To begin with, the paid entrance to the volcano is 11.68 euro to see the crater which is facing the west side towards Naples and Pompeii.

There is an option to NOT see the crater and instead hike along the northeast side of the volcano to the seismologist station which is free. The entrance to this hike is at this coordinate. 40°49'45.1"N 14°25'48.5"E

If you come to the crater entrance without a booked ticket, you will have an impossible time procuring a last minute ticket online. The system to procure last minute tickets at the entrance of the Vesuvius crater is very disorganized and ruins the experience of this historical mountain. In addition, the volcano area is very commercialized with shops at the entrance and at two locations along the hike up the crater. The shops sell drinks (alcohol and non alcohol), souvenirs, and snacks but surprisingly, they don't have garbage bins. They sell you stuff to eat and drink but nowhere do you see a garbage bin and expect you to take it back down. You will see mini suvs that transport food and shop employees up to the top of the crater and back to the entrance yet they can't transport garbage because they are making money from tourists.

The system to enter a national park should be easy without so much headache. You shouldn't need to book online days in advance and come within 100 minutes of the allotted time. When you book your ticket, you have to choose a day and a timeslot. Then you will have 100 minutes grace after the allotted time to use the ticket before it expires.

The ticket for the entrance should be purchased at the entrance. Imagine if you traveled thousands of kilometers hoping to hike up the crater to find out you cannot buy a ticket because the website doesn't allow you to. I saw many tourists who were very disappointed about this situation and had to leave the mountain without seeing the crater. Shame on the system that commercialized this mountain.

When you drive up the mountain, there will be a person who will flag you to turn right and park in the blue lanes for 6 euro. You will need to pay this parking fee online at (www.parkingsuvio.it) but there will be no internet signal in the area. You will need to go to the entrance of the volcano where there is a QR code so that you can get free wifi in order for you to gain access to the internet. At the parking lot, you have the choice of paying 3 euro for a round trip to shuttle from the parking lot to the crater entrance and back or you can hike on foot to the entrance from the parking lot.

Buy your tickets in advance (https://vesuviopark.vivaticket.it/en/). Do not go try to buy last minute because you will not get tickets. The system releases last minute tickets every half hour and those get snatched up fast due to everyone standing at the entrance with their phone trying to buy the tickets. If you do try to buy last minute tickets, remember the website requires you to verify your phone number. They will send a verification code through text message so ensure your phone can receive text messages internationally when you are in Italy. This is critical because I saw many tourists not being able to receive text messages to verify their identity. The guards at the entrance will not let you through without a ticket. You can try to talk to the tour guides in the area or shopkeepers and see if you can pay double the regular ticket price for them to help you get admission. This depends on your luck.

The last option to visit the volcano crater is to book a tour either through a tour guide in Naples or through online purchase. They will offer tickets and shuttle transfers which you will have to ask where the pick up point is. The price will probably be around 40 euro.