A BLONDE VINTAGE

For my Travel Guide to Pompeii, Italy, where do I even begin? Well first, if you’re anywhere near Naples, Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast you have to go to Pompeii. And second, I will be the first to admit that despite a ton of prior research and planning, Pompeii was our worst day. So bad in fact, we walked around for the rest of the week referring to it as the day we “got Pompeii’d”. So, since we learned the hard way and in no way do I want you to go through what we did, I’ve written this travel guide so you can make your day to Pompeii as successful as possible!

This Post is All About Travel Guide to Pompeii Italy

Getting to Pompeii

Every Guide Book out there will tell you to take the Circumvesuviana train, which is a regional network of lines running out of Naples to the east of the city. For visitors the line that is used extensively is the Naples to Sorrento via Pompeii, or vice versa in our case.

The Guide books will tell you it’s easy and will only take a max of 45 minutes, you hop on in Sorrento and hop off at Pompeii. It’s also the least expensive, costing a total of 2.40€ per person each way. All of which is true. What they don’t tell you is that the train is jam packed with people, body to body and scary as hell when it screams through tunnels at lightening speed in complete darkness. It’s also hot, like sweaty, sauna-therapy kind of hot. We arrived in Pompeii dripping and totally uncomfortable.

Additionally, this train often has delays, goes on strike and is a bit unreliable. For instance, when we first arrived at the station in Sorrento, the first two trains we tried to hop on had issues and were ultimately cancelled. This forced us to wait almost two hours at the Sorrento station to catch the train to Pompeii.

Solution

Take the Campania Express, an air-conditioned, express train which runs from Naples to Sorrento and stops in front of Pompeii. We discovered this train, purely by accident. As we left Pompeii, I was tempted by the taxis lining the street outside of the exit but we had already paid for the train and decided to bite the bullet. However, when we came into the train station, there was this sleek silver train sitting on the railway, with a conductor leaning out yelling “Sorrento!”. We hurried towards the train, and tried to get on with our pre-purchased tickets but we were stopped and told we did not have the correct tickets. We inquired how we could get tickets and they said we could buy them inside or onboard. We decided to hop on and paid 6€ per person. It was the best decision we made.

Touring Pompeii

Now, if you go to Pompeii, get a guide. It will be the best money you spend.

Guide books will also tell you to simply get your guide when you arrive in Pompeii. There is a little city tourist center right outside the gates which will assign you a guide, for 12€ per person (not including Pompeii admission) and within 10 minutes you’ll be on your way with your group and walking through the admission gates. While all of this is true, what they don’t mention is the quality of the guide is lacking. While our tour guide was very sweet, she was not very educated in everything Pompeii. You could tell she ran the same route day-in and day-out but did not know much about the old city overall, which was disappointing.

We originally chose and liked this option because it did not tie us to a certain day/time that we had to go to Pompeii. However, after experiencing it, we would plan it much differently!

Solution

We would select a specific day and time to go to Pompeii and sign up for the Rick Steve’s approved Mondo Guide Shared Tour. It’s 15€ per person (not including Pompeii admission), you meet right outside of the Pompeii gates at the assigned time and off you go on a two-hour guided walking tour.

Second, download the Rick Steve’s App and the Pompeii Walking Tour. We actually did this step once we realized our tour guide was not so awesome, and back tracked through the old city to make sure we saw all the important sights and understood the history.

Third, if you see a exhibit gate open, duck into it! Often times exhibits are open randomly throughout the city.. so if you see one that’s open, don’t you dare miss it!

Last, do not miss the Visitors Center and the pottery exhibit, these were our top two favorites and no guide even mentioned them!

What To Wear To Pompeii

This was the only thing we did right on our day trip to Pompeii. We wore workout clothes and tennis shoes. Best. Decision. Ever.

First, Pompeii is huge. It would take you three days to explore the entire city. Second, it’s hot (in the spring/summer). All that stone traps the heat and radiates onto you while the sun simultaneously beats down on you. Third, the “cobblestone” roads are more like boulders. Watch your step. We had three people on our tour fall because they were wearing improper footwear.

Etc.

Bring lots of water. We each brought a 1.5 liter bottle and they were completely empty by the time we left.

Wear sunscreen (here is my personal non-toxic favorite) and bring it with you to reapply. We reapplied about three times during our day trip to Pompeii. The sun in Southern Italy is no joke, so make sure you stay well protected.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Pompeii is amazing and not to be missed!

Have more tips for me to add to this guide? Write them in the comments below!

XO,

M

This Post was All About Travel Guide to Pompeii Italy

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