Vesuvius Itineraries – Pompeii excursions – Herculaneum walking tours – excursions Vesuvius Volcano – itineraries Pompeii

Naples : Vesuvius Pompeii And Herculaneum, Italy

Archeology and natural wonders: places around Naples provide lots of opportunities for making enjoyable trips out of the city. We have prepared a short list of places to visit if you are planning a trip to this part of the world. For accommodation, you have two alternatives: choosing a hotel in Naples as your base, or choosing a hotel near the sites that you intend to visit. We suggest you: Hotel Santa Caterina.

Vesuvius

Vesuvius is an extremely fascinating natural phenomenon: with Etna, it is the only active volcano in Europe, surrounded by extremely fertile land that has luxuriant vegetation. Over the centuries it has been the cause of destruction of entire cities. The first cities to be submerged by the rivers of lava from the volcano were Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D.

The trip that we suggest in this itinerary is rather tiring, both due to the physical effort required and the amount of time needed to complete it. We can, however, assure you that the experience will make it all worthwhile!

To reach Vesuvius from Naples you can either go by car (Highway –Autostrada - A 3 Naples-Salerno, exit Ercolano) or by train (Circumvesuviana railway, Ercolano-Scavi station and then by shuttle bus run by Trasporti Vesuviani). After a journey of about 20 minutes that will take you to 1000 meters above sea level, the journey will then continue on foot for another 1000 meters: at the end of this hard climb you will finally reach the edge of the crater! It is better if you make this trip with an organized tour, to avoid running pointless risks: remember that Vesuvius is still an active volcano!

Pompeii

In 79 A.D. Vesuvius erupted and buried this ancient Campania town with a seven-meter high blanket of ash and lapillus. The many archeological digs that have been going on for decades have discovered many of the monuments that survived the disaster, such as the Antiquarium (where the casts of the inhabitants buried under the lava are kept), the Temple of Apollo, the Temple of Vespasian, the Slaughterhouse, the Temple of Jupiter, the Thermal Spa Bath-house and the Surgeon’s House. Digs are still ongoing and recently work has been carried out to uncover all the parts of the Casa del Bracciale d'oro (the house of the golden bracelet), including the fountains in what was once the garden of this Roman domus, and the fragments of the numerous frescoes.

Pompeii is slowly returning to light and in a certain way, also to life. Recently an ambitious project was created: to recreate the ancient wine production of the city. The result is "Villa dei misteri", an extremely fine wine that is aged in oak barrels and is distributed in a limited edition.

Pompeii is about 30 minutes from Naples and can easily be reached by car (Highway - Autostrada - A 3 Naples-Salerno) or by train, using the Circumvesuviana railway (Pompeii station).

Herculaneum

Etruscans, Greeks and Romans all dominated this wonderful city that stands high over the sea at various times, until it was completely destroyed in 79 A.D. The lava that erupted so violently and washed over Herculaneum destroyed most of the buildings (unlike Pompeii) but saved almost all the objects that were inside the houses, as it covered them slowly. Thanks to this phenomenon, all kind of perfectly preserved objects can now be seen: furniture, ornaments and also papyruses and wooden objects that can still be seen today even though they were carbonized. Looking at these objects will help you to understand the habits and daily life of a population that lived almost 2000 years ago.

Herculaneum is about 10 minutes from Naples and can easily be reached either by car (Highway – Autostrada - A 3 Naples-Salerno) or by train, using the Circumvesuviana railway (Ercolano-Scavi station).