Daily Photos & Frugal Travel Tips

Pompeii is a huge site (66 ha)
and it is almost impossible to explore it all.

Information at the entrance did not have any maps left
when we arrived (early).
I suspect that they never have any maps.

They DID have a wonderful, wonderful free guide book
with detailed descriptions of major sites
(I’ll be quoting this guide book in future posts).
All the major sites are also labeled and numbered.

Of course, you can buy guidebooks and maps.
Plus there are guides for hire
(and they do the usual hard sell,
saying you’ll get lost, etc).

Admission to Pompeii is a bargain
at 11 Euros for a one day pass
and it WILL take you a full day
(unless you rush like we did).
Wear good walking shoes because there is a lot of terrain to cover.
You’ll also want to bring a water bottle
(there are working fountains to fill them with)
as it gets quite dusty (volcanic ash dusty).
The admissions sign warns of stray dogs
and as you can see from the photo,
that’s not a joke.

Pompeii is a short and easy 40 minute train ride from Naples.
The cost for a round trip ticket is about 3 Euro
(we bought the day pass as we wished to see Sorrento also).
On the way to Pompeii,
the train will also stop at Herculaneum
(as well as other towns - Pompeii is clearly marked),
a town that was buried in mud during the 79 A.D. eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
You may be tempted to do both in one day.
Keep in mind that Pompeii is a HUGE site,
over 66 ha,
45 of which has been excavated.
We saved Herculaneum for our next trip to Naples.