About halfway up the hill, the museum tells the history of 2000 years of Vesuvius-watching.
Note that Sunday visits may soon be by reservation only.
Museo dell'Osservatorio Vesuviano
Mt Vesuvius
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
7.94 MILES
Naples' National Archaeological Museum serves up one of the world’s finest collections of Graeco-Roman artefacts. Originally a cavalry barracks and later…
8.16 MILES
Originally designed as a hunting lodge for Charles VII of Bourbon, the monumental Palazzo di Capodimonte was begun in 1738 and took more than a century to…
7.65 MILES
It's in this Masonic-inspired baroque chapel that you'll find Giuseppe Sanmartino's incredible sculpture, Cristo velato (Veiled Christ), its marble veil…
3.11 MILES
Herculaneum harbours a wealth of archaeological finds, from ancient advertisements and stylish mosaics to carbonised furniture and terror-struck skeletons…
7.12 MILES
The ghostly ruins of ancient Pompeii (Pompei in Italian) make for one of the world's most engrossing archaeological experiences. Much of the site's value…
Certosa e Museo di San Martino
8.31 MILES
The high point (quite literally) of the Neapolitan baroque, this charterhouse-turned-museum was built as a Carthusian monastery between 1325 and 1368…
8.3 MILES
Naples' oldest and most sacred catacombs became a Christian pilgrimage site when San Gennaro's body was interred here in the 5th century. The carefully…
23.66 MILES
There are castles and then there’s Ischia’s Castello Aragonese, a veritable fort-city set on its own craggy islet, looking like a cross between Harry…
Nearby Mt Vesuvius attractions
1.86 MILES
Since exploding into history in AD 79, Vesuvius has blown its top more than 30 times. What redeems this slumbering menace is the spectacular panorama from…
2.88 MILES
Using computer-generated recreations, this 'virtual archaeological museum' brings ruins such as Pompeii's forum and Capri's Villa Jovis back to virtual…
2.89 MILES
Straddling Via Pugliano in the heart of Ercolano, Italy's largest pre-loved clothing market sells everything from stock-standard junk to fabulous offbeat…
3 MILES
Herculaneum's ancient high street is lined with shops, and fragments of advertisements; look for the wall fresco advertising wines by colour code and…
3.02 MILES
The Casa del Bel Cortile is home to three of the 300 skeletons discovered on the ancient shore by archaeologists in 1980. Almost two millennia after the…
7. Casa di Nettuno e Anfitrite
3.03 MILES
This aristocratic pad takes its name from the extraordinary mosaic in the triclinium (dining room), which also features a mosaic-encrusted nymphaeum …
3.05 MILES
Named after the elegant brick Corinthian columns that flank its main entrance, the House of the Large Portal is home to some well-preserved wall paintings.