Volcanoes
Stromboli exploding almost nonstop, Etna and its 2,700 years of recorded eruptions, a crater sacred to the Tenggerese in a sea of sand: volcanoes to climb, watch or walk around.
- 2 places
- 2 countries
Mount Etna : User:Matthias Süßen, CC BY-SA · Mount Fuji : 名古屋太郎, (edited by Hannes_24), CC BY-SA
Volcanoes to climb, watch or walk around, and the alert level to check first
This page gathers the volcanoes with a page on the site: 2 volcanoes in 2 countries, from Stromboli, exploding at its summit craters every few minutes to few hours, to the Puy de Dôme, climbed by rack railway in 15 minutes. Each page gives the alert level, who sets the rules, the trails and the price.
Read more
Use it to choose by how close you can get. The text below sorts the volcanoes by what the authorities allow today, compares them in a table, gives the climbing seasons and says which summits take a train, a guide, a ticket or nobody at all.
Where to stay
Hotels, guesthouses and rentals around the places most visited on this page.
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Mount EtnaItalySee hotels
Mount FujiJapanSee hotels
Erupting, quiet or closed: what you may do on each volcano
The rule comes from an alert phase, a mayor, a park or a shrine; this is where each stood in October 2026.
A summit in season
Mount Fuji, 12,388 ft, climbed from 1 July to 10 September in 2026; outside the season every route to the top is closed by law.
How to choose among the volcanoes: eight compared
Height, activity and the way up, side by side; the table of altitudes and summit access for every volcano on this page follows.
| Volcano | Country | Height | State in October 2026, and the way up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Etna | Italy | 11,165 ft | Danger zone closed on 20 October; cable car to 8,202 ft, 4x4 bus to 9,186 ft |
| Mount Fuji | Japan | 12,388 ft | Active; four trails, 5 to 9 h up, in season, ¥4,000 fee |
Volcanoes in figures
| Volcano | Country | Altitude | Activity | Summit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Fuji | Japan | 12,388 ft | Active | Restricted access |
| Mount Etna | Italy | 11,165 ft | Active | Restricted access |
Italy
Etna in Sicily, on the World Heritage list since 2013; Vesuvius above the Bay of Naples; Stromboli and Vulcano in the Aeolian Islands, World Heritage since 2000.
France
The Puy de Dôme, highest point of the Chaîne des Puys, inscribed with the Limagne fault in 2018; Piton de la Fournaise on Réunion, more than 250 eruptions observed since the mid-17th century.
Japan and Indonesia
Fuji, a cultural World Heritage site since 2013; Bromo in East Java, sacred to the Tenggerese.
When to go: seasons set by the mountain, the law and the ritual
The law opens Fuji, a ceremony closes Bromo, and an alert phase can shut Etna or the Fournaise the same morning.
By law
Fuji from 1 July to 10 September in 2026 on the Yoshida and Subashiri trails, from 10 July on Fujinomiya and Gotemba.
By ritual
Bromo shut to tourists for Yadnya Kasada from 30 May to 2 June in 2026.
By hours
The Vesuvius crater opens 9:00 to 18:00 in July and August and 9:00 to 15:00 from November to February.
By weather
Leave Pas de Bellecombe at first light on the Fournaise, before the clouds rise.
Rules that come back from one volcano to the next
The table under this text shows where camping, fires and picking plants are banned.
A guide
Compulsory above 951 ft on Stromboli, above 3,281 ft on Vesuvius, and in the Permanent Danger Zone of Etna when the attention phase reopens it.
Booking
Vesuvius sells online alone, 50 tickets every 10 minutes; Bromo takes no cash at the entrance; every Fuji climber registers online and pays ¥4,000.
Kit and bans
A helmet above 8,202 ft on Etna and above 951 ft on Stromboli; no tent and no fire on Fuji; drones banned above the 8.5th station of Fuji.
Wheelchairs and dogs
Three wheelchair spaces per train on the Puy de Dôme, a ramp on the Etna 4x4 buses; dogs on the Puy de Dôme train except category 1, muzzled on the Etna tours.
Rules to know before you go
| Rule | Not allowed |
|---|---|
| Camping | Mount Fuji |
| Fires | Mount Fuji |
| Picking plants | Mount Fuji |
Each page gives the full rules, with their source and the date they were checked.
Free or paid
Admission charged
Mount Fuji (4,000 JPY in 2026).
Walks on site
- Mount Fuji: 富士宮ルート (2.7 mi, 5 h); 御殿場ルート (6.5 mi, 9 h); 須走ルート (4.3 mi, 7 h); 吉田ルート (4.2 mi, 6 h)
Frequently asked questions
Can you see lava at these volcanoes?
Sometimes, from a distance set by the authorities. Stromboli throws out incandescent bombs every few minutes to few hours, seen with a guide up to 1,312 ft; on 5 and 6 October 2026 lava overflowed from its North Crater. On Etna, in the attention phase, walkers keep 164 ft from the edge of active flows and 984 ft from the base of the South-East Crater; on 20 October 2026 the pre-alarm kept the Permanent Danger Zone closed. At Piton de la Fournaise, an eruption closes the Enclos, and the Route des Laves sometimes gives a view of the flows.
Do you need a guide to climb a volcano?
On the active ones, yes, above a set height: 951 ft on Stromboli (an authorised alpine or volcanological guide, groups of 25), 3,281 ft on Vesuvius (a guide of the Presidio with every group), and in the Permanent Danger Zone of Etna when the attention phase allows entry. Fuji, the Fournaise, Bromo and the Puy de Dôme are climbed without a guide, on marked trails, in season and in the phase that allows it.
Which volcano can you visit without a long hike?
The Puy de Dôme: a rack railway reaches the 4,806 ft summit in 15 minutes, with adapted trains and a free summit; on foot, the sentier des Muletiers takes 45 minutes to an hour from the Col de Ceyssat. Etna’s cable car climbs to 8,202 ft and its 4x4 buses to 9,186 ft. Vesuvius needs about 2 h 30 on foot for the 13,156 ft of trail no. 5, and Bromo about 45 minutes across the sea of sand.
When can you climb Mount Fuji?
In the summer season set by the prefectures: in 2026 from 1 July to 10 September on the Yoshida and Subashiri trails, and from 10 July to 10 September on Fujinomiya and Gotemba. Outside the season every trail to the summit is closed under the Road Act, with up to six months in prison or a ¥300,000 fine. The 2027 dates had not been published on 15 October 2026.
How much does it cost to visit a volcano?
Nothing on the Puy de Dôme, where the summit and its visitor spaces are free and the train costs €18.60 from April to September 2026. Elsewhere: €10 for the Vesuvius crater trail in 2026, ¥4,000 per Fuji climber, 255,000 Rp a day for a foreign visitor at Bromo as reported since 30 October 2024, €54 for the Etna Fast Track return to 8,202 ft and €82 for the Tour 3000 as displayed in October 2026. Each page gives the price and its year.
Is it safe to visit an active volcano?
Within the rules in force on the day. Each volcano has a watcher and a phase: the INGV and the regional civil protection on Etna and Stromboli, the Osservatorio Vesuviano on Vesuvius, the prefecture on the Fournaise, MAGMA Indonesia at Bromo, the Japan Meteorological Agency on Fuji. Check the latest bulletin the evening before, keep to the marked route and the stated distances, and accept that a phase can close a summit without notice.