Help reading Pompei-Vesuvius bus timetable
 

I'm planning to visit Vesuvius and Ercolano on a day trip from Sorrento in May and think it will be better to go up the volcano first.

There's a lot of info on the web about how to get up to Vesuvius with some saying the best place to start off from is Ercolano Scavi. Coming from Sorrento, this seems to be the best place. Apparently there is a private bus company, Vesuvius Express, which charges €10 for the return trip but they only give you a fixed amount of time up there (like 80-90 min) and you must take the bus back at the allotted time.

I found that there is a public bus run by eav srl. which goes up Vesuvius, also for €10 from Pompei. Here is the bus timetable - http://www.eavsrl.it/web/sites/defau..._-_Vesuvio.pdf

On the top of this page, it says Pompei-Ercolano-Vesuvius and listed are several stops. So I assume that I can board in Ercolano.

Questions:
Which of these stops is the one for Ercolano?
And if we boarded at Ercolano, would anyone know if it will be cheaper.
Also where do I get tickets?

I am assuming that with this bus we will not be restricted to 90 min. We may not do the long walk but I don't want to be rushed just in case.

Also hope there are going to be toilets at the park entrance!:)

I have no idea which of those is Herculaneum. The bus stops at Via Plinio only five minutes after leaving Pompeii, so that's not possible, as it's a 15-20 minute drive.

The other stops are:

Lower Piazza Marino, entrance to autostrada
Torre del Greco, exit from autostrada
Observatory
Cable car altitude 750 meters
End of the line, Vesuvius, alt. 1000 meters

Torre del Greco is between Pompei and Ercolano, so it must be after that. However, the Observatory sounds as though it must be the Vesuviano Observatory, where there is a museum.

The only thing I can suggest is that probably not all the stops are listed.

Here is a different service, which has express bus shuttles from Ercolano train station to Vesuvius.

http://www.vesuvioexpress.info/

I didn't read everything, but it seems to have round trip tickets for €10, although you might want to go somewhere else after Vesuvio, instead of returning to Ercolano.

Thanks bvlenci. Vesuvio Express is the one I referred to above which seems to have a 90 min time limit slapped on it. I went to the website you gave but did not find any mention of any time limit. I found two mentions on the web that there is one. Maybe it has changed. I'll write to them to ask. How is one supposed to visit Vesuvius and the Observatory if there is only 90 min!

We used the Vesuvio Express and found it very accommodating - and yes, your time is limited ... how much more time would you really need? Even if you took your time getting to the top and back, you still have plenty of time to circle the volcano. We found it easier climbing up rather than coming down ... nothing is paved (for obvious reasons), so you're walking on dirt/cinders ... and coming down, it's quite easy to slid. Make sure you're wearing proper shoes for this excursion! On a clear day, the views are breathtaking!

Debs, I read that there are three routes - 1 hr, 2 hrs and 3 hrs. So obviously we can only do the one hour route. I thought the one hour route wouldn't give us a good view.I doubt if we will want to stop off at the Observatory so that shouldn't be a problem.

I don't think the EAV bus goes into Ercolano. It appears the stops are all by the autostrada.

Thanks! I've written to Vesuvio Express and hopefully they will reply. :)