Visiting Pompeii

Pompeii is a must see if you are in that area of the world and should most definitely be done with a tour guide!

It was a day to remember for sure…..and not just because it may have been our drivers first day and it was pure luck we didn’t end up in a terrible accident or three. 🙂

We went with a private driver and a private tour guide for our visit. There is no way I would visit a site like Pompeii without a tour guide, we would have missed so much had it not been for Lucia. She was incredibly knowledgable and clearly passionate about her work. We would have probably gotten lost as well….we saw a couple of people who had no idea where they were or how to get out!

A quick history lesson! 

On 24 August 79AD Mount Vesuvius erupted and devastated the city of Pompeii and it’s citizens. The pyroclastic flow killed around two thousand people. Pompeii was covered under a thick carpet of tons of volcanic ash and left undisturbed until 1748. Explorers found that the volcanic ash had preserved Pompeii exactly as it had been 2,000 years prior. If you want to learn more I recommend you check out these two resources! (History Channel and BBC Science).

The excavation of Pompeii is ongoing, in fact we saw some of it during out visit! It is fascinating to me that there is so much left to discover in this ancient city!

Things to consider when planning a visit to Pompeii

I would say the first thing to think about is the time of year of your visit. We visited at the beginning of July and it was almost unbearably hot. Late spring and early fall have milder weather and I think would make it more bearable in terms of weather.

Getting to and from Pompeii is another consideration. There are trains from many places in Italy that will bring you to Naples and from Naples Centrale you would take the Circumvesuviana Train right to Pompeii.

There are also tours with companies like Viator. A simple google search will give you more information regarding those tours.

Like I said before we went with a private tour that included a driver – who clearly was not familiar with Naples or the surrounding areas 😉 and a tour guide. I will say this is the most costly option, for us it was worth it for the convenience. The cost included being driven to and from Pompeii, the tour guide at Pompeii, being driven to lunch in Naples, and to the National Archeological Museum Naples, admission to both Pompeii and the museum.

I highly recommend the National Archeological Museum, it hold many artifacts from Pompeii and it is worth a visit.

A tour guide is a MUST, I can’t say it enough. YOU NEED A TOUR GUIDE!!!

The last thing to consider is physical ability of yourself and those you are traveling with. It is a long day of walking and depending on when you visit, it is a long hot day of walking!

We went at the height of summer in Italy and although it was incredibly hot, we all agreed it is a must see. We experienced some shenanigans with our driver….but it made for some lasting memories of the day 🙂