Pompeii Travel Forum

I have recently been told that you can no longer walk the streets of Pompeii ,and it is only a simulated street that you can walk down.The rest is cordoned off. Can anyone tell me if this is true? And if so, is it worth the money,ie.costs from Rome to Pompeii. Or would Herculaneum give better access?Thankyou .

I can't imagine why someone would tell you that...it's not true. You can walk the actual streets of Pompei, stand in the middle of their amphitheater, walk through frescoed rooms and gardens.

A few streets and buildings are closed off, but most are opened. (Actually, not all of Pompei has been excavated...there are still acres and acres left to uncover.)

I personally think it is well worth the money and time to go. You can do it on your own, taking a train from Rome to Naples, then the local Circumvesuviana train (headed to Sorrento) to the "Pompei Scavi, Villa dei Misteri" stop. It takes about 40 minutes. But be prepared for a long day...Pompei is huge!

That said, Herculaneum is very interesting as well (and less crowded). You can get there by taking the same Circumvesuviana train...about 15 to 20 minutes from Naples.

While it makes for a long day, if you can, I would recommend a couple of hours at the National Archeological Museum in Naples. It has most of the treasures found at Pompei and Herculaneum, and more. Really a great museum.

What a load of old twaddle!

I was there in February this year: of course some streets/buildings are closed for renovation/restoration/excavation and/or safety reasons, but you can walk down many, many original streets and go into many, many original buildings.

Show whoever told you my Pompeii pages and put them straight!

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/73696/23921/

Herculameum is equally brilliant. Go to both!

As a mature woman travelling solo I found the day trip from Rome to Pompeii to be a bit intimidating. So instead I did a full day escorted tour in a 10 person van from Rome, including lunch, with American Express. The guide was a very patriotic Italian :-)

The American Express office for arranging day tours is by the Spanish Steps, in Piazza di Spagna. Expensive, but absolutely worth while!

I am a mature woman who nearly always travels alone.

It's incredibly easy to get to Pompeii from Naples. Get the Circumvesuviana train from Napoli Centrale (www.vesuviana.it for times), get off at Pompeii Scavi and walk across the road to the entrance to Pompeii. Not in the least bit intimidating! You'll get a free map and good guidebook when you pay to go in, and you really don't need to be with a group in order to explore, understand and enjoy. Herculaneum, btw, is equally easy to get to from the Circumvesuviana line, as is the Villa Poppaea at ancient 'Oplontis (Torre Annunziata stop). Free maps and guides at both places. Travel & other info/details on my pages.

I certainly wouldn't pay extra for a tour from Naples (but then I rarely do that anyway).

The question was, I believe, from Rome to Pompeii not from Naples...

Rome to Naples is extremely easy by train.

I had not thought that travelling between the two cities would pose any problem at all, so did not think to mention it. The Rome train arrives at Napoli Centrale, from whence the Circumvesuviana trains depart: it is a matter of getting off, going down some steps, buying a ticjet and getting back on another train. The journey to Pompeii takes about 30 minutes from Napoli Centrale.

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html for Rome/Naples trains (in English).

The entire round trip makes for a very exhausting day for a mature person.

Just walking around in Pompeii can take hours. On a hot day in the sun with no shade available, it becomes less enjoyable than it can and should be.

By the time you return to Rome you are too exhausted to have enjoyed the day out.

It's a matter of personal choice, of course.

Exactly.

Just to add my two cents worth.....and Leics has covered very succintly more or less what I would have said.... we also were in Pompeii in February and we walked for seven hours all over the site. We divided the site into sections, with the snack place at the centre, so that we could have a reviving cuppa at the end of each section. My only reservation about doing the trip from Rome is that the amount of time in Pompeii might be short; however, it depends on one's level of interest. To go from Rome to Pompeii is an easy trip, as Leics says, but to do it all in a day I wouldn't recommend. I would just find it incredibly frustrating to only have three hours or so at Pompeii. And a day trip wouldn't allow you time at Herculaneum or Villa Oplontis. It's not a matter of the maturity (?!!) of the traveller but the amount of time allotted to accomplish the mission. Herculaneum is absolutely worth visiting. In a way, if I was to recommend visiting one site, it would be to go to Herculaneum. At each site one is given a map and a guidebook, and one can also rent an audio guide. We were fortunate, we went to both sites but on two separate days. And I am itching to return. Btw, I would recommend that you pay a visit to the Nat. Archaelogical Museum in Naples before you visit Pompeii and/or Herculaneum. In fact, I would suggest that you overnight in Naples and then you could do both sites and the museum and give the places the merit of the time they deserve.

For clarification, Hawkhead and I were not in the area together (or at the same time).

To do such a visit I'd get a really early train from Rome (the 0715 or 0719), getting me to Naples around 10am, thus to Pompeii around 10.45 ish. Allowing 4/5 hours or so for Pompeii itself, you could still pull in a (fairly speedy) visit to Herculaneum on the way back (if you travel after March): last admission is 1800, April to October.

Then back on the Circumvesuviana for a train to Rome around 1900/2000, arriving somewhere betwen 2100 and 0000 (lots of choice).

A long day, but both easily organised and very well worth it (and cheaper than an organised tour).

Please let us know where you heard this...I just went to the official site (http://www2.pompeiisites.org/), and I can't find any mention of this...

The site of Pompeii is very large, and it is very difficult to imagine that they have shut down the entire site, even though having the current site exposed to the air does cause a degradation to the ruins (seems ironic, I know).

Bill

It's not shut, Bill (though parts of it are, and some parts always will be). Someone was just winding up the OP, I think.

Unless I fantasised everything, of course........... :-)

Gee, J, maybe you confused Pompeii with Ostia Antica...a little bit of vino, bright sunshine...who knows? ;-) hahaha...well, not very likely...

Bill

Not confused in the least.....one's just a bit biggerand further away than the other, but both easy enough to get to imo!

:-)

Thanks for this. I can`t wait. I`ve wanted to go to Pompeii since I was about 8 years old and read about it in a book. Now 54 ,so it`s taken some time.

Heard this from my cousin who heard it from her friend who had been to Pompeii. I did think it strange, si I`m glad i found Virtual tourist. the info has been excellent.

It's taken me the same amount of time to get there!

It will be a magnificent experience, and you will not be disappointed (I wasn't and, like you, I'd dramed of going since I was a child). Have a look at my Pompeii (and Herculaneum etc) pages: I was there this February.

Perhaps what was said was simply misunderstood?