The evening that we arrived in Herculaneum (see previous post), we took a bus trip to see Mount Vesuvius, the same chap that had blown his top and caused all that misery back in 79 AD. Mt. Vesuvius hulks over skyline of both Herculaneum and Pompeii with a giant scowl: "Start something, and I'll blow my top again." That is the reason why folk in both of these towns are ultra-polite and well-behaved.
This is what Mt. Vesuvius looks like from Pompeii, photo taken from the entrance to one of the ruins.
Here is another shot, taken from a ferry ride to the nearby island of Procida (another post on that soon).
This is the map of the region, showing Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum (Ercolano), Pompeii, and Naples
You can also see the dotted ferry routes starting from Naples. Procida is on the left, where you see some text.
To see Mt. Vesuvius, you have to reserve your slot at least a week in advance, on this Italian tourism site. We had coordinated our reservation with our visit to Herculaneum. The idea was that we would get there, visit Mt Vesuvius that evening, and the archeological park the whole of next day, before shifting base to Pompeii. To get to Vesuvius, you can take bus tours from either Pompeii or Herculaneum. Pompeii has lots of different bus tours, at different rates, starting from different places. Life is a lot easier at Herculaneum (Ercolano): it is a much smaller town, and has just one bus tour, which starts from near the station. Naturally, you select a bus tour that fits the slot you have reserved on the Italian tourism website. It takes about an hour to get there, through some lush Italian countryside.
The bus takes you most of the way up the mountain, you have to walk another 20 minutes to get to the crater. It's an easy climb.
Here are pics of our walk to the crater, and the crater itself:
