Pompeii - with a tour or on your own? What is best way?
Mar 30th, 2013, 11:22 AM
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Pompeii - with a tour or on your own? What is best way?
Should I take a tour from Sorrento so see Pompeii or should I make my own way to Pompeii and possibly take a short tour there and then be able to stay as long as I want on my own? If I do it without a tour is there a long line up & do I have to purchase tickets in advance? Any info would help such as easy to get there? etc.
Mar 30th, 2013, 11:49 AM
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I agree - go on your own. There are audio guides as well as tours at the site. It is a very large site so having one of these will help you understand what all you are seeing and likely get more out of the visit. We went almost 5 years aog and did not do either and wished we had done one of them. Depending on when you are there, it can also get quite hot with not a lot of shade so take lots of water though you can buy some there (for a premium of course). We were there in late May, sunny day, about 90 and walked all over. Tired and thirsty when done but loved the visit.
Mar 30th, 2013, 12:00 PM
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I agree as well. It's easy to do on your own, and there is plenty of information there. I did it on my own a couple of years ago and it was fine. You can buy tickets at the office there. I went in late April and there was no line.
Mar 30th, 2013, 12:12 PM
#5
A tour from Sorrento would probably just take you to Pompeii where you would be put in with a licensed guide (only licensed guides allowed to lead tours in there). You can find a guide on your own at the entrance (there will always be some there gathering people for tours) or rent their audio guide (about 7€). You can also download Rick Steves' audio guides for free from ITunes.
The train from Sorrento to Pompeii is easy (about 30 minutes and 2-3€ one way). The Pompeii Scavi station is just across from the entrance of the ruins.
If you are going to be based in Sorrento several days and visiting Amalfi/Positano along with Pompeii, you should consider getting the 3 day Campania Artecard Tutta La Regione (27€). It gives you entrance to two sites (Pompeii, Herculaneum, archaeology museum in Naples, etc.) and free transport (most transport along the coast from Naples to Paestum). It covers the tram/metro/buses in Naples, the Circumvesuviana train between Naples/Herculaneum/Pompeii/Sorrento, the Sita buses along the Amalfi coast and certain trains/buses to Paestum. Only the 3 day Tutta La Regione includes this transport. If you scroll down to the list of sites and click on one, it will give you the transport you need to use to reach the site along with hours, etc.
http://www.campaniartecard.it/itinerary.cfm?id=13
The train from Sorrento to Pompeii is easy (about 30 minutes and 2-3€ one way). The Pompeii Scavi station is just across from the entrance of the ruins.
If you are going to be based in Sorrento several days and visiting Amalfi/Positano along with Pompeii, you should consider getting the 3 day Campania Artecard Tutta La Regione (27€). It gives you entrance to two sites (Pompeii, Herculaneum, archaeology museum in Naples, etc.) and free transport (most transport along the coast from Naples to Paestum). It covers the tram/metro/buses in Naples, the Circumvesuviana train between Naples/Herculaneum/Pompeii/Sorrento, the Sita buses along the Amalfi coast and certain trains/buses to Paestum. Only the 3 day Tutta La Regione includes this transport. If you scroll down to the list of sites and click on one, it will give you the transport you need to use to reach the site along with hours, etc.
http://www.campaniartecard.it/itinerary.cfm?id=13
Mar 30th, 2013, 01:27 PM
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From Sorrento, it is a trivial and a cheap commuter train ride to Pompeii.
Whether you want a guide or not depends on how much prep you care to do and what you want to get out of the visit.
If you just want to wonder around, you can just as well do it on your own with a map. The downside of this approach is that unless you have prepared before the trip, you will not know the meanings of what you are looking at.
The guide will give you more detailed info without having to prepare for the visit.
If you really want to explore the site and are willing to prepare for the visit, it is best to do it on your own without any time constraints or limited by what the guide cares to tell you. Some of the materials are "The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found" by Mary Beards, a thick volume. From mainly the architectural and art point of view, you can view the videos at Lectures 4,5,6,7,and 8 of the Roman architecture course http://oyc.yale.edu/history-art/hsar-252#sessions . The lecture 8 is relevant if you plan to venture to the Villa of Mysteries. If you are also visiting the Forums area in Rome, the remaining videos help you understand the numerous forums, basilicas, arches, palaces,columns, and baths populating the site.
