Mount Vesuvius
After visiting the Pompeii Archaeological Site, mom and I made plans to travel to Mount Vesuvius the next day. We checked in at a tourist shop next to our hotel. The company had openings in the 10 a.m. tour. We booked in with them and went to wander around and find dinner and the train station.
On our way back to the hotel we found a nice little cafe to sit and watch the main square of Pompeii while we tried local desserts.
In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel and checked out. We were able to leave our bags at the hotel and walk to the meeting area. The bus was a little late to arrive and was mostly full of people. Mom and I were able to find two seats together.
Our stop was the last point of pick-up. The bus quickly took us to the freeway and then through some back roads up the side of Mount Vesuvius. As we left the freeway and made our way up the mountain the roads narrowed but the speed did not seem to decrease.
The roads became less populated and more forested as we moved up the side of the mountain. It became increasingly steep switchbacks. However, the view through the trees became dynamic coastline as we clear the tops of the trees.
SpeedBump
Near the top of Mount Vesuvius, there is a checkpoint with police support. They checked to see if vehicles had the proper paperwork to travel to the parking lot at 1000m, where the trail begins. Other, personal vehicles, had to park at there at 800m. You could then pay for a shuttle or walk up to the entry.
Our driver seemed to have forgotten his paperwork. He argued for about 10 minutes with the police in Italian. The passengers and I realized very quickly something was wrong and we were not getting past the checkpoint.
We were right. The bus was turned around. The driver was on his cell phone as we made our way down the road. We then had to stop at a small restaurant parking lot a short way down the mountain. Our driver continued to talk on his cellphone. We wandered around the small pullout. There was a tourist shop where some people bought a few trinkets.
Eventually, the driver summoned us back to the bus. The passengers were debating if we were going to be going up the mountain or down. We were lucky, up the mountain we drove. When we got to the checkpoint we had to get out of the bus. Another bus from the company, with the proper papers, picked us up and drove us to the base of the trail.
On The Road Again
We had about 90 minutes to walk the trail and explore. But first things first, it was freezing cold at the top of the mountain. There were two small shops that were selling hoodies. Mom and I each bought one. Then we headed to the ticket booth to enter the trail. Just inside there were guides that you could pay to walk with you and give you information about Mount Vesuvius and the area.
The trail goes up the cone of the volcano. It’s a steep trail with switchbacks. There are people at the first turn in the trail selling walking sticks. We didn’t buy a walking stick but we were tempted. At the corner of every switchback, there was a small pullout area to rest. You could stop and take in the views while having a rest.
Once we reached the top we were able to see into the volcano. There were three small shops along the rim trail where you could sit and rest or buy a drink or a snack. One thing I thought was very progressive of the shops was that they were plastic-free to keep the site preserved and free of garbage.
The trail along the rim is maybe 500m long. It covers about half the rim of the volcano. Once you reach the end you turn back a follow the same trail down. I am happy some of the rim is being preserved but I was sad we couldn’t walk all the way around.
When we met back up with the bus, our original driver had made it through the checkpoint and was there to pick us up. The drive down the mountain was just as perilous as the drive up the mountain. When we arrived back at the shop we went over to the hotel to pick up our bags.
With our bags in tow, we walked to the train station to get the train to Naples.
