Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius

Pompeii is a ruined and mostly buried Roman city that is situated about 8 miles from the volcanic Mount Vesuvius in the Italian region of Campania. It is close to Napoli or the modern day Naples. On a hot afternoon in August, 79 AD Mount Vesuvius literally blew up its crest, spewing tons of molten lava that engulfed Pompeii along with its sister city Herculaneum resulting in complete destruction of both the cities and total loss of life.

Even though details of this disastrous destruction was recorded by those who had accidentally survived the holocaust, both Pompeii and Herculaneum remained lost for more than 1600 years before their fortuitous discovery in 1592. Since then periodic excavations have been undertaken and this finally unearthed the tragedy that happened so many years ago. The excavation also provided glimpses of how people lived during the hey day of the Roman Empire. However, this UNESCO World Heritage Site has now become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, and it is visited by thousands of tourists from across the world.

“Explore legendary Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, the only active volcano in continental Europe”, eulogize some of the tour operators, “on a full-day guided tour from Naples”. It includes “both a guided tour of Pompeii’s haunting ruins plus a climb to the smoking summit of the volcanic Mt. Vesuvius,” it reaffirms.

This sounds fine to most tourists since taking a guided tour is the ideal way to experience the mysterious ruins of Pompeii, which incidentally, happens to be the biggest archaeological site in Europe. For people joining the guided tour, it takes about a couple of hours to the Forum, the Thermal Baths, Vetti’s House and the Lupanare brothel, all of which had lain under a thick covering of molten sludge and ashes for thousands of years.

After finishing a pizza lunch break lasting for an hour or so, you will be taken by coach to view Mt. Vesuvius, which is situated around 8 miles away from the scene of the disaster. Here tourists are given the option of scaling the treacherous mountain and reaching the crater (3900 feet) from which plumes of steam still reach the sky, grimly reminding the onlooker of what happened in the far too distant past. Or you could go on a helicopter ride to the top of the peak as well. Of course, as an added incentive, you could see the city of Naples, the coastline and as far away as Capri from the sky.