While Naples wasn’t our favourite city in the world, the absolute highlight of our trip was the opportunity to visit Pompeii. This perfectly preserved ancient city is a destination that’s been on our bucket list for years.

Both the boys are studying Romans at school, and Mike and I are both history buffs (in fact it’s fair to say we’re a family of history lovers) so it seemed like the perfect time to turn the bucketlist dream into a reality.

And I know not everyone thinks it lives up to the hype, but it was everything we imagined and more. If you are ever given the change to go to Pompeii, please do.

Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Pompeii, including all our tips (and the things we did wrong!) so your own visit is a massive success!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. What is Pompeii and Why Should You Visit?
2. Getting To Pompeii
3. Getting Tickets To Enter Pompeii
4. Not To Miss Attractions in Pompeii
5. Top Tips For Visiting Pompeii

What is Pompeii and Why Should You Visit?

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city, and a popular holiday destination for affluent Romans thanks to its location close to the sea. But when nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD the whole city (and many of the people living there) were covered in ash, with the ancient city being left and forgotten about for centuries.

What makes Pompeii so important is that the tragedy left the city so well preserved, meaning that it provides a unique window into what life was like for ancient Romans that you just won’t find anywhere else.

There are many significant sites here. For example, the amphitheater in Pompeii was the oldest known building of its kind and hosted gladiator games, but the grand theater is even more visually spectacular. There are also five public baths in Pompeii, of which the Stabian Baths are the oldest and largest.

Getting To Pompeii

Most people visiting Pompeii are travelling from Naples. This is a largest and closest city in the area, and luckily the two destinations are wonderfully well connected.

The best way to get from Naples to Pompeii is to take the Circumvesuviana train from the Napoli Piazza Garibaldi station to the “Pompei Scavi Villa dei Misteri” stop. We paid 6 euros each for a return ticket.

The Circumvesuviana is set apart from the other lines in the station, but it’s very well signposted.

This journey takes around 35 minutes and is a nice, easy direct route BUT because this is the recommended route, this train can be unbearably crowded.

When we visited in February (which is in the low season) it was standing room only on the train, and it was a very uncomfortable ride with my head in someone else’s armpit. For this reason, I wouldn’t actually recommend getting a return ticket.

I would recommend getting the train between 9-9.30am so that you are at Pompeii before it opens at 10am. This will give you the best opportunity to see the park without the crowds. But the pay off is that this will also be when the train is at its busiest.

To get back to Naples from Pompeii we decided we didn’t want the crowds of the popular route, so we exited the archaeological park via the city entrance and walked to Pompeii Central Station. This was a very pleasant walk through modern Pompeii (and we stopped for a nice lunch too). If we hadn’t stopped for lunch, the walk would have only taken around 10 minutes.

We then got the train back from Pompeii Central Station to Naples Central Station and we all had comfortable seats on a modern, near-empty train which ran all the way along the coast. I would definitely recommend taking this journey back to the city instead.

Getting Tickets To Enter Pompeii

To get into Pompeii I HIGHLY recommend buying your tickets in advance, especially if you’re visiting in the summer when the visitor numbers are at their highest.

In a bid to control the crowds, the site introduced a 20,000 person per day visitor cap in November 2024 so if you don’t buy tickets in advance, you might be disappointed. This is a relatively new control measure, and one that hasn’t been in place during high season yet, but I predict there will be a lot of disappointed tourists.

Buy your tickets from the official Pompeii Archeological Site Website (here) there are no benefits from choosing a 3rd party provider, and these are the cheapest tickets as you won’t have to pay 3rd party commissions.

There are reduced rates for EU citizens and children under the age of 18 can enter the park for free. This means we only had to pay for 2 adult tickets (though you do need to get free tickets for the children) making this a very affordable day out.

You can buy a 3 day pass if you have plenty of time to really explore the site, but we opted for the single day entry ticket. We paid 19 euros for each adult ticket, making a total of just 38 euros for our family of four.

Not To Miss Attractions in Pompeii

There isn’t really a ‘bad bit’ of Pompeii: all of the attractions in the arceological park are equally fascinating for their own reasons. But some buildings (as in any modern city) had more of a ‘wow’ factor that others, and some are also better preserved. Some of our favourites, and the not to miss attractions in Pompeii include:

THE FORUM. Located right near the main gate this huge and impressively preserved square was a focal point of the ancient city and is one of the busiest parts of the archeological park. Luckily because we arrived so early we got to see this free from the crowds. Any significant religious or commercial events would occur here, and it is a fascinating hub.

THE BROTHEL. This is the most talked about attraction in Pompeii, but as we were travelling with young kids we decided to give it a miss. Not for families, but worth mentioning here because it is such a huge attraction for adults visiting the site (and it would definitely give them a giggle if you’re travelling with teens too!)

THE AMPITHEATRE. It would be impossible to talk about Pompeii without talking about its famous ampitheatre. This is huge, and to look at this and impagine it laid undiscovered for centuries seems impossible. It located at the far end of the site, so doesn’t atract huge crowds. And also has an interesting gallery dedicated to the Pink Flloyd concert that famously took place in the ampitheatre in the 1970s.

THE GRAND THEATRE. This was a personal favourite attraction of ours because the interior of this huge open-air theatre is much better preserved than the interior of the ampitheatre. We sat of the steps here with our faces in the sunshine eating our snacks and imagining ourselves as Romans (because the boys had a faux-sword fight) Core memory stuff! This is a great place to stop if you bring a picnic lunch.

THE HOUSE OF THE SMALL FOUNTAIN. Outside of the main Pompeii complexes are villas that you can also explore, but these are a hike away (many people take the shuttle bus) and also have an extra charge to visit. To get a taste of what these villas are like, visit the House of the Small Fountain in Pompeiii. Clearly owned by a wealthy family this house boasts a fountain and beautifully preserved frescos.

Top Tips For Visiting Pompeii

• My MAIN tip for visiting Pompeii would be NOT to visit in the Summer. We visited in February when the archeological park was quiet and the temperature was warm but not uncomfortably so. I’ve never spoken to anyone who had a good experience here in the summer: it’s hot, it’s crowded, there’s limited shade to get out of the sun. If you can plan your trip in the off season, please do. The quiestest months are January and February.
  
• Bring plenty of water and snacks. There is a small restaurant inside the archeological park but this is currently closed for renovation, so there’s nowhere to get food and drink right now. We had bottles of water but we’d only packed a few sweets and biscuits for snacks. And we all know that hungry kids are cranky kids! With hindsight, we would definitely have packed something more substantial.
  
• Wear comfortable shoes. For two reasons: firstly this is a city, and you’ll be walking a lot. Secondly, the streets are all cobbled and walking surfaces can be uneven. So choose comfort over style!
  
• Get a Map! These are provided for free and are available from the ticket office. But because we already had our tickets, we skipped the line and went straight to the entrance. Next time we would get in the line and get the map! The city is huge and hard to navigate without one – we did use the one in the Pompeii app, but found this difficult to read.
  
• Stop when you see a toilet! There are toilets in Pompeii but these are very limited in number. If you see a toilet then stop and make your kids ‘have a try’. There’s nothing worse than kids that need a wee when you’re a huge walk to the nearest loo!
  
• Allow a whole day for your visit. Pompeii is enormous, covering 160 acres of ground. If you want to see as much of it as possible then allow the full day to explore.

Have you ever been to Pompeii? I’d love to hear about your experience! And do you have any tips to add to my list? Please share them in the comment box below!

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