5.0 out of 5 stars · 1 review on GetYourGuide · from €35.90 · as of 8 Oct
Meeting point on the road from Ercolano to Vesuvius; the guide wears an orange T-shirt. Make your own way there.
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Tickets & entrance fees: free park, crater with a timed ticket
Crater trail: €11.68 online
Tickets for the Gran Cono are sold online only at vesuviopark.vivaticket.it, according to the park authority the only authorised seller: €11.68 full price, €9.55 reduced. The base price is €10 or €8.
The upper crater rim on the north and east sides stays closed to visitors for safety and conservation reasons; only people authorised by the park authority may enter it.
Arrival · Entrance to trail no. 5, terminus of bus 808
Piazzale Quota 1000
Turnstile to the crater; no parking, currently no public toilets.
How to get there: Circumvesuviana, bus 808 or car to Quota 800
Shuttle bus or 30 minutes on foot
From Quota 800 to the entrance, a shuttle bus run by the town of Ercolano takes about four minutes for €1 each way. On foot it is 1.8 km (1.1 mi) along the road, about 30 minutes.
Last entry to the crater is at 15:00 in January, February, November and December, at 16:00 in March and October, at 17:00 from April to June and in September, and at 18:00 in July and August.
Parking is not allowed at Piazzale Quota 1000, and the park authority currently reports no public toilets there. The crater is an excursion, not a place to stay.
Private cars stop here; continue by shuttle bus or 1.8 km (1.1 mi) on foot.
How to get there: Circumvesuviana, bus 808 or car to Quota 800
By car to Quota 800
From the A3 motorway, exit Torre del Greco, the SP144 takes you to the car parks at Quota 800 in 15 minutes. Between Quota 800 and 1000 the road is closed to private cars; buses, taxis, hire cars with driver and motorcycles may continue.
How to get there: Circumvesuviana, bus 808 or car to Quota 800
Parking: €7, maximum 4 hours
You buy the parking space in advance on parkingsuvio.it: cars with up to eight seats €7, motorcycles €3.50, for a maximum of four hours. The park authority advises buying the crater ticket first and the parking second.
Mountains & rock · Nearest goal on the crater rim, 1,170 m
La Capannuccia
This is where the section of trail no. 5 that most visitors walk ends.
Hikes & routes: crater trail no. 5 and ten more
Trail no. 5: Il Gran Cono
4,010 m (2.5 mi) return, up to 1,175 m (3,855 ft), two and a half hours, easy but steep according to the park authority. Above 1,000 m everyone walks in groups of 20 with the guides of the Presidio Permanente Vulcano Vesuvio; this is included in the ticket.
14.2 km (8.8 mi) on the old road built by the Matrone brothers from Trecase to the cone, on foot and by bike, free of charge. After the 2025 fire it has been open to bikes again since November 2025.
12.4 km (7.7 mi), seven hours, hard because of its length: from Ottaviano through broom into the valley between the cone and Monte Somma, past the lava dome of 1937.
Vesuvius is a volcano inside a volcano: the cone grew in the crater of the older Monte Somma, separated by the Valle del Gigante with the Atrio del Cavallo and the Valle dell'Inferno. The cone probably formed during the eruption of AD 79.
Goal of trail no. 3, 1,132 m (3,714 ft) high according to the park authority.
The older volcano, whose crater rim encloses Vesuvius to the north.
Coordinates
40.83719, 14.427985
Punta del Nasone
1,132 m (3,714 ft)
Trail no. 3
7,650 m (4.8 mi) return
Walking time
5 hours
Hikes & routes: crater trail no. 5 and ten more
Trail no. 3: Monte Somma
7.7 km (4.8 mi), five hours, hard, to Punta del Nasone at 1,132 m (3,714 ft). According to the park authority the section from Somma Vesuviana is temporarily closed.
After the major fire in summer 2025, a new wildfire protection plan of the park applies for 2026. The Campania region sets the period of highest fire risk.
Historic seat from 1841 with a museum, on the road to the crater.
On the mountain since 1841: the oldest volcano observatory in the world.
Coordinates
40.827973, 14.397476
Founded
1841
Opened
1845
Distance to the crater
2 km (1.2 mi)
Hikes & routes: crater trail no. 5 and ten more
Trail no. 9: Il Fiume di Lava
Just over a kilometre return, one hour, easy: onto the 1944 lava flow, covered with the grey lichen Stereocaulon vesuvianum. Start on Via Contrada Osservatorio.
On cooled lava the grey lichen Stereocaulon vesuvianum settles first; red valerian, curry plant and broom follow. Trail no. 9 is the best place to see this.
In 1841 Ferdinand II founded the Osservatorio Vesuviano, the oldest volcano observatory in the world. The historic building, two kilometres from the crater, now houses a museum.
Nearest goal of trail no. 4 through the Tirone-Alto Vesuvio forest reserve.
Hikes & routes: crater trail no. 5 and ten more
Trail no. 4: Riserva Tirone
Open again since 19 September 2026, on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 to 16:30, free with registration at the entrance: 2.6 km (1.6 mi) to the Casa di Amelia. Bikes at up to 20 km/h, dogs not allowed.
Taxis and private shuttles leave here for the crater.
How to get there: Circumvesuviana, bus 808 or car to Quota 800
By Circumvesuviana
From Napoli Garibaldi, Circumvesuviana trains run towards Sorrento or Poggiomarino. At Ercolano Scavi taxis and private shuttles wait; from Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri the public bus runs.
Starting point of EAV line 808 to Piazzale Quota 1000; the town lies outside the park.
How to get there: Circumvesuviana, bus 808 or car to Quota 800
Bus 808 from Pompei
According to the timetable from 1 October 2026, EAV line 808 runs nine times a day from Pompei to Piazzale Quota 1000, the first at 8:30 from Piazza Anfiteatro, arriving 9:25. Last return from the crater: 16:50.
