Naples Shore Excursion: Mt Vesuvius Half-Day Trip from Naples

Naples, Italy

4 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

See the mighty Mt. Vesuvius on this half-day excursion from Naples' cruise port. First, enjoy a delicious pizza lunch with a drink before taking a ride through Vesuvius National Park and hearing about the infamous eruption that buried the city of Pompeii in volcanic ash almost 2,000 years ago. Then, set off on a hike to the summit of the sleeping beast, soaking up panoramic views of the Bays of Naples from the top. You also have the chance to peer into the depths of the crater before returning back to port.

Mt. Vesuvius shore excursion from Naples
Learn about the infamous Mt. Vesuvius eruption that destroyed Pompeii in AD 79
Hike to the summit of Mt. Vesuvius with your guide and peer into the crater of the active volcano
Enjoy panoramic views of the Bay of Naples from the top
A delicious pizza lunch with drink is included
Port pickup and drop-off included
Covered by Viator's worry-free policy: guaranteed on-time return to your ship

What's Included

guide provided by the national park on request
Port pickup and drop-off
Transport by shared air-conditioned minibus
Worry-free Shore Excursion Guarantee
Access to Mt. Vesuvius National Park (11 euro per person)

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

If your ship docks at Stazione Marittima, pick-up will be outside the cruise terminal building, at the exit of the box of the security under the blue sign "Stazione Marittima", here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/vUP8tRxYiz5D9C3o6 If your ship docks at Pier 21 in Molo Carlo Pisacane, pick-up will be just outside the exit gate where the ship will dock, just next to the ship, here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t8zhGszKcbwBR1Mb8 In both cases a driver will show a sign with the name.

Start time
.9:15 am

Itinerary

Begin your half-day excursion with pickup from your port in Naples, where you meet your guide and travel toward Vesuvius National Park. As you go, hear the history of the only active volcano in continental Europe, responsible for the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79.

Enjoy a delicious pizza lunch and a soft drink before beginning the hike to the summit with your guide, reaching an impressive 3,900 feet (1,200 meters). You are rewarded with incredible views stretching over the Bay of Naples. As you travel around the crater's rim, don’t be surprised if you see trails of steam rising from the depths of the sleeping beast.

After soaking up the view, travel back to your coach, concluding with transportation back to port.

Worry-free Shore Excursion: We will ensure your timely return to the Naples port for this activity. In the rare event your ship has departed, we will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call. If your ship is delayed and you are unable to attend this activity, your money will be refunded. See our terms and conditions for full details.

Vesuvius National Park

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 day of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Comfortable walking shoes are recommended for climbing Mt. Vesuvius
Not wheelchair accessible
We require a minimum of 2 participants in total every day to operate this tour. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not at least 2 participants for this tour. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
Transport is by coach: group sizes of up to 50 people
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps

Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
In case Mt. Vesuvius National Park is closed due to bad weather conditions and/or other circumstances beyond our control, you will be refunded the entrance tickets to the National Park
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
Please note that for this tour, among the 4 languages available, the English language only is always guaranteed
Worry-free Shore Excursion: We will ensure your timely return to the Naples port for this activity. In the rare event your ship has departed, we will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call. If your ship is delayed and you are unable to attend this activity, your money will be refunded. See our terms and conditions for full details.
Lead Traveler's document ID picture required (tour purpose only)
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

3.3

based on 16 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

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It’s a taxi

Anjana_S, Oct 2025

It’s basically an over paid taxi service. Taken up and dropped there- I wasn’t part of a groups. No guide as described on the page. No pizza and drink as described either.

Not enough time.

Yves_L, Dec 2019

We were drop at what they call the second level. Immediately passing the guardian we were told be back for 15:45! Giving us only 45 minutes to climb the Vesuve? Had to run to get to the top, a do the same for the return, have to say glad that I did that, a great experience and a superb view from the top of the surrounding. My wife was not able to see that, and I consider her to be in shape.

Very disorganized

Lori Z, May 2019

Loved seeing Mt. Vesuvius and I would highly recommend it, but not on this tour. We were to meet at noon and it was supposed to be a 4 hour tour. I was surprised when we met our guide and it was not our tour guide, but someone who was driving us to our tour. After picking us up, we waited 20 minutes for another couple who never did show up. We were driven to Pompeii where we met up with another guide. She walked us to a street full of vendors and told us we had a half hour until meeting the rest of the group. When we met up with the group we walked to a restaurant for lunch. As we were eating, a lot of other groups were coming in the restaurant. I had no idea that these were all Viator groups and we would have to wait for everyone to eat before we could leave. We were the first group seated so we sat there for over a half hour waiting for everyone else. We were then divided in to who was going where and was being returned where. Those of that were being returned to the port were put on a shuttle bus that was so small one person had to sit up front with the driver. Once at Mt. Vesuvius we were given just over an hour to explore. We arrived at the meeting spot and had to wait for the guide to show up. We got back to the port 35 minutes before we had to be back on board, but I had expected to be back 2 hours earlier. I think Viator should have let us know that we would be picked up by a driver and be driven to the tour as well as wait for other couples to be picked up. It was frustrating to spend time sitting in a restaurant and "shopping" and then being really rushed at Mt. Vesuvius, when that is all I wanted to see.

"3 hr tour" is really 5 hrs. Be careful...

JEFFREY R, Sep 2017

"3 hr tour" is really 5 hrs. Be careful if you're on a cruise ship; you're screwed if there is traffic. 45 min on the mnt. Disorganized. 3 1/2 hrs of the tour is spent sitting on a van, bus and walking aimlessly through a flea market of penis-shaped ashtrays and penis-shaped bottle openers. Never again Vile-Tour!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Mt Vesuvius...