Whether you want a guide or not depends on how much prep you care to do and what you want to get out of the visit.
If you just want to wonder around, you can just as well do it on your own with a map. The downside of this approach is that unless you have prepared before the trip, you will not know the meanings of what you are looking at.
The guide will give you more detailed info without having to prepare for the visit.
If you really want to explore the site and are willing to prepare for the visit, it is best to do it on your own without any time constraints or limited by what the guide cares to tell you. Some of the materials are "The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found" by Mary Beards, a thick volume. From mainly the architectural and art point of view, you can view the videos at Lectures 4,5,6,7,and 8 of the Roman architecture course http://oyc.yale.edu/history-art/hsar-252#sessions . The lecture 8 is relevant if you plan to venture to the Villa of Mysteries. If you are also visiting the Forums area in Rome, the remaining videos help you understand the numerous forums, basilicas, arches, palaces,columns, and baths populating the site.
Mar 30th, 2013, 05:38 PM
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If you've learned something about it - then by all means go on your own and see what you want at your own pace. We've done it twice and loved it - but drive from Sorrento.
If you want a guide you can get one at the gate - but negotiate (and I have no idea of the price).
If you want a guide you can get one at the gate - but negotiate (and I have no idea of the price).
Mar 30th, 2013, 06:47 PM
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You'll need something, otherwise you could wander aimlessly for hours with no idea what you are seeing. I'm very lucky to be married to an Ancient History teacher, so I had my own private tour guide.
The train from Sorrento is easy if you don't have a car. We were there in May and it was extremely hot. Take a hat, sunscreen and water. If we go again I'm taking a little umbrella and don't care if I look a bit ridiculous.
The train from Sorrento is easy if you don't have a car. We were there in May and it was extremely hot. Take a hat, sunscreen and water. If we go again I'm taking a little umbrella and don't care if I look a bit ridiculous.
Mar 30th, 2013, 08:02 PM
#9
A video lecture to watch before you go:
http://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...a-of-mysteries
If you'll be spending time in Rome too, note the additional topics listed on the left side of the screen.
http://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...a-of-mysteries
If you'll be spending time in Rome too, note the additional topics listed on the left side of the screen.
Mar 31st, 2013, 06:55 AM
#12
You can e-mail the thread to yourself.
If you decide to find a guide at the gate, make sure you can understand them. Sometimes the person gathering the group is not the actual guide. Some have more heavy accents than others and can be harder to understand.
If you decide to find a guide at the gate, make sure you can understand them. Sometimes the person gathering the group is not the actual guide. Some have more heavy accents than others and can be harder to understand.
Mar 31st, 2013, 09:05 AM
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We went on our own from Sorrento on the Circumvesuviana - a short trip. We got a guide, along with a small group (9 or 10) at the ticket counter and really enjoyed the 2.5 hours with him. He was extremely interesting and articulate and added considerably to the tour. We then went on our own for a while to seee some of the things not included on the tour.
Mar 31st, 2013, 10:01 AM
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I second just downloading the Rick Steves free MP3 tour. Map and mp3 download can be found on this page--scroll down right under the Italy section and look at the end of the Rome line for the links.
Heck, at the time I used these tours in Venice, I did not even own an mp3 player or smartphone. My daughter did. I sent her the links, she downloaded the mp3 files, I printed the maps, we took a splitter and two sets of ear buds. Voila! Free tours everywhere, although we did look like conjoined twins.
Heck, at the time I used these tours in Venice, I did not even own an mp3 player or smartphone. My daughter did. I sent her the links, she downloaded the mp3 files, I printed the maps, we took a splitter and two sets of ear buds. Voila! Free tours everywhere, although we did look like conjoined twins.
Mar 31st, 2013, 11:38 AM
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On your own with *their* audioguide which offers 2, 4, and 6hr tours, I just assume? it is alot more detailed than the others you can download?
