From Wikitravel

Pompeii is in Campania.

Contents 1 Understand 2 Get in 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Buy 7 Eat 8 Drink 9 Sleep 10 Get out 11 Stay Safe

Understand

On August 24, 79 AD, the volcano Vesuvius errupted, covering the nearby town Pompeii in ash and soot, preserving the city in its state from that fateful day. Pompeii is an excavation site and outdoor museum of the ancient Roman settlement. This site is considered to be one of the few sites where an ancient city has been preserved in detail - eveything from jars and tables to paintings and people were frozen in time, yielding an unprecedented opportunity to see how the people lived two thousand years ago.

Get in

• By Train: get to Naples first and change there to the Circumvesuviana local train line from the lower level of the station. 40 minutes, 4,50 euro. Get off at Pompei Scavio. The entrance to Pompeii is about 50m away from the station.
• Tickets are 11€ per adult (no student reductions, unless you are a student in an EU nation) (July 2006).
• For transport tickets read about the unified public transport ticket Campania Unico

Get around

• Walk. Note that the old roman stone roads can be quite exhausting to walk, especially in the heat of summer with loads of fellow tourists about. Make sure to take plenty of water and watch your step as the old roads have grooves in them where the chariots ran. It is advisable to wear good footwear.

See

Pompeii it a great place to go, rich in historical value.

Do

• Visit also the National Museum in Naples where most of the best preserved mosaics and found items from Pompeii are kept.
• Visit also the sister site Herculaneum, which is only one Circumvesuviana stop apart and suffered a similar fate to Pompeii. Though it is a smaller site it was covered by a pyroclastic surge (instead of the ash and lapilli that covered Pompeii). This allowed some second storeys to survive.
• Have a look at random villas, as sometimes even small side rooms have amazing frescoes (wall paintings).
• Don't miss the "Garden of the Fugitives" at the south-east side where plaster casts of the victims are on display, the plants in this garden have been reconstructed by the study of plaster casts of plant roots.
• Ask one of the Archaeologists working on one of the many sites "Hasn't it all been dug?" (there is still 1/3 of the site unexcavated... and there is always more under the floor!)

Buy

• A decent map of the site, or you will get lost in the small roads and need to walk back and forth which is quite exhausting. In Sepember 2005, a map and small guidebook were being given away at the entrance (in several different languages). Visitors need to request the map and guidebook from the Information booth beside the ticket windows.
• Books are also on sale at the bookstore at the entrance, and a decent book on Pompeii may be as low as €8. Audioguides are another alternative available, and tour guides are often at the entrance and willing (for a few or 10 Euros) to give a guided tour of the site.

Eat

• On the way from the station to the official entrance loads of shops try to sell stuff for very expensive prices but the food is not outstanding. Drinks, especially the freshly pressed orange and lemon juices, however, are fantastic especially in the heat, though slightly pricey (€ 2.50 for a glass)
• You can get a very good panini from some of the stands, the one at the end near the porta marina entry has fantastic ones.
• There is a restaurant in the museum area. Not surprisingly, this is rather expensive and not very good. Nonetheless, it is an OK place to take a break and recuperate particularly with its air conditioning.

Drink

• Remember to bring enough water to drink as it gets quite hot in the dusty streets. There are water taps but most of them don't work.
• Lemon and Orange granitas bought from outside the site are a tasty way to cool down.

Sleep

• Probably the cheapest way to see Pompeii is to stay in Naples and commute to the site via train.

Get out

What you get out of a visit to Pompeii is a wonderful historical experience and and interesting story to tell. There is more than history in Pompeii also, it is a thriving and intricate part of the world and is a great place it go!

Stay Safe

Keep in mind that Mt Vesuvius is an active volcano and can erupt at any time. Scientists have devised a system to detect impending eruptions though, so feel free to browse Pompeii's ruins without fear of falling ash and lapilli(pumice)! Though it's more likely that you should be trying to protect yourself from pickpockets, the site attracts a huge array of international visitors every day, and this money attracts some thieves, keep your valuables protected particularly around Naples and the train stations as you normally would when travelling.

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