How many days do I need in Pompeii?

[Anonymous]

Family is planning to go to Pompeii as part of a larger trip to Italy and France next Spring. How many days should we devote to seeing Pompeii?

[Anonymous]

1 day is enough! It’s fascinating and wonderful but I had seen enough to appreciate it in a few hours (with a guide who knew where to go and highlights to hit). A full day is more than enough.

[Anonymous]

Yep, one day there is fine. We combined it with Sorrento.

[Anonymous]

One day for Pompeii and one day for Herculaneum. They are both spectacular.

There have been some really exciting new finds in Pompeii the past decade.

Herculaneum is fascinating because of how it was destroyed. The buildings were better preserved, so you'll see 2 story houses. And fewer people go there so it's not as crowded.

[Anonymous]

How old are your kids and how into archeology are they? We found one day in Pompeii to be sufficient for our 12 and 8 year olds who love history in general but we’re not enthralled by the site

[Anonymous]

One day is enough. We did the high speed train out of Rome and made it a day trip from there.

[Anonymous]

One day is plenty. Be sure to do the audio guide or a guided tour. Otherwise, there are very few signs up that describe what you are looking at. There are quite a few companies that do kid-friendly Pompeii tours.

[Anonymous]

I agree Herculaneum is as great to see as Pompeii so if you have enough time/interest I would try to see both. Pompeii is impressive for its size, which is good news/bad news when you are walking around.

[Anonymous]

We were there for half a day and it felt like the right amount of time. It was amazing.

[Anonymous]

Depending on the time of year you'll want to think about what time of day will be cooler. I'd say about 2-3 hours was enough for the main site. I also really liked Herculaneum but YMMV. Another option that I really liked was to go up to Vesuvius.

How are you getting around?

[Anonymous]

a few hours for pompei 1 day naples and 1 day for Capri

[Anonymous]

Spent a day in Pompeii with 8th and 9th graders earlier in August and it was aweseom. Wanted to see Herculaneum as well but it's closed on Wednesdays, so plan accordingly. Pompeii is huge and was a thriving city. Herculaneum more like a wealthy suburb. I'm told they're not redundant and seeing both would have been neat.

[Anonymous]

Hire a private guide and maximize your time there. You can do both in a day. We went there in 2009 on a cruise. We walked off the ship to our private driver and he found a guide there. We went in just as the gates opened and saw tons of stuff for 90 minutes before the first cruise ship passengers on excursions got there.

With kids know there are phallic symbols pointing to the brothels and graphic Kama sutraesque drawings in the brothel where you could point to the service you wanted.

Most fascinating tidbit was learning the Romans would send their Greek slaves to the bathhouses to warm up the toilet seats!

Skip Naples but if you go watch for pickpockets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One day is plenty. Be sure to do the audio guide or a guided tour. Otherwise, there are very few signs up that describe what you are looking at. There are quite a few companies that do kid-friendly Pompeii tours.

THIS. We took the high speed from Rome for a daytrip with our 12 and 9 year olds. We were delayed on the local train between Naples and Pompeii, and arrived later than we’d hoped. They were all sold out of audio guides, and the signage was really lackluster. We actually found better signage at Ostia Antica. So if you ask my ruin loving kids which they preferred, it was Ostia. In retrospect, I would pre book a kid friendly guide for Pompeii. Especially if it’s a day when cruise ships are in port, Pompeii is really mobbed.

If you do the high speed option, be sure to purchase directly from the rail line. There are many third party sites, but if you miss your train after purchasing with them, you have to buy completely new tickets (we learned this on the way back from Pompeii. Even though the tickets said that we could take another train without penalty, the railway would not honor it since they didn’t sell the tickets). The third party sites look very official. Just beware. Sorry if this post sounds like sour grapes -it’s not meant to be. But I wish I’d known a few of these things before we went. Because of a couple of factors, it ended up being everyone’s least favorite day on a two week trip. So don’t do what we did!🤣

[Anonymous]

What 11:42 says about the train (it's called Circumvesuviana) from Naples to Pompeii is true--it's more like a subway/commuter and isn't all that fast or punctual.

I did Pompei/Sorrento/Rome (and more) by train last year and happy to give more details. I didn't mind the train as it was generally a scenic ride and my feet needed the rest! But it was pretty slooow.

I am not all that much of a history buff, but I really loved seeing Pompei, Herculaneum (aka Ercolano) and then Oplontis (a villa) plus Vesuvius.

If traveling by car from not so far away, I'd do Pompei first thing in the morning--enter through the main gates and then exit through the gates by the town center. Lunch in the town center (can recommend a place). Then Vesuvius and/or one or two of the other sites. Note that Vesuvius involves a winding drive, which is scenic but might not be for the weak of stomach. And then there is more walking.

I used the Rick Steves podcast and found it to be about the right amount of guidance for my tastes.