If you are going to spent the better part of the day you could do both?
Rent the audioguide (picture ID needed for a deposit, I have also seen CC used but would pass on that option) and take a 2-2.5hr guided tour.
When it ends just continue on your own, the sites are numbered and no specific route needs to be followed.
If time allows I would exit by the 'Villa dei Misteri' (an intact Roman Villa that produced wine) and walk the 600m back to the entrance (and Circumvesuviana station) to retrieve your ID.
A great website with alittle of the owner's religion thrown in
but it
doesn't effect the info in any way.
A few minor points are wrong but the *additional* info he provides greatly overshadows those minor points.
I don't think you can find one better?
www.thecolefamily.com/italy/pompeii/index.html
--------------------------------------------------
A simplied 'off the top of my head' eruption timetime and I use "plumice stones" as a general term for the different types of material fallout.
Also 'Pyroclastic Surges" hit Pompeii but Herculaneum was either hit by a 'Pyroclastic Flow' or a 'Pyroclastic Surge' both types are always mentioned so I don't know which is accurate but overall a minor point.
August 24, 79 AD ~1:00PM;
BIG BANG! The top of Mt. Vesuvius explodes.
A column of superheated gases and debris rises to 17 miles above the volcano.
Pompeii is downwind so ash and plumice stones start to fall.
It's dusty with the ash but survivable, the plumice stones are light so it's like a hailstorm, people tie pillows on their heads and escape.
Being under this volcanic "cloud" and the ash like a thick fog Pompeii is in total darkness during the sunny afternoon.
Those that remain seek shelter indoors but after hours this fallout weighs heavily on the flat roofs and many die when they collapse.
Now the survivors go outside either in the streets, open courtyards or very structurally sound buildings if they weren't already there.
None of the plaster casts show signs of a pillow void so I'm guessing that the plumice stones were not a problem in the following morning?
Survivors only have to remain above the fallout debris' groundlevel which isn't hard to do.
~Midnight the volcano's 17mi high column collapses for the 1st time.
Herculaneum was not in the downwind fallout so it had a sunny day and a starry night and was only effected by the earthquakes caused by the eruption.
This column's collapse favors Herculaneum's side of the volcano and a superheated pyroclastic flow/surge overtakes the town and buries it.
The ~500C heat kills everyone instantly, their flesh is vaporized leaving only their skeletons.
Pompeii is untouched but during the night as 2 more column collapses occur, the 3rd pyroclastic surge runs out of momentum and stops just before the Walls of Pompeii perhaps they felt a hot gasous wind but they are still alive.
~7AM the 4th pyoclastic surge of mostly superheated gases overtakes Pompeii killing everyone instantly.
This surge and its force isn't as bad as Herculaneum but it does somewhat partially destroy most structures to some extent.
Death is by thermal shock and *not* asphyxiation as was often believed, one reason was the pose of many of the plaster casts that made it look that way.
This 'fighter's pose' of arms and hands up like protecting the face was caused by those muscles contracting from the heat and also the legs after death.
The temperature of this surge was ~300C so the body and even the clothes survived intact.
The body was then covered in ash and over the years it decomposed and left a void that was used to make those plaster casts of the victims.
2 more pyroclastic surges will overtake Pompeii and with ash still falling that level of victims was also buried.
Two points that are often stated but untrue.
There were no lava flows in this eruption so nothing was buried under lava as sometimes claimed.
And Pompeii was not lost until its excavation in the 1748.
Some survivors that escaped early in the eruption later returned and using the unburied tops of tall structures as landmarks tunneled down to their homes to find any expensive valuables they had to leave behind.
Plus Roman soldier's footprints were found in the *top* layer of ash before it hardened.
Eventually grass, shrubs and trees grow and die raising the groundlevel so that it completely covers the tops of those structures and Pompeii's location is lost in time.
If you are going to spent the better part of the day you could do both?
Rent the audioguide (picture ID needed for a deposit, I have also seen CC used but would pass on that option) and take a 2-2.5hr guided tour.
