Review: skip-the-line ticket for Vesuvius

What you really get

Two things: entry to Trail No. 5, the one that leads to the edge of the Gran Cono, and a digital guide to listen to while you climb. Entry works by time slot, so you’re not buying a whole day but a specific time. The details on how it works are in tickets for the crater.

The point where people go wrong is the transfer. There are options that depart by bus from Napoli Centrale, from Hotel Vittoria or from Pompeii, and an option where the meeting point is directly at the Gran Cono Trail in Ercolano: that one does not include any transport. If you book it by mistake, you’ll find yourself having to climb alone up to the 1,000-metre square, and that’s where about half of the lukewarm reviews come from. Before choosing the option, check how to get to Mount Vesuvius. The stated duration varies between two and a half hours and a full day for this very reason: it changes with the option, not with the mountain.

What the reviews say

David, from France, writes that the climb is worth it both for the view and for understanding the tragedy of 79, and combines the two just as the place itself does: beneath you lies the plain that eruption buried. If your trip also includes the excavations, we explain the connection between the two sites in Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.

Kathrin, from Austria, talks about the view of the gulf and Capri as the thing she remembers. There’s not much to debate about this, as long as it’s a clear day: what you can and can’t see is listed in what you can see from the crater.

The most useful review, however, is by Gey, also from France: beautiful, they write, but an hour’s walk to reach the crater. That’s the phrase that appears in all the low ratings for this experience. The climb from the car park to the rim takes twenty-five to thirty minutes for most people, the full loop is nearly four kilometres round trip, and the surface is loose volcanic gravel. Valentin, from Germany, says nature and views far exceeded his expectations: he expected a viewpoint and found a mountain.

Who should book something else

If what you want is to understand what you’re looking at, this isn’t the right choice: take the minibus with the park’s volcanological guide and read the review of the Vesuvius Easy TourIf you have only one day and also want to see the ruins, the combined day is a different matter and you can find it in the review of Pompeii and Vesuvius in a dayIf you are staying in Pompeii and are only interested in the volcano, the transfer from Pompei leaves more time at the summit in fewer total hours.

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