This is a reference page rather than a read-through. The tables below cover the mountain itself, its eruption record, the national park, and the practical figures you need to plan a visit. Anything that appears here as a range appears that way because credible sources genuinely differ.
Two figures below carry more weight than the rest. The crater you look into today was shaped by the 1944 eruption, the last one, and the trail that reaches its rim sits inside Vesuvius National Park, which is what caps the number of people on the path at any one time.
The mountain
| Measure | Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Summit elevation | About 1,281 m (4,203 ft) | Changes slightly after major eruptions |
| Volcano type | Stratovolcano | Somma–Vesuvius complex: a young cone inside an older caldera |
| Status | Active, currently quiescent | The only active volcano on mainland Europe |
| Monte Somma high point | Punta Nasone, 1,132 m | The older volcano’s surviving rim |
| Crater depth | Roughly 300 m | Formed by the 1944 eruption |
| Crater width | Roughly 400 m across | Figures vary by where the rim is measured |
| Trailhead elevation | About 1,000 m | Piazzale di Quota 1000, Ercolano |
| Location | Campania, southern Italy | South-east of Naples, on the Bay of Naples |
| Distance to Pompeii | About 10 km | The ruins lie south-east of the cone |
| Fumarole temperature | Reported up to about 95 °C | Gas venting inside the crater |
| Background seismicity | A few hundred small quakes a year | Normal for a monitored quiescent volcano |
The eruption record
| Year | Character | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| AD 79 | Plinian | Buried Pompeii and Herculaneum; deaths estimated between about 2,000 and 16,000 |
| 472 | Explosive | Ash reported far beyond Campania |
| 512 | Explosive | Significant regional damage |
| 1631 | Sub-Plinian | Deadliest since antiquity; roughly 3,000–6,000 deaths. Ended about five centuries of quiet |
| 1794 | Effusive | Lava destroyed much of Torre del Greco and reached the sea |
| 1872 | Explosive | Spectators who had climbed the cone were killed when activity intensified |
| 1906 | Explosive and effusive | Deaths and injuries largely from roofs collapsing under ash |
| 1944 | Effusive and explosive | 21 deaths; San Sebastiano, Massa di Somma and Terzigno largely destroyed; Allied bombers wrecked by ashfall |
| Eruptions since AD 79 | — | More than 50 recorded |
| Time since the last | — | Over 80 years — the longest quiet spell since before 1631 |
Monitoring and risk
| Item | Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Observatory founded | 1841 | Osservatorio Vesuviano — the oldest in the world |
| Operated by | INGV | Italy’s national geophysics and volcanology institute |
| Monitoring channels | Four main | Seismicity, ground deformation, gas emissions, gravimetry |
| Red zone population | About 600,000–700,000 | Sources differ; both figures are widely published |
| Wider population at risk | Around 3 million | The most densely populated volcanic area on earth |
| Planning scenario | Sub-Plinian eruption | Civil protection plans against an event on the 1631 scale |
Vesuvius National Park
| Measure | Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Established | 5 June 1995 | Protects the whole Somma–Vesuvius complex |
| Area | 8,482 hectares | The park’s own published figure |
| Municipalities | 13 | Ercolano, Torre del Greco, Trecase, Boscoreale, Boscotrecase, Terzigno, San Giuseppe Vesuviano, Sant’Anastasia, Ottaviano, Somma Vesuviana, Pollena Trocchia, Massa di Somma, San Sebastiano al Vesuvio |
| Marked trails | 11 | Laid out between 2001 and 2003 |
| Total trail length | About 54 km | Trail No. 5 is the only crater route |
| Plant species | Around 900 | Exceptional for the area covered |
| Butterfly species | About 44 | Recorded within the park |
| Minerals classified | More than 230 | Among the most varied sites in the world |
| Pioneer species | Stereocaulon vesuvianum | The lichen that first colonises bare lava |
| Extra designations | 4 layers | Nature reserve, two Sites of Community Importance, a Natura 2000 Special Protection Area, a wilderness zone |
| DOC wine | Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio | Grown on the volcanic slopes |
The names on the map
Trail signs, tickets and tour listings all use Italian toponyms, and they are not interchangeable. These are the ones you will meet.
| Name | What it is | Elevation |
|---|---|---|
| Gran Cono | The young cone with the active crater — the summit you walk to | About 1,281 m |
| Monte Somma | The surviving rim of the older volcano, the ridge to the north | Punta Nasone, 1,132 m |
| Valle del Gigante | The floor between the old rim and the young cone | Roughly 700–900 m |
| Atrio del Cavallo | The western half of that valley, crossed by the approach road | — |
| Valle dell’Inferno | The eastern half, closed to visitors | — |
| Piazzale di Quota 1000 | The trailhead where vehicles stop and the walk begins | About 1,000 m |
| Sentiero n. 5 — Il Gran Cono | The only trail to the crater rim, and the one every ticket admits you to | 1,000–1,281 m |
A listing that says “summit” means the Gran Cono rim. One that says “Vesuvius National Park” may mean any of thirteen towns and nine other trails, none of which reach the crater.
