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Mount Vesuvius

The volcano that buried Pompeii, climbed via the Gran Cono trail to a still-smoking crater rim above Naples.

  • Torre del Greco
  • Nature
Plan your visitBuy tickets
Where
Torre del Greco
Best for
The 79 CE eruption
Allow
2 hours
Tickets
From €10
Checked September 2026

Vesuvius is the volcano that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 CE, and it still stands watch over the Bay of Naples from behind Torre del Greco. INGV, Italy's volcanological institute, classifies it as quiescent since its last eruption in 1944, with low seismic activity and fumaroles rather than open lava. The Vesuvius National Park manages trail number five, the Gran Cono, a steep walk of switchbacks up bare volcanic rock to the crater rim, where sulfur vents still smoke and the view stretches from Capri to the Sorrentine peninsula. Entry is ticketed and capped, with sales handled entirely online. It rewards an early start: the crowds and the heat both build fast once the tour buses arrive from Naples.

Its eruptions shaped the Vesuvian landscape and are central to regional volcanological research; the current monitored phase follows the 1944 eruption.

Vesuvius and Monte Somma across the Bay of Naples at dusk
From the water the mountain reads as two peaks: the cone of Vesuvius beside the older ridge of Monte Somma.
Sources and citations (3)
  1. INGV — Osservatorio VesuvianoThe 1944 eruption1944 eruption historyRead source
  2. INGV — Osservatorio VesuvianoVesuvio: monitoringMonitoring overviewRead source
  3. UNESCOSomma-Vesuvio and Miglio d’Oro Biosphere ReserveReserve overviewRead source

Look closer

The layered wall of Vesuvius crater seen from the rim
The Gran Cono rimFrom the rim of the main cone you look straight into a crater whose walls show layer after layer of ash and lava.
A wisp of steam rising from a vent in the crater wall of Vesuvius
Sulfur fumarolesThin steam still seeps from the crater walls, the quiet proof that Vesuvius is dormant rather than dead.
The curved ridge of Monte Somma around the pine-covered floor of the Vesuvius caldera
Monte Somma’s ridgeThe curved wall of the older volcano, with Punta Nasone as its high point, is what remains of the mountain Vesuvius grew inside.

Five things worth finding

If you see nothing else, see these.

  1. Gran Cono crater rim

    The rim of the main cone, where you look straight down into the crater left by the eruptions that ended in 1944.Summit of trail no. 5

  2. Sulfur fumaroles

    Yellow-stained vents breathing sulfurous steam, the quiet proof that Vesuvius is dormant rather than dead.Inside the crater and along the rim

  3. Monte Somma and Punta Nasone

    The surviving wall of the older, much taller volcano that collapsed into the caldera Vesuvius grew inside; its highest point is Punta Nasone.The curved ridge north of the Gran Cono

  4. Osservatorio Vesuviano

    The world’s oldest volcano observatory, still the nerve center for monitoring the mountain, with a museum of instruments and eruption history.On the slopes above Ercolano

  5. Bay of Naples panorama

    On a clear morning the view runs from Capri across the Sorrentine peninsula to Naples and the ruins of Pompeii at the foot of the cone.From the crater rim

Plan your visit

Everything you need before you go.

Tickets
From €10
Booking
Book ahead
Time needed
2 hours
Best time
First morning slot, before the heat, haze and day-trip buses from Naples and Sorrento arrive.
Getting there
Drive or take the Vesuvio Express shuttle bus from Ercolano Scavi (Circumvesuviana train from Naples) to the car park below the trailhead, then walk up to the ticket booth.
Accessibility
The Gran Cono path is packed gravel but steep and uneven with no rail for most of the climb; it is not accessible to wheelchairs or strollers.

€10 full price, €8 reduced (children, EU seniors), plus a small online booking fee. Tickets are sold exclusively online through the park's Vivaticket page and are released 30 days ahead; sell out on holiday weekends. Last updated September 2026. Prices change, so check the official site before you go.

Buy the ticket the moment your date opens 30 days out; August and Easter weekend slots vanish within hours, and there is no ticket office at the mountain.

Official website
Get directionsGoogle MapsApple Maps

Before you book

How long should you spend at Vesuvius?

Allow about two hours on the mountain itself: the steep walk up the Gran Cono, time at the rim and the walk back down. Add travel from Naples, Ercolano or Sorrento, which makes it a half-day outing.

Do you need to book Vesuvius?

Yes. Entry to the summit trail is ticketed and capped, and sales go through the park’s official site, so book a time slot ahead, especially in high season. Early slots are also the coolest and clearest.

Is Vesuvius worth visiting if you are seeing Pompeii?

Yes, because it completes the story: you stand on the volcano that buried the city, then walk the streets it sealed. Pair them on one day only with an early start, or split them over two days if you want to do Pompeii properly.

More to see nearby

Same city first, then the nearest across the region.

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