Climbing Mt. Vesuvius

It is easy to do. Walk up hill. And it will be hot.

liz,

As Frank mentioned, it will most likely be hot so be sure to take sunscreen, hat and water. The trek up the hill isn't especially difficult, especially if you don't try to do it too quickly. As I recall, hiking back down was harder on my knees than the uphill portion.

You will need longer than two hours between Naples and Sorrento if you're planning to see both Pompeii and Vesuvius.

Ken is correct. Pompeii is at least a half day. I missed that in your question. It is easy to get to Sorrento via train. Might be easier to have your driver take you directly to Sorrento. It is short train ride back to Pompeii on another day.

It's a fairly easy walk up Mt Vesuvius. Not a lot to see, but you do get bragging rights. When we did it, I saw ladies in high heels and in sandals. We wore athletic shoes ( you know, tennis shoes, trainers, whatever) As mentioned bring water, it will be hot in July.

We went up in May, and it was cool at the top, and very windy.

We were on a tour, had just been in Pompeii, then to the mountain...we had about an hour to walk up, look around and come back down.

When we were in Sorrento, we found a travel agency and booked a bus tour of both sights. Totally worth it. We had a A/C bus, tour guide that was a history expert, and a small group of people. We are NOT into guided tours, but for this experience, it was perfect.
In Pompei, we had headsets, and could walk away from the tour guide, and still hear everything she was explaining.

I'd recommend more time in Pompei with a guide. You'll miss a lot, unless you are just into walking around and absorbing the sights, without explanation.

should you take a guided tour, I'd recommend bringing your own lunch... have a picnic outside the grounds of Pompei in the shade of a tree instead of eating at the restaurant.

Thank you for all of your help! I think we will just take the train from Naples to Sorrento and use one of our 5 days in Sorrento to go to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius for the day.

Just for clarity, is this a hike on a trail ALL the way up Vesuvius from the base, or just the 1/2 hr. or climb from where the shuttles drop off? There's a difference.

I am not sure. I guess those that did this before can clarify. I saw tours online where they drop you half way and you climb the rest. I was going to look into what different tours have to offer.

We did this in Sept 2008...I did have a little difficulty - mostly because the path was very loose soil/dirt and small rocks - I can't imagine doing it in sandals...or heels (I had on Blundstones - flat comfy ankle boot). So it felt to me like 5 steps forward and 1 back. But we passed lots of older folks coming down (I was mid-30s at the time...sigh). We took a van from outside the train stn that offered 'tours' - or drives to the parking lot halfway, then gave us a few hours to go up and back. I did notice that at Pompeii (we went in 2014) there were tours offered to Mt V...I thought it was fairly pricey tho - hubby accidently bought tix for that instead of Pompeii - we sorted it out tho. Make sure to carry water as others mentioned.

liz, I can imagine that you are not in a position to change your fiancees mind on this. But we saw no reason to make this climb during our five days in Sorrento, 2014. We'd already seen an active volcano in Hawaii, and none of the reports make this climb sound either fun or educational. We found seeing Vesuvius from Pompeii (and from Sorrento) to be quite evocative enough. I can't imagine any reason for making the climb unless you've never seen a volcano before. What's the point? To get an eruption-eye view of the destroyed towns below? I'd put the time into Pompeii, and the money into good food, or at least the Pompeii snack bar so you feel like you got a rest from the stone streets of the town.

Don't be a kill joy. For some, my wife for one, just want to walk to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. No other reason and you don't need another reason. As an elementary librarian there were many books in her collection on Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius and she just wanted to see it for herself, take some pictures, and could tell her students she had been there.

Liz,

Here is the train schedule to get to Pompeii. as noted above you want the Scavi stop.

Hire a guide on site.

http://www.eavsrl.it/web/content/orario-ferroviario click on Sorrento/Naples.

The bus from Pompeii to Vesuvius.

http://www.unicocampania.it/index.php?lang=en&center=inside&colonna=turisti&action=vesuvio.

This can all be done on your own.

Hope this helps.

Although the climb itself wasn't 'fun' per say, my husband always likes to say he climbed Mt Vesuvius...and the views are amazing...it doesn't take that that long...for me it's like stonehenge...interesting to see (or do) once but once was enough and I'm glad we did it.

I am not sure. I guess those that did this before can clarify. I saw
tours online where they drop you half way and you climb the rest. I
was going to look into what different tours have to offer.

Ok, it sounds like you're going to do it from the usual drop-off point partway up. Just thought it worth the question as I'm a hiker and so "climbing Mt. Vesuvius" could very well mean the whole enchilada to others like me - and to your boyfriend! The replies you were receiving were in reference to the standard bus--to-dropoff route.

Yes, some adventurous people do climb the thing from bottom to top, and I get the feeling that is NOT what you had in mind. :O)

My husband and I walked up Mt. Vesuvius on a whim when we visited Pompeii. We took one of the busses that takes you near the top and we walked the final distance.

Walking up the mountain is like climbing a huge sand dune. Your feet sink into the soft pumice stone/sand and its a bit terrifying looking down and realizing that this sandy/slippy stuff is all that is between you and a 4,000 ft drop! According to some of the other hikers we met at the top, one side of the mountain is a fairly level climb. The other side (the one we took) has a very sharp grade and was alot more intense climb.

We found it very beautiful and scary. We went in early June and there were some wildflowers blooming along the trail in the stark barren volcanic ash... When a small band of clouds came overhead we felt a few drops of rain and then were suddenly enveloped and walking right IN a cloud. You could only see a few feet ahead of you for a few minutes and it was like being on another planet. I've never had another experience quite like it before or since. On the way down the clouds had cleared and we were able to admire the great view of the bay of Naples.

If history excites you then you will love Pompeii and 2 hours will hardly be enough. If natural history, and a bit of adventure sound like your cup of tea then you will love Vesuvius.

Here's some links to some great documentaries on Pompeii, Vesuvius and Herculanium for anyone who wants to know more about them:

Pompeii – with Mary Beard ( One of the world's most respected roman historians)
http://youtu.be/mnIY6AE4m6E

Life and Death in Herculaneum (again with a well respected roman historian)
http://youtu.be/3_wfTPdp3_k

Mt Vesuvius (a bit dramatic in execution, but this documentary gives lots of science behind why Vesuvius is now considered the world's most dangerous volcano).
http://youtu.be/7xhucNGq108

Thank you everyone for your posts! I really appreciate all this info! :)