Vesuvius First, then Pompeii, with a Margherita or Marinara in Between

The order here runs the other way round from most: Vesuvius in the morning, lunch on the mountain, Pompeii in the afternoon. The climb goes to 1,000 metres, where a local guide takes over at the crater and explains what the volcano has done and when. The Gulf of Naples is below you the whole way up. Lunch is included and it is pizza, eaten in a pizzeria on the slopes of Vesuvius. The choice is Margherita or Marinara, which in Naples is the whole argument. Then Pompeii, with an authorised guide: the Forum, which was the political, commercial and religious centre of the city; a thermopolium, the Roman counter that sold hot drinks and food ready to eat; the Lupanare; and the Stabian Baths, where the bathing was the pretext and the talking was the point. The tour ends back at the meeting point in Sorrento, about an hour's drive away depending on the traffic.