Vesuvius National Park, Italy

Most tourists visit Vesuvius National Park to hike the trail that leads up to the rim of the volcano. The Great Cono | Vesuvius National Park (parconazionaledelvesuvio.it). Visiting the park, however, is not necessarily straight-forward. A ticket is required to walk the trail, Gran Cono, and it has to be timed just right. This post will enable your visit to Vesuvius National Park to be more seamless, leaving you to enjoy your hike.

The park is located in Southern Italy in the province of Campania. It lies within easy reach of both Rome, Naples, as well as other smaller coastal towns like Sorrento and Positano. The park namesake mountain, Mount Vesuvius, dominates the landscape. I enjoyed its crowning glory from Naples, Italy – HER//Excursions (cloudwaysapps.com), Pompeii, as well as the train and bus along the coastal route.

I purchased a ticket online to hike Gran Cono. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way, later, that tickets are only available online, and park officials ruthlessly enforce entry. They had no problem turning me away for being 2 minutes too late. The entry time allowance to enter the park is 30-minutes prior to the scheduled time, to 90-minutes after. While generous, transportation logistics may result in non-entry. Allot plenty of time for your visit. I attempted go online to purchase another ticket for a different time while at the gate but had no service. I also found out from a vendor close by that the next ticket availability was late afternoon.

Fortunately, I had a backup plan. I headed back down, past the parking lot, to a gate I had noticed on arrival. It turned out to be a trailhead. There was a small building just ahead of the entry, with a trail map and information board to the right. I headed left and followed the yellow blazed La Valle Dell’Inferno Paths and excursions to discover the Vesuvius and its crater – Vesuvius National Park. According to the Park site, the trail is a 7-hour round trip. Interval markers on the trail indicate distance and time to the next marker. La Valle Dell’Inferno was moderately trafficked during my visit. I hiked just under 8 miles, out and back. I found the trail to be somewhat moderately. My portion of it was consisted of moderate even ground, some gentle rises with a few very steep spots. The view showcases jagged black rocks, beautiful blue sea, and a forest of green. It was a beautiful, scenic hike.