I am starting a new thread on this subject after reading all the previous recommendations.

We are on a budget, and so far the least expensive tour guide I have found for Pompeii and Herculaneum is 200 Euro. Does anyone know of a less expensive guide for these sites? We are staying in Sorrento, but have an Arte Card so we could meet the guide either at the Naples train station or at the entrance to the site.

Has anyone just waited outside the entrance and "interviewed" the local guides to find out how much English they speak and choose a guide that suits us? That is what we did at the Forum in Rome and it turned out to be the highlight of our trip.

Also, if we take the train to Pompeii and Hercumaneum and try to do this on our own with the head phones, how far is the walk from the Circumvesuiana train stations to actually get into the sites? I have some difficulty in walking long distances.

Thanks in advance for any advice. John

There are always guides hanging around the entrance to Pompeii and, according to recent accounts of a crackdown, they are now all licensed guides. From the Circumvesuviana station to the archeological site in Pompeii, it's maybe 150 yards (but the site itself is vast).

Guides do not hang around at Herculaneum, and it's a longer walk to the site: more than half a mile.

At Pompeii, the entrance area is rather large and outside. You will easily find a guide there. You don't have headphones with the audio guide. They are handheld and you just hold it close enough to your ear to listen. All of the sites are numbered so you don't have to follow a set itinerary. You just enter the number of the site you are visiting and listen. Pompeii is just across the street from the train station, but you will have to do lots of walking inside and much is uneven.

Herculaneum is downhill from the train station. Don't count on an audio guide there as they seem to run out.

The website for both.
http://www.pompeiisites.org/

If you take the audio guide at Pompeii you will need to leave some identification at the rental kiosk. I gave my driver's license but I believe a passport copy is also OK. The audio kiosk at Herculaneum was not open when I was there and there were no guides at the site.

If you have trouble walking long distances (not sure what that means in terms of distance) then you should know that walking at Pompeii is rough. The site is huge and the ground is very uneven.

The audio guide rentals in Italy always wanted a collateral. I think they take identifications for their collateral value and not what the copy says.

Both sites require considerable walking. Whether it is too much or not depends on what "some difficulty" means.

Herculaneum requires walk from the Circumvesuvia to the entrance although it is a downhill city walk. Once inside, it is much smaller than Pompeii. The ground is uneven, but less so than Pompeii.

Pompeii entrance (one of them) is close to the train stop. But it is a big site and the ground is very uneven.

Use google map to find out how much lateral distance needs to be covered. On top of this, you need to add vertical step issues due to large difference between the road level and the sidewalk level plus the uneven ground.

Thanks for all the replys and responses. At Herculaneum are there taxis from the train station to the entrance to the site?

Thanks again, John

I don't recall seeing taxis at the Ercolano Scavi train stop. The walk is downhill and city sidewalks so not difficult. The walk back would be the bigger problem, but perhaps you could get the entrance staff to call a taxi for you.

I don't remember seeing any taxis at Herculaneum either but if you're not able to walk from the train station to the site and back you won't be able to manage Pompeii or the Herculaneum site. I seem to remember it was no more than 5 to 7 minutes from the station to the Herculaneum site.

I just checked mappy and my memory was correct. It's a 7 minute walk and 1/2 km.