Distances and journey times
Every trip to the crater ends at the same trailhead, so the only variable is how you reach it. The shortest approach starts at Ercolano Scavi on the Circumvesuviana line, which is why almost every independent route runs through it. These are the numbers behind those approaches.
| From | Distance | Typical door-to-trailhead time |
|---|---|---|
| Ercolano Scavi station | About 13 km by road | 40–50 minutes by bus or taxi |
| Naples city centre | About 22 km | 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 45, train plus bus |
| Pompeii (Porta Marina) | About 20 km | 1 hour to 1 hour 30 |
| Sorrento | About 45 km | 1 hour 45 to 2 hours 15 |
| Rome | About 240 km | 3 hours 30 each way — a long day, not a half day |
Distances are road distances to the car parks below Quota 1000, and the times assume the shuttle or a taxi for the final two kilometres. The straight-line distance from the crater to Pompeii is about 10 km, which is the figure the eruption accounts use.
Where the numbers disagree
Several figures above are published as ranges, and the range is the honest answer. Rather than pick one and look authoritative, here is what is genuinely contested and why.
| Figure | Published range | Why sources differ |
|---|---|---|
| AD 79 death toll | Roughly 2,000 to 16,000 | The count rests on excavated remains across several sites, and the excavated fraction is unknown |
| 1631 death toll | Roughly 3,000 to 6,000 | Contemporary records are parish-level and incomplete |
| Red-zone population | About 600,000 to 700,000 | The boundary has been redrawn more than once, and the towns inside it are still growing |
| Summit elevation | About 1,281 m | Genuinely variable — the summit is rebuilt by eruptions, and 1944 changed it |
| Crater width | Roughly 400 m | Depends where the rim is taken to be, and the rim is not level |
| Parking and shuttle costs | Around €7 and €3 | Set by the Comune di Ercolano, not the park, and reported rather than published |
Wherever one of these appears, it appears as a range or with “about” attached. A single confident number would be easier to read and would be wrong.
Visiting: the practical numbers
| Item | Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full ticket, park base price | €10 | Before online fees |
| Full ticket, paid online | About €11.68 | The figure tour operators quote as included |
| Reduced ticket | €8 base / about €9.55 online | Under-25s with ID and residents of the 13 park towns |
| Opening time | 09:00 | Every day, year-round |
| Last entry, Jan/Feb/Nov/Dec | 15:00 | Shortest window of the year |
| Last entry, Mar/Oct | 16:00 | — |
| Last entry, Apr–Jun/Sep | 17:00 | — |
| Last entry, Jul/Aug | 18:00 | Longest window, hottest conditions |
| Ticket sales | Online only | No ticket office at the crater entrance |
| Advance release | Up to 30 days | Popular slots sell out in high season |
| Admission slots | Every 10 minutes | Roughly 60 visitors per slot |
| Standard entry tolerance | −40 min to +120 min | Never past the day’s final admission |
| Last-minute ticket tolerance | −30 min to +15 min | Bought over Wi-Fi at the entrance, max 5 per email |
| Ascent to the rim | 20–45 minutes | Loose gravel, unshaded, steady gradient |
| Full crater visit | About 2 hours | Excluding transport and parking |
| Parking at Quota 1000 | Not permitted | Car parks sit lower on the provincial road |
| Parking cost | Around €7, reported | Managed by the Comune di Ercolano, not the park |
| Shuttle to the gate | Around €3 per person, reported | Roughly 2 km from the car parks |
| Toilets at the entrance | None | Confirmed by the park’s own trail regulations |
| Automatic closure trigger | Orange-level weather alert | Issued by the regional Civil Protection Authority |
The two figures people get wrong
The ticket is often quoted as €10 and often as €11.68. Both are right — one is the park’s base price, the other is what the booking platform charges once fees are added. And the walk to the rim is not from sea level: the road takes you to about 1,000 metres, and you climb the last stretch.
The narrative behind these numbers is on eruptions and monitoring and Vesuvius National Park. For turning them into a plan, see hours, timing and access and getting to the volcano, or compare trips on Mount Vesuvius Tours.
Sources and caveats
- Ticket rules, hours, parking and closure policy — Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio trail regulations
- Eruption effects and casualties — Italian Department of Civil Protection; observatory data — INGV
- Park statistics — Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio and regional park documentation
- Every figure marked “about”, “around” or given as a range is genuinely uncertain in the sources. Confirm prices and hours at the point of booking.