involving taxis and minibuses. And next, deal with the lack of road signs, and learn to ignore the dissuasive one. Everything seems to be set up so that you cannot reach Mount Vesuvius without spending quite a bit of money.

But as Naples is not a very interesting town, you will have rented a car to visit Pompeii (which we recommend as a base camp), the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento.

Leave the A3 motorway at the "Ercolano Scavi" (and not "Portici Ercolano") exit, drive down and turn all the way around the roundabout to come back up on the opposite lane and go under the motorway tunnel, with Mount Vesuvius facing you. The rest of the drive is easy : the Via Cupa Monti arrives on the Via Vesuvio, which after a few turns reaches the observatory. If you are at this point hungry, the Kona restaurant (the one just after the Villa Reginè) has a good value for money.

At the road crossing where we put a "Turn left" marker, it is useless to on the right to the Gregorio Bar, but rather turn left where the road sign says you are not allowed to do so!

A bit higher up, in a sharp bend, a hut where so must buy the tickets : 5 € per car for parking, and 10 € per person for the guided visit. Next, drive up to the car park.

This 30 December, we were lucky : the hut was closed, like the rest of the site, there was a hole in the fence at the top of the car park, and we were nearly alone to visit Mount Vesuvius.

A wide and easy path (no need for hiking shoes) climbs up the Mount Vesuvius to reach the Guides office. The crater, nearly 300 metres deep, is calm, but the sulfur dioxide fumaroles remind you it is far form being asleep. Perfectly secured by wooden barriers, the path continues nearly half around the crater, with a fantastic view over Naples and it's bay.