Pompeii visit - guided tours or self-guide?

[sonjadog]

Hi, we are going to Pompeii for the first time next month. I have been looking online for tour guides/ self-guiding and there are a lot of different companies. Does anyone have a recommendation? Ideally we would like a couple of hours guiding and wander about on our own, but we are flexible. Thanks!

I just went and asked to join a tour. The guide rounded up 5-6 other people who wanted a tour in English and off we went- you split the cost. I can’t remember how much I paid- maybe about €20 but it might even have been less. It was the right balance of information and guidance around the site but then plenty of opportunity to look around at your own pace after that. I think you have to book/be there at specific times to see inside some of the actual villas so it’s worth checking that out.

I would get there early if you can (train stops opposite and is good value for money). It does get very busy later in the day, as the above poster said, you can just ask to join an english speaking tour once there, they start very frequently. If you get chance I recommend Herculaneum too - much quieter and very interesting too

We had a guided tour last Easter and it was so worth it. Went in the am, definitely better. Also agree re Herculaneum, others did both actually in one day! This one in fact, was amazing! https://www.viator.com/tours/Pompeii/Explore-Pompeii-and-Herculaneum-with-an-Archaeologist/d24336-23258P129

Guided tour - we did a group one and was so worth it, I'd have missed so much otherwise.

We did the self guided tour using the audio guides and a guidebook, and felt like it hit a nice balance of exploring at our own pace and detailed info and insights.

Herclaenum is also brilliant, in a totally different way.

Just went with teens last year. Stayed locally in a lovely little hotel and met the guide outside the ruins at 0900.

It gets VERY hot there so an early start before the hoards and heat arrive is imperative.
At the end you get to mooch round on your own. Guide was fascinating!

The little hotel arranged a guide for us but there are loads outside the train station.

@sonjadog we're going in April so following this keenly!

Are you buying entry tickets upfront? I'm paranoid about not getting in (and we only have one day we can go) - especially since they've capped daily visitors.

Yes, definitely buying upfront.

Thanks for all the advice!

Pompei is fascinating. In the warmer months you need to get there as it opens as the heat ramps up very quickly! We went in August and by lunchtime it was unbearably hot. We didn't have a guide but if I was going again for the first time I would. I think you would get more out it.

Yes if going in hot weather bring a sunhat, there really is barely any shade. I went In May and it was hot but not unbearably so but I was glad of the hat.

Just a heads up that all the guides assume that you’ll want to see the mildly pornographic frescos in the brothel.

I used the audio guide which can be rented at the entrance as I preferred to explore at my own pace. I also read quite a bit about Pompeii before I went there.
I spent an entire day in Pompeii and didn’t see all of it. There are ‘museums’ in both Pompeii and Herculaneum. I didn’t have time to see the one in Pompeii but saw the one in Herculaneum the following day.
I went in twice, once in very early spring and the second time end September. September was still a bit hot, I can’t imagine going there during the summer

Thanks @sonjadog ! Did you use the One Ticket site? Sorry for the extra questions!

If you're going with children then highly recommend Alex Tours (book direct rather than through tour operator), actually even without kids I'd recommend him. My mum has been to Pompeii 3 times and she found his tour by far the most engaging and informative. He takes you off the beaten track as well as the must sees. Even in peak season we were able to stroll through parts of the site that were completely deserted. He gets booked up fairly quickly so definitely plan ahead.

We did a private tour with Kids Tours of Rome and it was completely worth it - really engaging and interesting and the right amount of information. We met the guide at opening then had a two hour tour and were then free to stay in the site as long as we wanted.

We did the tour, then stopped and had a coffee and a snack in the cafe (don't remember that being there the previous time we went 15 years ago!) and then looked around ourselves and were done in time to have a late lunch at one of the restaurants outside the entrance.

Definitely worth doing a tour and getting there early - it was getting uncomfortably busy in the main areas by the time we left. I've done the site both with the audio guide and with the tour and the tour was much better imo.

Haha our rather old fashioned gentleman guide asked us very discreetly if we wanted to visit the “romantic house” given we had two teen boys with us 😆. We went anyway - the pictures were pretty small and the weathered fresco format seemed to stop them noticing anything!

We booked a private archaeologist tour of Pompeii through Viator. Viator advertise lots of small company tours on their site - this is why there are lots of similarly priced things with slightly varying descriptions and titles. Took me a while to figure that out! Our company was generally v well recommended but actually the guide we got was different to the few most often mentioned in the reviews and he was only ok, not brilliant. A bit like a grumpy professor! Nonetheless I would def recommend a tour, and a small or private one if you can afford it. We went around with him in the morning, then he left us at the one cafe / loos place, and we spent the rest of the day walking round by ourselves. It was good having him start us off and see a good range, then be free to explore by ourselves. There’s a bit off to the side - the Villa Misteri or something like that - which most tours don’t include because it’s a bit further to walk to. We took ourselves there straight after lunch - easier than walking there with the guide.

oh yes, and they'll go "oh no children can't possibly go in... it's so shocking" when..it isn't... faded images that the kid won;t even realise are showing you

I have been there without a guide but if I went back I would definitely want one.
You can buy books with maps and information but it's nowhere near enough. I could overhear some of the guided tours and they were a much better insight into it all.

Also, there is no info at all within the site itself so you'd definitely need something.

The kids were however highly amused by the various stone willies carved into the street - indicating brothels in the vicinity (according to some historians anyway).