As part of our summer holidays this year, we spent two weeks in Italy. We decided we could not visit Italy without a trip to Pompeii.
We had pre-booked queue jump tickets through a third-party company prior to our visit. They cost twice as much as regular tickets but when we arrived at the site. Furthermore, there was only a very small queue for regular tickets. If I went to Pompeii again, I would not buy these queue jump tickets and instead buy my tickets on the day.
We parked in a car park close by. The cost for the day was around 20 euros. I believe there are cheaper car parks in the area but we were unable to find them. The car park we used was a short walk to the site. There is also a train station very close to the entrance of the site.
The first thing we were struck by was the sheer size of Pompeii. It is absolutely massive and much of it hasn’t yet been opened to the public as it is still being excavated. I don’t know what I expected, Pompeii was after all a city which was home to as many as 20,000 citizens at the time of its destruction in 79 AD.
Here are some of my highlights from our trip.
The Streets
It is quite difficult to explain Pompeii. It is a vast city lined with a multitude of streets all with houses and other buildings dotted along them. The site is so vast, despite the thousands of visitors pouring into the site, you will find yourself at some point stood alone on one of these streets and the feeling is quite eerie.
The pavements are high and the roads low. At the end of each street, you will find huge stepping stones. These were used by the inhabitants to get from one side of the road to the other during times of flooding. Cobbles still line the streets and you really do get the sense that time has stood still here.
Villas
I wandered into so many villas, that it is so difficult to remember them all individually.
In some of the villas, the mosaics on the walls and floors can still be seen.
The Forum Baths
We were all incredibly impressed by the forum baths and being a key attraction, it was packed with tourists. Mosaics and decorations still adorn the walls.
This bathhouse offered facilities for both men and women. It was also equipped with changing rooms. Some remnants of the bathhouse can still be seen today.
Temple of Saturn
Entering the site one of the first buildings I came across was The Temple of Saturn. Some of the statues are still intact. You really get a sense of the size and layout of this impressive structure and how this temple would have appeared to its citizens 2000 years ago.
Amphitheatre
My all-time favourite part of Pompeii was without a doubt the Amphitheatre. This huge arena was the second largest in the Roman Empire (the first being the Colosseum in Rome).
Unlike the Colosseum, visitors stand in the main arena and look up to the seating area above. It does make you feel quite small, standing where the gladiators once stood and fought!
I was truly in awe of the amphitheatre and it was my favourite part of the day.
The Forum
The forum was very much the heart of the city, the place where lots of day-to-day activities would take place. It was the religious and political heart of Pompeii. What remains today is a very large square with some structures and items still intact. The most striking feature of the forum are the columns, once part of great buildings.
A modern statue of a centaur stands proudly in the forum and gives an idea of how statues would have looked there 2000 years ago.
Basilica
The Basilica, like the forum held great significance. It was where the court was located. Remnants of this 2nd-century BC building are still visible. It was once a tiled building, but you can still see the columns and parts of the walls today.
The Plaster Casts
At the time of our visit, the museum was closed. This is where the majority of the plaster casts are housed. But a small sample of the casts were moved into another area and could be viewed.
The plaster casts were taken in the space left by the bodies of those who perished in Pompeii when Vesuvius erupted. These casts are an eerie reminder of that horrific day.
Tips for Visitors to Pompeii
We had planned to spend a full day in Pompeii and would have done so if it wasn’t for illness cutting our trip a few hours short. We walked the site for approximately 5 hours and only saw around a quarter of Pompeii. Visitors could easily spend a weekend here! On my next visit, I would again aim for a full day at Pompeii.
As noted above, illness struck our party. This was due to the heat, my daughter suffered from mild sun-stroke during our visit. We did bring bottles of water with us, but we immediately drank these pretty much as soon as we arrived. Fortunately, water pumps are located throughout Pompeii and bottles can be replenished with clean drinking water free of charge.
The heat was unbearable. Pompeii is located close to the sea and the site is elevated so the sun is much harsher than we had experienced in other parts of Italy during our holiday.
Because of this extreme heat, be sure to bring plenty of suncream and sun hats. We did see tourists carrying small fans with them and I would definitely invest in one of these for our next visit.
As noted above, I would recommend purchasing tickets at the site if you plan to arrive early in the morning. Our pre-bookable tickets came with a map of the site and a guidebook, both of which were substandard. I would much prefer to have purchased our tickets on-site and purchased an official guidebook and map. There is an app that can be downloaded on the site which offers a very useful guide to Pompeii.
We ate lunch in the restaurant on site. The prices were reasonable and the food was delicious. The restaurant did get rather busy (it is one of the few shaded areas at Pompeii) and there was a huge queue for the toilets.
Overall, despite illness, we had a wonderful time at Pompeii. It is definitely an experience none of us will ever forget.
