Getting there

To get the start of the hike, you need to catch a bus from outside of Pompeii (Pompeii can be easily reached on the circumvesuviana line from either Sorrento or Naples). Be warned that Italian buses are often late and the timetable belongs in the fiction section of the bookshop. You can buy your bus ticket on board the bus. It is not possible to buy it beforehand unless you are on a tour.

Route/Trail notes

From the ticket office, follow the only trail up the mountain. It is very obvious and literally impossible to stray off the path. The views start opening up pretty quickly. You get cool ocean views as well as peeks into the crater of the Mt. Vesuvius volcano. 

Follow same obvious path down. 

There are toilets and water available on the track.

Permits/Costs

To enter Mt. Vesiusvius National Park, you must have booked a timeslot in advance. Without a ticket, you cannot enter the mountain. You can book this online or you can buy it from one of the many scammers that surround Pompeii and sell them to people who forgot to buy tickets online. It only a few euros, so I recommend buying them online. The website is a bit hard to navigate, but isn't impossible.