Vesuvias... Worth it?
 

My fiance and I will be in Sorrento in early September. We are thinking of hiking to the summit of Mount Vesuvias.

For those of you who have done it, is it a worthwhile endeavour? How much time should I alot for it?

My husband went and I sat it out. He said it was fantastic. I felt I hadn't missed a thing.

Seems to me he was gone just over an hour from the time it took to get to the parking lot. (He might have lingered had I been with him.) We arrived there from Herculaneum, and it was about a 35 minute drive up to the parking lot from there as I recall.

I have been there twice as part of a tour and did not think it was that interesting to be honest. If you are considering a side trip I would definately look at Pompei or Herculano. Vesuvias is a simply a crater which is currently dormant.

Ditto. Vesuvius isn't super exciting unless you get excited over geology. I felt it was ahrdly worth the hike, and definitely not worth the busride (I didn't have a car). I found the Archaeolgogy of the area much more interesting. For example, one thing a lot of people skip but was highly memorable for me was going to the Archeaology museum in Naples that houses all the tresures salvaged from the excavations of Ercolano (Herculaneum) and Pompeii. The ruins of these cities themselves are breathtaking, but all eth cool objects that really give you a sense od Ancient Roman life riside in the museum.

We did it as the seond half of day long tour that started with Pompeii-----which I highly recommend. I'm not saying you should go out of your way to do it but we thought it was fun and the views are pretty spectacular. It really isn't a hike. You drive or take a bus to a parking lot which is pretty far up and then you walk the rest of the way. It isn't a stroll in a park but it is also not a difficult climb ( assuming you are in generally good shape). Plenty of people pretty far along in age were doing it.

We enjoyed it and particularly liked later in the day being back in Sorrento on our balcony sipping some wine and looking across at Versuvias saying "and to think a few hours ago, we were there."

Bottom line, if you can fit it in I think you would enjoy it but I wouldn't go crazy to get there. BTW we loved Sorrento and Pompeii is definitely worth a journey. Enjoy.

I made the climb with my son 4 years ago. It is a fairly steep walk and took the better part of an hour for these old bones. The summit was in a cloud when we got up there so we couldn't see a thing and did not bother to pay the fee to go the extra few feet to the crater. It us nice to be able to say that I climbed it though.

I agree that the museum in Naples is more interesting. I was crushed that we only had 45 minutes to look around as their were Labour Strikes in the city that day and our bus had difficulty getting in and out. As a result, we had such a short time. It was so interesting though that I would put it on my list for sure if I was ever in Naples again.

Look up Google Earth! They have a wonderful picture of the crater and the way up.
Well, the Vesuvius is one of the smaller volcanoes. You can drive up and leave you car in a car park. Then it is a rather steep walk of about half an hour to the crater (they also have vehicles to drive you up, however I would use it only if I were over 75 or if I had a broken leg).
You can walk on the rim of the crater and look into the crater. You will see some areas with minerals on the surface (sulphur etc.) and some areas where small amounts of steam are emerging.
O.k., now it's your part to decide if it's worth.
(BTW, if the mountain is in clouds forget it!).

We took a tour bus to the parking level then walked up the rest of the way, (My husband, son and I). I thought it was a wonderful experience but unfortunately when we reached the top we were in a cloud and couldn't actually see over the edge at all. That part was disappointing but overall I thought it was a great thing to do.

This first time I went there was clouds over the crater and we couldn't see down...the second time we could see in the crater and could tell how large the explosion must have been. It was mildly amusing but I would give it a miss if it was going to chew up half a day of my vacation. There are other attractions that are much more interesting. We were on a Cosmos tour and it was an included stop so we did the trek to the top. You have more freedom with independant travel given the choice I would spend my time elsewhere.

For us I think it was just the fact that we were standing on Vesuvius and how great is that?