Hello everyone-
My boyfriend and I are traveling to the Amalfi Coast mid July. We will be staying in Sorrento and plan to do a tour of either Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius -OR- Pompeii and a winery. Is Mt. Vesuvius worth hiking? We are both in good physical condition and hike often, so the exertion shouldn't be a problem. Looking to see if anyone has done any of the wineries and if so, if this is a better option than Mt. Vesuvius.
Thanks in advance!
You might just do the 15 hike to the crater from where all the tour buses drop off instead of hiking from the bottom.
Depending on what's going on with Vesuvius (geothermal activity wise), you may see nothing but a hole in the ground with some steam oozing out from a corner. Views of Naples and surrounds are awesome. As Monica suggested, do the 15 minute climb and walk around the rim as much as you want to.
Not done wine tasting, but you can do that pretty much at every restaurant in Italy.
You didn't ask, but check out Hostelworld: Easy Bed Hostel, Via Diomede 6, Pompei for place to stay right in Pompei. He serves dinner (with courses keep coming until you ask to stop.) for a reasonable price. Well worth staying there.
Daughter and I did this winery on Vesuvius last October. Great hosts, wonderful meal and tasting. We even did a grape stomp!
Their red wine vinegar which you will sample is liquid gold.
https://www.cantinadelvesuvio.it/en/tastings
We drove, but they will pick you up from the train station, Instructions on site.
Just came back from a RS South Italy tour and on my free day, elected to climb Mt. Vesuvius. It was a nearly clear day and the views were fantastic. I beg to differ on the time of the walk from the entrance to the crater, my phone showed it was exactly 1 mile and will take more than 15 minutes to do it. The walk is over gravel and rock ground, with several switchbacks and a rail on side to stop and take pictures and rest.
We also stayed in Sorrento, we took a private tour to Pompeii and then onto the Mt. Vesuvius winery (Sorrentino winery), which was wonderful! The winery had a great selection of reds, whites, as well as olive oil--gorgeous view as well. Also, they shipped our wines and olive oils back to Boston! Enjoy Sorrento, we loved it!
Thanks so much for the responses! It's a hard decision to make- but I think we may do Pompeii/Mt. Vesuvius and hope to get into a winery another day.
