Pompeii visit guide or no guide?
 

I'm traveling to Pompeii in a couple of weeks with my mother, a young 70+. Our plans are to explore Pompeii and the museum in Naples. We are staying in Sorrento and I'm clear on how to get to the site but not sure whether we should hire a guide or not. I was confused by another blogger who had mentioned making reservations for various parts of Pompeii i.e. the suburban baths and various houses yet I can't find information on the Pompeii site or from others here that have done that or the need for that. Any help or information will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

eboy,

On my last trip, I was very happy using the audioguide. It gave me more than enough info and I'm someone who takes a lot of time in any musuem. It was my second trip, I knew I wanted to spend a long time (4.5 hours) and I could choose my route and see what I missed the first visit! I think most guides do 2 hour tours.

I visited the Suburban baths, but at the time, all you had to do was get a free ticket for it at the regular ticket office. I just went in and did pass a group doing a tour, but I don't know if that was a scheduled thing.

Some of the houses and other buildings are only open by appointment. I can't say which as I have not visited those.

You will enjoy Pompeii. Fascinating. Be sure to take a wide brim, breathable hat, sunscreen and LOTS of water. I understand the cafeteria (which was quite good) was closed recently. Check on that, otherwise take some food!

Buon viaggio!

Hi, eboy -

I used the audioguide and found it very helpful.

There are a few specific sites that may require an advance reservation, so if you are interested in them, it would serve you well to book them. The web site is:

http://www.arethusa.net/w2d3/v3/view...contenuto.html

The web site is in Italian. If you don't speak Italian, you can use Babel Fish or some other translater site.

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

Hope that helps!

We were in Pompeii in early November. We arrived on the train from Naples. There are several entrances. We did not have a guide, or the audio tour. Huge mistake. Even with the map, we had such a hard time, missed so much, many regrets. Pompeii is huge, and all on foot. We eavesdropped on a guide with a client, and wished we were with a guide. Hope to return some day and do it right.

Like Giftnurse we did not get a guide and we regretted it. There were several offering their services near the entrance and I was too into the wariness I felt in Naples to trust anyone. We got a lot out of going on our own, but would have had a much better experience hiring someone for a two-hour guided tour.

BE SURE to bring or buy water, sunhat, etc. as mentioned above. Hot and dry there.

I think you'd regret it if you don't have a guide, even if for just a couple of hours to orient you to the site and show you a few of the highlights. It's very large, there's no way you can see it all in one visit, so it's helpful to have someone help you make some sense of it. I've spent full days there three different times and am going back again in May.

Definitely get a guide. Ours was organised in advance and perhaps your hotel would ring ahead and arrange one for you? They are not free of course. We would have missed so much without him and if you are interested in a particular topic - what the Roman cafes were like for example and yes they had them or something like anyway - then they will know. The ones employed by the site itself have impressive qualifications.

Thank you so much for all of your info. I booked three of the locked houses and will hire a guide!!

Do the guides charge by the person? We are four people and hiring one guide for the four of us could be a good way to go. What is the going rate? Are tips expected and, if so, how much? We're not sure when we want to go, so reservations won't work. I don't mind audio guides, but prefer a human guide. We hired guides at the Acropolis in Athens and the Grand Palace in Bangkok and both times it was great as they moved at our pace and had patience as we took our photos. We just showed up and guides approached us at the entrances. I assume we could do that here. Are the lines long in April? When is the best time to go to avoid crowds? I've been watching the weather reports for Rome and Sorrento and the weather has been cold (for us Southern California ladies) and a little rainy. We're going in three weeks and I hope the weather gets warmer.

The going rate for human (licensed) tour guides at Pompeii is 50 euro per hour and they suggest a 2 to 2.5 hour tour, unless you want to visit one or more of the 5 houses. If so, you should add extra time for each house, unless you wish to explore them on your own. Reservations are necessary to visit the houses and a limited number of people can visit every 30 minutes.

The best time to go to Pompeii to avoid the crowds is 8:30 am - right when they open.