The Crater
Vesuvius is still an active volcano (check out BBC Earth). It erupted in 1944. And it towers over a major metropolitan area.
Given my penchant for disaster-ology (wish that was a real thing), I obviously wanted to see the volcano up close and personal.
Given my penchant for disaster-ology (wish that was a real thing), I obviously wanted to see the volcano up close and personal.
The easiest way for us, without a car, to get to Vesuvius was to take a quick bus from the Ercolano-Scavi stop on the Circumvesuviana. The bus we took literally leaves from right outside the station exist. I think it was about 13€ per person, which included the park fee. There were a bunch of people waiting, but they brought more buses around in about 25 minutes to take us all up.
While I have no fear of volcanoes, I do have a fear of windy roads in minivans. I was too busy trying not to throw up (from motion sickness, not scary driving, just to be clear), so I can't really tell you what the drive up is like, though I'm sure it's pretty. It doesn't take more than 30 minutes.
You have a little more than an hour to walk to the top of Vesuvius (don't worry, you get dropped off very close to the crater), and wander around. There are a few places you can stop to shop and grab a snack or a drink. The hike up isn't strenuous if you are in any type of shape (tennis shoes nice, but I could have made it in flip flops if needed), and I also liked looking down on the sides where the ash from the last eruption is still visible.
(Also, weirdest trinket stores ever, with weirdest tchotchkes. Think bedazzled ash/plastic statues. They must be somebody's thing, which is good, because they sure aren't mine. Wish I had taken a photo.)
We didn't have any wine at the top, but the internet peeps generally report its not so great.
The views however, were fantastic! It wasn't super clear but it was still fun to see the city from above. Also, the crater of the volcano was super cool. It's actually smaller than I was expecting. It was fun to look for the steaming vents. Apparently there is some way, with a guide, you can enter the crater of the volcano. If we had more time, I think we would have looked into that.
Vesuvius was fun. Sure, it's not THAT exciting since its just a sitting cone of rocks/rubble right now, but I enjoyed it and was glad to see the mountain that ultimately left the archaeological wonders of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
While I have no fear of volcanoes, I do have a fear of windy roads in minivans. I was too busy trying not to throw up (from motion sickness, not scary driving, just to be clear), so I can't really tell you what the drive up is like, though I'm sure it's pretty. It doesn't take more than 30 minutes.
You have a little more than an hour to walk to the top of Vesuvius (don't worry, you get dropped off very close to the crater), and wander around. There are a few places you can stop to shop and grab a snack or a drink. The hike up isn't strenuous if you are in any type of shape (tennis shoes nice, but I could have made it in flip flops if needed), and I also liked looking down on the sides where the ash from the last eruption is still visible.
(Also, weirdest trinket stores ever, with weirdest tchotchkes. Think bedazzled ash/plastic statues. They must be somebody's thing, which is good, because they sure aren't mine. Wish I had taken a photo.)
We didn't have any wine at the top, but the internet peeps generally report its not so great.
The views however, were fantastic! It wasn't super clear but it was still fun to see the city from above. Also, the crater of the volcano was super cool. It's actually smaller than I was expecting. It was fun to look for the steaming vents. Apparently there is some way, with a guide, you can enter the crater of the volcano. If we had more time, I think we would have looked into that.
Vesuvius was fun. Sure, it's not THAT exciting since its just a sitting cone of rocks/rubble right now, but I enjoyed it and was glad to see the mountain that ultimately left the archaeological wonders of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
I'm Still Steaming!
