Mount Vesuvius Gallery — Crater, Trail & Bay of Naples

Photographs from the cone, the rim and the slopes below. The captions carry the detail worth knowing about each view; the practical planning sits on hours, timing and access.

Mount Vesuvius rising above the Bay of Naples — The profile that made the mountain famous: the modern cone with the curving ridge of Monte Somma beside it, seen across the bay.

The crater rim of Mount Vesuvius — The rim of the Gran Cono. The crater below was left by the 1944 eruption — roughly 300 metres deep and 400 across.

Inside the crater of Mount Vesuvius — Looking into the bowl. Fumaroles still vent gas from the walls, at temperatures reported up to about 95 °C.

The Gran Cono trail on Mount Vesuvius — Trail No. 5, the only route to the rim. Loose volcanic gravel, a steady gradient and no shade at any point.

Walkers on the summit path of Mount Vesuvius — Most people take 20 to 45 minutes from the trailhead. The descent is the part that catches knees out.

A guided group on the cone of Mount Vesuvius — Guided groups on the upper cone. A licensed guide turns a steep walk into an explanation of what you are standing on.

The view from Mount Vesuvius over Naples and the bay — The payoff. On a clear day the view runs from Naples along the coast to the Sorrentine peninsula and out to Capri.

Aerial view of Mount Vesuvius and its crater — From above, the nested structure is obvious: a young cone sitting inside the blown-out caldera of a much older volcano.

Vineyards on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius — Potassium-rich volcanic soil is why people farm a live volcano. Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio comes from these slopes.

Vesuvius National Park signage on the mountain — Park signage on the approach. The protected area covers 8,482 hectares across thirteen towns.

Mount Vesuvius seen from the ruins of Pompeii — The view the Romans had. Pompeii lies about ten kilometres from the cone that buried it in AD 79.

The entrance to the Pompeii excavations below Mount Vesuvius — Porta Marina Superiore at Pompeii — the meeting point for several trips that pair the ruins with the crater.

See it from the rim yourself

Every trip we compare ends at the same place: the edge of an active crater with the Bay of Naples behind you.

Browse Mount Vesuvius tours & tickets

More on what you are looking at: eruptions and monitoring explains how the crater got its present shape, and Vesuvius National Park covers the landscape around it. To pick a trip, start with the Vesuvius volcano tour comparison.