We are spending a few days in Rome in late

We are spending a few days in Rome in late September and were planning to take a day trip to Pompeii. Now, we're wondering whether we should see Herculaneum instead. Or rush through and try to see both. Any suggestions? Thanks.

The main thing I would urge is NOT do see both in a day trip from Rome. The time it takes to get to the area is on the outer edge of how long you would want to spend travelling for a day, so definitely pick one or the other. <BR> <BR>Certainly Pompeii (P) is much more famous, is much much larger and you can easily spend four hours or so there during your day trip. It is a huge site, as ancient ruins go, and the highlights are acatterred around - many of the buildings are in enough of a ruined state that they do not hold much interest on their own. <BR> <BR>I actually liked visitng Herculaneum (H) more than P. H is very small in comparison - about four blocks by five blocks - all built in a grid. To visit, you can just go up one street, then down the next - most people cover the site in maybe 2 or 2.5 hours it seems. If you go there, you can also visit Naples for a few hours. H is only about 20 minutes by Circumvesuviana train from Naples. P does have some more "spectacular ruins than found anywhere in H. Building for building, the ruins in H are in better shape. <BR> <BR>To give a concrete (pun intended example) - both sites contain a number of buildings with at least portions of wall murals still intact. At P, you may see one of these, then there may not be one for a couple of blocks - you really need a guide to steer you to the highlights - esp. if pressed for time. At H, you may be at a house with a mural, and the next one is just 50 feet up the road.

I agree with Howard. I enjoyed Herculaneum more simple because it was more do-able though when we got to pompeii, they were on strike until 2pm - we had got there at 9am. <BR> <BR>Pompeii can easily take you all day while Herculaneum, about 1/2 a day. The day we did Herculaneum, we also did Mt. Vesuvius. <BR> <BR>Our base was Sorrento.

I say "go for the gold", just make it a long daytrip (~14hrs) and do both. Take the ~0600 IC train to Naples, eat something on the train. Get to Pompeii ~0900, give Pompeii 4 full hrs on site, which is decent. Hop back on the Circumvesuviana train to Naples get off halfway at Ercolano and walk 5min to Herculaneum, grabbing a quick lunch along the way. I'd give Herculaneum 2hrs, as others mentioned it's small (~225M X 160M) and that's enough time for a good tour. The time from P to H, under an hour, 2 trains per hour, ~20min journey and a 5min walk. A daytrip to Herculaneum alone (already mentioned), I'd combine with either a visit to the Archaeological Museum in Naples or a Mt Vesuvius trip. HTH Regards, Walter <BR>

Here's a vote for Pompeii. <BR> <BR>We had this same debate when we went to Italy in November. We went back and forth between the two places and were set on Herculaneum for a while because of the less touristy appeal. <BR> <BR>In the end, we went with Pompeii. The deciding factor was the plaster casts of some of Vesuvius's victims. As far as I know, Herculaneum doesn't have any of these plaster casts. (Please correct me if I am wrong!) As morbid as it may sound, I really wanted to see the mortal side of Pompeii. Seeing those casts - especially the one of a person with his (or her?) hands over his nose and mouth in a desperate attempt to keep out the ashes - was a really moving experience. <BR> <BR>Seeing all those ancient buildings, frescoes, and mosaics still in tact was amazing - but those casts were really the clincher for me.

Is it depth or breadth that guides your interest (rhetorical)!!! <BR> <BR>Visiting either site is really not complete without a visit to the archaeological museum in Naples. (Many of the artifacts from both Pompeii and Herculaneum reside there.) <BR> <BR>For a deeper, richer visit combining the museum and site chosen deserves consideration. <BR> <BR>Based on time constraints Herculaneum and the museum would be a deeper experience as Pompeii is very large (read time consuming). <BR> <BR> <BR>

To the top.

I just returned from Italy and my daughter and I easily spend a day in Pompeii and Naples while staying in Rome. <BR> <BR>The Eurostar trains make the trip between Rome and Naples in less than two hours (about $39 round trip), then the Circumvesuviana train (maybe $5 R/T) to Pompeii Scavi is only a 30 minute ride. We spent three hours in Pompeii and then took the train back to Naples for a two-hour stay. Then back to Rome. It was 13 hours from start to finish.