Alan L, Jun 2017

I thoroughly enjoyed the Mt Vesuvius half-day trip. The bus trip up was great, the views and the sight of the old lava flows was amazing. It was peak season so there was lots of traffic on the way up and down resulting in a few bus stops. You have to hike the last stretch up to view the crater, so it is very important to be fairly fit and wear appropriate footwear - it is really well worth the effort. Alan, Australia.

This tour is actually much longer...

Kevin_E, Jan 2017

This tour is actually much longer than described in the itinerary and I am glad we didn't have anything else explained for the excursion. We had a very nice lunch and then had the opportunity to venture to the top of mt. Vesuvius. I would highly recommend this tour as well.

We were picked up from port on time...

Dan_A, Aug 2016

We were picked up from port on time in a minivan but then had to wait for the driver to go and pickup other passengers. When arriving to pickup the last group it turned out they miscounted the number of people so we had to wait for another van to come. We then proceeded to a restaurant with ok pizza. after lunch we were joined into a bus to go to the mountain. We had 1:20 hours to go up and down again so by the time we got up about 30 minutes of climbing we had about 20 minutes to go around until we had to start going down so we will have time to buy something cold to drink. On the way back again there were problems with counting of people going with the minivan but it was resolved quickly. Overall we enjoyed it although there were a few glitches in organization

Without a doubt this excursion was...

Teresa_J, Jul 2016

Without a doubt this excursion was one of our very favorites. The driver picked us up right at the cruise port terminal and drove us to meet up with the bus and tour guide in the city of Pompeii. We had about 30 minutes to explore the market there before lunch. We had an amazing lunch that was provided by a local eatery...choice of pizza or spaghetti...with five of us we had a mix of both...the food was yummy and lots of it!! Afterwards we boarded the bus and headed to Vesuvio. We anxiously began the bus ride along a big portion of the volcano. Be prepared, once off the bus, the climb to the top is a relatively steep 20 minute climb to the top. There is a wide pathway and several spots along the way for great photos, but not worry, the VIEWS at the top are worth every step!!! Totally beautiful, looking inside Vesuvio and the views of Naples are spectacular!! We are a family of five, with three daughters, age 14, 12 and 10 and we all loved this trip!!

The hike up Mt Vesuvius is well...

Vivien D, May 2016

The hike up Mt Vesuvius is well worth doing but the waiting around is boring. We were collected from our hotel at 12 midday but only got to the mountain at 3.30pm. We had to wait for the rest of the group to finish their Pompeii tour over an hour then go to lunch pizza - no choice and I'm gluten intolerant! another hour then do the bus drive up the mountain. The tour guide didn't give a lot of information and thought we were from a different ship but when told we had to be back on board by 5.30pm organised a private car to get us there in time.

Tour was excellent as was the guide...

Anne D, Jul 2015

Tour was excellent as was the guide. The biggest problem is that people don't listen to the guide. When he says meet at a certain time, you need to be there. We were on a cruise ship and made it back to port by the skin of our teeth, where as others weren't and were not a such a tight schedule.

Guide picked us up from the cruise...

Nicholas C, Sep 2014

Guide picked us up from the cruise terminal on time, pizza was incredible and scenery and view from Mt Vesuvious was amazing

There was not much tour guiding...

Cynthia C, Nov 2013

There was not much tour guiding going on with this tour. We caught a ride from our cruise ship, then had to stop in Pompeii to pick up more people. Our guide was more than happy to express his political views and speak to the driver. Not what we've come to expect from Viator. The walk was a little strenuous, but worth the view.

We didn't have enough time to do Mt...

Darlene S, Aug 2012

We didn't have enough time to do Mt. Vesuvius the way it should be done. We only had 1 hour after we arrived at Mt. Approx 25 minutes to walk to the top and 25 min to walk back down. No time to walk around to view the Volcano.

I would not recommend this trip to...

Dennis G, Oct 2011

I would not recommend this trip to cruise passengers, as the tour doesn't leave until 1:30 pm and the trip doesn't get you back to Naples until after 5 pm. My ships all aboard was at 5 pm, and we were stressed for most of the tour. We had contacted Viator the night before to tell them about our concerns once we knew the ships all aboard time and we were promised we would be back in time. We were also told by the guide (wrongly) that there were other cruise passengers on the tour. Despite running late, we had to argue with the guide and driver repeatedly to please drop off as first as we had a ship to catch, and the driver refused until after they called their office, when they were directed to take us back first. Additionally, it's not really a tour as the guide gives you no information and doesn't even walk up the volcano with you. The bus drops off you and tells you that he'll meet you back at the bus in 70 minutes. However, the volcano is pretty impressive.

What a wonderful experience - small...

Lori H, Jul 2011

What a wonderful experience - small group, friendly knowledgeable guide, prompt pick-up...certainly a highlight of our trip.

In a nutshell, this was not an...

Mary Lou S, Oct 2010

In a nutshell, this was not an excursion but a cab ride. We were picked up late at the pier by a driver who took us to meet a small group who had completed a morning tour and were having lunch at a restaurant. We waited for them to finish before heading off to Mt. Vesuvius. The driver was accompanied by a guide on this part of the trip. She provided no history or background and spent the bulk of the time chatting with the driver. She highlighted only three or four artifacts as we made our way up the mountain. When we got to the site she accompanied us part way up, indicating that she would be leaving us in the hands of the guides who work for the site. We were told to meet the group at the van for the return trip. Again there was no commentary or information provided about anything as we made our way back down and toward Naples. In fact, the tour "guide" was the first person dropped off leaving us again in the care of the driver. The only element of this excusion that lived up to its billing was that we were back at the ship prior to the all aboard call! Otherwise, this excursion was a major disappointment.