Amalfi Coast: Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and the Italian Way of Driving
Following a few days in Rome, we were again off to the coast. This time the location was the popular Amalfi Coast, and we also wanted to explore the volcano Vesuvius and Pompeii.
We had picked the small, cozy seaside village Minori as our base. We quickly had our first true Amalfi Coast experience: driving the very narrow and winding coastal roads on a busy Sunday afternoon where cars, scooters and buses drive like there is no tomorrow! Nonetheless, despite almost having several heart attacks, the drive was spectacular offering beautiful views of the coast and the many villages built directly on the coast.
Staying in Minori felt like returning to a world of the past. Here were no supermarkets with one-stop grocery shopping but instead numerous specialty shops. Grocery shopping suddenly involved visiting a butcher, greengrocer, bakery and many more – and siesta was closely observed so good luck trying to buy groceries between 1-5pm…
Pompeii: The Village Buried from the Eruption of Vesuvius
The Amalfi Coast is very close to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii, the village which was buried in AD 79 following a devastating eruption from the famous volcano. Today, Pompeii is an archaeological park with very well-preserved houses, buildings and roads, giving a unique insight into Roman life almost 2000 years ago.
To prepare the children for Pompeii, we had read and seen videos about the village and the eruption ahead of the visit. They were very taken with the story about the sudden eruption of the volcano, which took a whole village by surprise and left it buried for centuries. They especially caught interest in what it must have been like for the people living there.
We had downloaded the Pompeii app ahead of the visit. Once there it was helpful to be able to read about the different monuments and houses, learn about the kind of people who had lived there and what the buildings had been used for. This brought the village to life for the kids and they vividly imagined what was like all those years ago. They walked through with great interest for a full two-hours – and kept returning to the topic in the days following with many questions and new considerations.
Mount Vesuvius: Hiking an Active Volcano
While in the area, we also wanted to see the active volcano Mount Vesuvius with our own eyes. The famous volcano dominates the landscape around Naples and can be seen from a great distance. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted in the last 100 years (1944) – and is considered one of the most dangerous volcanos in the world as more than two million people live in close vicinity of the volcano. Niklas and Frederik found the volcano fascinating, yet also somewhat frightening. It was with great interest and excitement that we started our trip to the top of the volcano.
It had been a bit of a challenge to figure out what kind of tickets were needed to hike up to the crater– and not least to get them printed once ordered as we did not have a printer in the apartment we stayed in (but luckily Minori also had a small print and postal shop!). So we had our tickets for parking and for entering the national park and now all we needed was to drive up to the start of the hiking trail.
The parking lot is on Mount Vesuvius in an altitude of 800 metersand from there one can either hike to the entrance of the national park or take a shuttle bus. We opted for the shuttle bus as we were not sure how strenuous the hike to the crater was. The hike from the gate of the national park starts at an altitude of 1000 meters and it is just a 30 minute walk to the rim of the crater at an altitude of 1281 meters. The walk to the top turned out to be easy and it was fun to walk on the volcanic stones and debris from Vesuvius.
The view from the top was amazing and it was fascinating to look down into the crater and see volcanic gases released from the magma. The crater looked still and peaceful and it was difficult to understand that deep down below the crater there are chambers of magma which could erupt one day.
On the way back down, we walked all the way back to the parking lot. We had arrived at Mount Vesuvius early in the morning, ahead of the many tourist buses which first visit Pompeii and then Mount Vesuvius. As we walked back down, many of the tourists started to hike up and we were happy to have been early hikers and avoided the crowds!
