Pompeii - how long to allow?

[hellsBells246]

We're going to Italy over Easter, to Rome and Pompeii. How many nights should we stay in Pompeii? What is the town like? We're going to book a guided tour of the ruins.

Lots to think about! Thank you so much. Will read all replies and look at map. Capri also sounds nice...

As someone else said you should visit Ostia Antica, it was the port town for Ancient Rome. You can get the metro to it. We absolutely loved it.

Guided tour definitely for Pompeii. The guides have so much interesting detail to add. It's not just what you can view, it's knowing why there are certain features in the town and how things were done then. Really brings it to life.

Sorrento do plenty of coach trips to Pompeii, there and back in a day. I believe you can also combine with seeing Vesuvius which is fairly close by.

PS - Pompeii can get extremely hot if it's warm weather, and there's no shade anywhere, so wide brimmed hats are essential. I'd also recommend a hand-held fan too, and lots of suncream

We stayed in Sorrento and day trips. Spent ages in Pompeii, I would give yourself a full day. Unlike others in not sure about a guide. I found the app you can use quite good. I think there is so much to explore that with a guide I would have been constantly thinking about what night be down the street they didn't take me down! I liked being able to just go where I wanted. I think now I've taken it all in them going back with a really expert guide would be good.

That being said we speak a fair few languages between us so occasionally if we overheard something interesting we loitered! But to be honest the app gave us a lot of additional information.

Herculaneum was good too, it blew me away how intact it was. Seeing the intact wood.......... Amazing. Good to do after Herculaneum but takes less time. You can take a bus up to Vesuvius from there too so a good thing to combine both in one day.

From Sorrento most people will try to persuade you that you can only get the expensive express train to Herculaneum but you can get the regular train, you just have to change but it is an easy change.

Stay in Sorrento, it's gorgeous! It's close by and they do coach trips to Pompeii. We went up Mount Vesuvius too. Was a brilliant holiday.

The coach trips are a bit of a tourist trap. Pompeii is easily accessed by train and there are buses between sites. Amalfi coast might be a better option than Capri, either by boat or bus.

We stayed in Sorrento and did guided tour round Pompeii and took ourselves round Herculaneum. I would say at least a day for each.

I’d say two days for Pompei. The first to wander around even the less well preserved areas to get a feeling for the site. The second to visit the museum with its interactive computer 3D reconstruction.
Have you read the first hand account of the eruption by Pliny the Younger to Tacitus? So touching…

The Only Written Eye-Witness Account of Pompeii’s Destruction: Hear Pliny the Younger’s Letters on the Mount Vesuvius Eruption?
https://www.openculture.com/2022/08/the-only-written-eye-witness-account-of-pompeiis-destruction.html

We tried to do Pompeii and Herculaneum is the same day and it wasn’t enough time at all. I’d probably spend a while
day at Pompeii and then a good half a day at Herculaneum. If you choose not to stay in Naples I’d recommend going there for a trip - we stayed there and loved it and there was loads to see and do. The museum is magnificent.