Visit the crater of Mt. Vesuvius

Getting to the crater of Mt. Vesuvius

It is reachable in two ways: by car, or by bus.

By car

Sat-nav address: Vesuvio National Park, Napoli. On many sat-navs, you will find via Vesuvio, from here you will need to follow the signs.

Access to Mt. Vesuvius opens at 9:00am. If you are arriving by car, then getting there for the opening is perfect. However, don’t try after 10:00am because you won’t find a parking place in the car park, nor on the roadside.

By bus

The best way is to take the train from Sorrento to Pompeii (half an hour), then take the bus to Mt. Vesuvius. This way, when you have been to Vesuvius, you can visit the ruins of Pompeii before heading back to Sorrento in the evening. Trains from Sorrento to Pompeii (station Villa dei Misteri) leave every 20 minutes from 6:00am. We advise you to select this option. Tickets for those trains are not pre-bookable online, you need to buy them at the station. The rail service is a local metropolitan line called “Circumvesuviana”. From the station, you can easily get to the crater by bus.

Important: the first bus from the station to Mt. Vesuvius leaves at 9:00am and stops at 3:00pm. There is at least one per hour, though this might increase depending on the number of tourists. It is also a free service.

Visit the crater of Mt. Vesuvius

When you get to the park’s entrance at the summit, you will still need to walk to the crater (another 0.5 miles / 900m, gaining 500 feet / 150m in altitude). A “taxi” is available for 10 euros, or you can walk. Park entry costs 10 euros (including the services of a guide, who will wait for you at the crater and tell you many interesting things about the national park and the volcano in both Italian and English). The visit lasts around 1h 30 min. But you can stop at the summit of Mt. Vesuvius and have lunch at the bar!

Map of the Mt. Vesuvius excursion