Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius Day Tour

Photogallery (11)
from 578
Activity Level
Moderate
Duration
8 hours

Overview

Reach the top of Mt Vesuvius and explore the Excavations of  Pompeii at your own pace with this private tour. Follow the steps of great travelers and enter the myth: an unforgettable experience for every Volcano and History lover. A great tour for the entire family!

  • Private Driver-Guide at your service all tour long
  • Live commentaries on board
  • Your kids will love to climb the crater of an active volcano
  • Possible stop at a typical farmhouse for a great experience based on local wine and genuine food
  • Best pictures of the entire Bay of Naples from the rim of Vesuvius

Included

Mercedes private vehicle with a professional driver, all taxes, fuel, parking fees and pay tolls.

Extra

Lunch, entrance fees to Pompeii and National Park of Mt. Vesuvius.

Optional

Private tour guide in Pompeii or for the entire day, Pompeii Express skip-the-line tickets which allows to visit the area within the city walls, Pompeii 4kids option.

Meeting place

Where requested in Naples, Sorrento or Salerno.

Wheelchair friendly

No.

Dress code

Casual with comfortable shoes, no sandals.

Additional info

Tickets to the National Park of Mt.Vesuvius are limited and subject to time slots. They must be pre-purchased.

Possible farm lunch with wine tasting within the National Park of Mt Vesuvius.

Please be aware the tour involves a lot of walking on uneven surfaces, inclines and steps. It is recommended only for people who are in good shape.

Itinerary

Your private driver-guide will meet you in Naples, Sorrento, or Salerno. Leisure Italy recommends starting with Mt Vesuvius to avoid crowds both at Pompeii in the morning and on Mt Vesuvius in the afternoon.

The day will start with a scenic drive on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius. You will be driving across the National Park of Mt Vesuvius, through the pine reservation and next to the solidified lavas from the last eruption in 1944. On the way up you can already enjoy great views of Naples and the Bay. Also on view is the Volcanological Observatory, the first-ever founded in Europe in 1841 by the Bourbons of Naples!

After a 30-minute drive up, you will start on foot the ascent to the top of the crater. On your left the impressive silhouette of Mt Somma, which is part of the rim of the original volcano that erupted in 79 AD and buried Pompeii. The walk to the top requires about 25 minutes up the hill on a terrain mostly made out of volcanic ash. On the way up you can admire the Bay of Naples and Pozzuoli, and the three islands of Capri, Ischia, and Procida.

Once on the very top, there will be a short commentary of a volcanologist who will point out the main scientific facts about Mt Vesuvius. Marvel at the massive size of the main crater, its colors, and the steam geysers one can see during the wintertime.

If you wish, you can walk around half of the rim. On a clear day, the ancient Pompeii can be distinguished at the foot of the volcano. You can certainly take great pictures of Capri and the Sorrento Coast.

 

At midday, you can decide to stop at a winery on Mt Vesuvius for lunch or take a break for a light lunch directly at Pompeii. Please do not hesitate to ask your driver-guide for suggestions.

The Excavations of Pompeii are extended on a surface of approximately 160 acres. To make the best of your time Leisure Italy offers qualified guided service. Our guided walking tour shall be adapted to the interests and walking attitude of the participants. The following is a possible itinerary for a private guided walking tour. Please let us know would you have any special requests.

Once at Pompeii, you will first admire the city walls, dating back to the pre-Roman Pompeii (4 centuries BC). One of the best-preserved ancient gates is called Porta Marina that connected Pompeii and the port, with a path for charts and one for people.

Right before this gate, not-to-be-missed building is the Suburban Bath House, recently excavated and therefore very well preserved.

Once in town, you will be walking on the original road made of basalt stone (a volcanic rock). On the ground hundreds of little white spots made of travertine used to reflect torchlight (this is what nowadays people call “cat’s eye”).

Your attention will be caught by big blocks of basalt emerging from the road: they were stepping stones used by pedestrians to avoid getting wet when it rained; differently from other Roman towns, Pompeii didn’t have a complete sewer system because the city was built on top of a lava platform too hard to be worked.

City-center was called Forum. It hosts all the buildings with a public function: Religion (the Temple of Apollo, the Capitolium, and the Temple of the Emperor), Trade (the meat and fish market called Macellum, the textiles market headed by a priestess called Eumachia), Administration (the Basilica) and Politics (Comitium). Other facilities in the Forum were exchange offices, public restrooms, and a public scale (tabula mensurae) where to compare and weigh farmer’s products. In the Forum, you will also see a display of the famous human casts.

Close to the Forum, there were public Bath-Houses where both men and women (in different sections), poor and wealthy, and free and slaves could access daily hygiene. Pompeii had three such complexes in town, plus two right outside town. They all had the following facilities: a changing room (apodyterium), a tepid room (tepidarium), a hot room (calidarium) and a Gym (Palestra).

You will notice several places fronting the road with large vases built in a masonry counter: this is what the Romans called popinae, today’s taverns! These jars were full of food and beverages, and many ancient Pompeians would stop in such places for lunch.

You will recognize some of the bakeries of Pompeii, with their ovens and grinding machines: incredible but true, some round carbonized loaves of bread were found during the excavations. These finds are on exhibit at the Archaeological Museum of Naples with more carbonized organics such as almonds, pine cones, figs, dates, etc.

If you wish we can also explore the Brothel  (Lupanare). There you can an interesting display of Roman frescoes featuring several erotic images! If the famous Lupanare is too busy with visitors, we can also see erotic frescoes at the Suburban Bath-House.

Do not miss the chance to discover Pompeii places for public performances: an outdoor Theater (for comedy and tragedy), an indoor theatre (Odeion, for mimes and declamation of poetry), and a big amphitheater (for games like gladiators or beast fights). You shall visit at least one of those places.

Pompeii is too big to be visited entirely in one day. Leisure Italy will make sure you see the highlights. Our optional guided tour aims to visit an example for each typology of building. 

After the tour at Pompeii, if you wish, you can stop for a few minutes for a fresh-squeezed orange juice or to browse the souvenir shops.

Tour tags

Tour Reviews

5.00 based on 5 reviews
31st December 2022

We contacted Leisure Italy for a private driver and tour guide to Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. Giuseppe was both our driver and private guide for Pompeii. He was amazing! He was very knowledgeable and kind. He managed our time very well. We learned so much in Pompeii and it was one of our favorite activities in our trip to Italy. We also loved the hike up Mt. Vesuvius. The views of the crater and of the Bay of Naples are breathtaking! We opted to not do the wine tasting since we wanted a quicker lunch and Giuseppe made a great recommendation. Everything from our trip – from the morning pick-up, activities, to drop off at night – went smoothly. We are so happy that we used Leisure Italy for our day trip to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, and that Giuseppe was our guide for the day. We highly recommend them!

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