When it ends just continue on your own, the sites are numbered and no specific route needs to be followed.
If time allows I would exit by the 'Villa dei Misteri' (an intact Roman Villa that produced wine) and walk the 600m back to the entrance (and Circumvesuviana station) to retrieve your ID.
A great website with alittle of the owner's religion thrown in
but it doesn't effect the info in any way.
A few minor points are wrong but the *additional* info he provides greatly overshadows those minor points.
I don't think you can find one better?
www.thecolefamily.com/italy/pompeii/index.html
--------------------------------------------------
A simplied 'off the top of my head' eruption timetime and I use "plumice stones" as a general term for the different types of material fallout.
Also 'Pyroclastic Surges" hit Pompeii but Herculaneum was either hit by a 'Pyroclastic Flow' or a 'Pyroclastic Surge' both types are always mentioned so I don't know which is accurate but overall a minor point.
August 24, 79 AD ~1:00PM;
BIG BANG! The top of Mt. Vesuvius explodes.
A column of superheated gases and debris rises to 17 miles above the volcano.
Pompeii is downwind so ash and plumice stones start to fall.
It's dusty with the ash but survivable, the plumice stones are light so it's like a hailstorm, people tie pillows on their heads and escape.
Being under this volcanic "cloud" and the ash like a thick fog Pompeii is in total darkness during the sunny afternoon.
Those that remain seek shelter indoors but after hours this fallout weighs heavily on the flat roofs and many die when they collapse.
Now the survivors go outside either in the streets, open courtyards or very structurally sound buildings if they weren't already there.
None of the plaster casts show signs of a pillow void so I'm guessing that the plumice stones were not a problem in the following morning?
Survivors only have to remain above the fallout debris' groundlevel which isn't hard to do.
~Midnight the volcano's 17mi high column collapses for the 1st time.
Herculaneum was not in the downwind fallout so it had a sunny day and a starry night and was only effected by the earthquakes caused by the eruption.
This column's collapse favors Herculaneum's side of the volcano and a superheated pyroclastic flow/surge overtakes the town and buries it.
The ~500C heat kills everyone instantly, their flesh is vaporized leaving only their skeletons.
Pompeii is untouched but during the night as 2 more column collapses occur, the 3rd pyroclastic surge runs out of momentum and stops just before the Walls of Pompeii perhaps they felt a hot gasous wind but they are still alive.
~7AM the 4th pyoclastic surge of mostly superheated gases overtakes Pompeii killing everyone instantly.
This surge and its force isn't as bad as Herculaneum but it does somewhat partially destroy most structures to some extent.
Death is by thermal shock and *not* asphyxiation as was often believed, one reason was the pose of many of the plaster casts that made it look that way.
This 'fighter's pose' of arms and hands up like protecting the face was caused by those muscles contracting from the heat and also the legs after death.
The temperature of this surge was ~300C so the body and even the clothes survived intact.
The body was then covered in ash and over the years it decomposed and left a void that was used to make those plaster casts of the victims.
2 more pyroclastic surges will overtake Pompeii and with ash still falling that level of victims was also buried.
Two points that are often stated but untrue.
There were no lava flows in this eruption so nothing was buried under lava as sometimes claimed.
And Pompeii was not lost until its excavation in the 1748.
Some survivors that escaped early in the eruption later returned and using the unburied tops of tall structures as landmarks tunneled down to their homes to find any expensive valuables they had to leave behind.
Plus Roman soldier's footprints were found in the *top* layer of ash before it hardened.
Eventually grass, shrubs and trees grow and die raising the groundlevel so that it completely covers the tops of those structures and Pompeii's location is lost in time.
Mar 31st, 2013, 06:12 PM
#16
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All fantastic advice! I'm going to go on my own, join a tour (ensuring I can understand the tour guide) plus I will stay after with a rented audio guide. I'm going to check out the 3 day region pass as well.
Nice to hear that it is super easy to get to & from Pompeii / Sorrento. So excited !
Nice to hear that it is super easy to get to & from Pompeii / Sorrento. So excited !
