Pompei and Ercolano, Italy.  (February, 2023).

I doubt many first-time travelers to Naples neglect to visit either Parco Archeologico di Pompei or Parco Archeologico di Ercolano (a/k/a Herculaneum).  With the luxury of having an entire month in Naples, we ventured to both.

EAV’s Circumvesuviana regional train line is the easiest way to reach Pompei and Ercolano from Naples.  Go to Garibaldi Metro or Napoli Centrale (basically a combined metro/train station) and there you will see prominent signs for this specific train.  The well-marked signs ensure that no tourist with a lick of sense will miss where to go.  Follow the signs to the EAV ticket windows.

Both destinations are reached on the Naples to Sorrento train.  If in doubt, ask which platform is the correct one.  You’ll quickly notice that it is the crowded platform.  At certain times of the day you may be able to get on the Campania Express train, which skips several intermediate stops between Naples and both Ercolano and Pompei.

We chose to visit Pompei first.  Our train tickets were €6 each roundtrip to the Pompei Scavi station.  The train ride lasted about 35 minutes, including over a dozen stops.  When the train pulled into Pompei Scavi, the vast majority of the travelers exited.  We got in line and followed the crowd down the street to the entrance to Pompei.

The downside to taking public transportation to Pompei is arriving at the same time as hundreds of others.  This was easily the longest time we waited in line for tickets (Artecard free; otherwise €18 each), probably a good 10 minutes.  Once inside the park, however, the crowd disperses quickly.

Several things surprised us about Pompei.  One, Mount Vesuvius is not nearly as close as we thought it would be.  Two, Pompei is larger than we expected.  Three, walking on the haphazard and uneven stones is very tough.  I pledged to never again complain about cobblestones in historic city centers. 

There is very little shade in the park.  We knew to bring water, sunglasses, and snacks.  Even in February it gets hot and tiring after walking around in the sun for over four hours.  Honestly it would be miserable in the summer with the heat and crowds.  If you are here in the summer, I’d suggest arriving shortly before the park opens, so you can get in and out before the worst of the heat and crowds.

I wish we had taken time to plan out a walking route in advance.  We started out aimlessly walking around, learning the hard way that there are a lot of side streets in Pompei with nothing much to see other than crumbled walls.  After a short time we had looked at the map often enough to understand which areas are open to walk through and how to best navigate our way around.

While seeing Pompei from above on a tower we overheard the following conversation, in English, between a visitor and employee:            

Visitor: Where is the cemetery?

Employee: Over there [pointing and giving directions].

Visitor:  Where are the theaters?

Employee:  That way [pointing and giving directions].

Visitor: How about Villa dei Misteri?

Employee (obviously exasperated):  Did you not get a map? 

Visitor: Um, no.

I will make this real simple.  You need a map.  Get one.  In fairness to our uninformed guest, you do not get a map with your ticket.  You must pick one up in the room next to the ticket windows.  The room that you must walk past in order to get to the turnstile entrance.  The room that has a massive sign out front: INFO POINT.  Or download the Pompei app.

Overall we had a great day at Pompei, spending over 4.5 hours in the park. I’m pretty sure we drank a few beers when we got back to our Airbnb that night.

About a week later we ventured to Ercolano.  We took the same train from Naples to Sorrento, but the ride is only 15 minutes to Ercolano Scavi.  The ticket is cheaper, too, only €4.80 per person round trip.  When buying an EAV train ticket you must provide a destination, and you will be charged accordingly.

Upon arriving in Ercolano the park entrance is about a 10 minute walk downhill.  You cannot miss it.  There is only one street leading from the train station towards the sea.  Just follow it.  Several other tourists from your train will be making the same walk.

The ticket office is located in a building along with a bookstore, displays, restrooms, and vending machines.  There was no line when we arrived to get tickets (Artecard free; €13 otherwise). From there you have a short walk to the turnstiles and the bridge that leads into the ruins.

Ercolano is much smaller than Pompei.  You can literally see the entire park from the entrance. The good news is that you can explore Ercolano in its entirety in a few hours.  The bad news is that it is harder to dodge tour groups.  If a 10-15 person tour group rolls into a villa, they will fill it up.  We were constantly trying to figure out how to get around tour groups without backtracking too much. 

Unlike Pompei, Ercolano does not have an ampitheater, two theaters, gardens, towers, or large open spaces.  On the plus side, Ercolano is more intact and just as well preserved, if not better.

Between the two I’d give the slight edge to Pompei because of the theaters, gardens, towers, and large spaces.  Ercolano is the better choice if you only have half a day, or want to combine it with a tour of Mount Vesuvius on the same day.

Next to the train station in Ercolano is a tour company that provides day trips to Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio.  When we exited the train station mid-morning, we had to walk past dozens of folks waiting in line to get on a tour bus to go to the volcano.  Quite a few folks on our train went to the Mount Vesuvius tour bus.

You cannot go wrong with either.

Garrett and Stephanie

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