Excellent place to walk and take a guided tour. I used a separate tour company that provided a 10 person tour with an actual archeologist. This site is in much better condition than Pompei so you get a better feeling for daily life and the layout of an ancient city. You can also take a self guided tour with a headset or just walk around by yourself. Prices are very reasonable. Parking is a breeze and cost 6€. Entrance ticket was €11 per person. The gift shop is excellent. Bathrooms near the gift shop and at the beginning do the tour. There are gift shops in the parking lot but they are very much tourist in nature. Save your parking ticket and take it with you. You pay when you leave BEFORE you get to your car. read more

See all

Ercolano was the other city disseminated by the unforgiving lava of Mount Vesuvius. Archaeological excavations are still underway. Neighboring this historical city is the modern city, literally across the street. A self-guided walking tour takes you down through layers of the ancient city. You can only imagine what was considered their sophisticated lifestyle in their time. The swampy waterways are open and visible; currently occupied by ribbiting frogs. There are hundreds of 'houses' where observers can mentally picture where one would place furniture if it were their place today. Unfortunately, these aren't habitable. Some homes restrict the number of entrants. Ancient art is everywhere: in the tiles, on the walls, along and within the building structures, and on some artifacts. All of these unintentionally left-behind... including their own remains of human bones. read more

See all

On 24th August 79AD Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city of Pompeii by covering it in volcanic ash. It was discovered in the 1700s and still being excavated today. The same event also destroyed 3 other towns, including Herculaneum and the excavations here are just as amazing as at Pompeii and offer a different view of Roman life. Herculaneum is a much smaller site in comparison to Pompeii but this makes it "do-able" in a day and I would have happily gone back for more if I'd had the time. We took the Circumvesuvia train which runs regularly between Naples and Sorrento but there is also a bus service you can get. The site itself is very easy to find once you get off the train and there is a kind of long bridge/walkway that goes over the excavations and gives you a great overview of the whole thing before you actually go down there. Most of the buildings are open to the public so you can walk about quite freely and, as it's not as busy as Pompeii, you can really take your time and have a good look at everything at your leisure without being bustled about. There is a shop which was preserved almost in its entirety and where some of the goods were also preserved and a ladies baths with some beautiful mosaic floors. I have attached some photos and a crappy film (sorry I am a bad, bad filmmaker) but they don't really do justice to the place. I would highly recommend a visit if you're anywhere near the Bay of Naples and have to say I enoyed it more than Pompeii which was just too busy and rushed to be able to take in properly. read more

See all

We went to Pompeii and Herculaneum while staying in Positano. Our driver Gianluca suggested us to visit the museum in Naples where all the items from Pompeii and Vesuvius area are. The mosaic collection is amazing, the secret cabinet very funny and frescoes are fantastic. The museum is well located to visit Old Naples as well. We booked a guide through vesuviusvspompeii. He was terrific! Pizza in this area of Italy is incredible and the Bay of Naples wonderful to see. read more

Scavi di Ercolano - archaeological museum Naples -Villa papyri - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Ercolano, NA

This is the strongest site to visit and I mean it since a part of those is dedicated to human bones findings. The eruption of the Vulcano preserved this city quite almost in its totality, it is beautiful to explore it all and you will also find murble statues, splendid mosaics, walls partially covered in ancient frescos. The visit is not long, but do bring something to cover your head with, the sun might bite hard and wear snickers because the floor is completely disconnected and dusty. There's a parking that costs 2 € per hour, no credit card accepted. Inside the site there's also a bar and a book shop. read more

Almost 5 stars if it wasn't due to the fact that they are too cheap to give out maps (they only give you a map if you pay for an audio guide...Cheap), and because they have very few actual descriptions of what you are seeing at the park. This is basically a mini Pompei and just as interesting imo. I didn't see any brothels here though lol. The gift shop is actually really interesting. They had a few books I would have bought but didn't want to spend the $$$. At this time it was 11 Euros to get in. They give I believe free tours and random workers will ask you if you want a tour. I passed because I was using my Rick Steves' book. Advice on it, his self guided tour is awful. He gave descriptions on maybe 8 things at Herculaneum when there are maybe 50. If you just want to go there to say you did it, then do his self guided tour. I was actually interested in this and feel like I missed out on a lot of things that also looked cool. I should have paid for the audio guide but I was too lazy to walk back and forth. All in all I did see some cool ancient things- wine shop, thermal bathhouse, temple, fast food restaurant (no lie), and the sports arena. I also saw the skeletons and bones. It is amazing to me how perfect some of the teeth were. Very easy to get to to/from Naples and Sorrento/Amalfi Coast. You get off at Ercolano Scavi (there's 2 Ercolanos, you want Scavi). About 45 minutes from Sorrento. You then walk maybe 6-10 minutes from the train station to the site. There's a bunch of little restaurants to/from the site. I had an awful eggplant parm for $7 Euros but I did have good gelato at a little place for $2.50 Euros. read more

If your'e into Roman history and are visiting Pompei and Herculaneum this is well worth a visit.The museum has exhibits from both sites and a lot more.There are mosiacs and various artifacts that are just wonderful to see.Not dull and discoloured,but bright and beautiful as if painted yesterday.A vast amount of huge(and I mean huge)statues line the halls.I only came up to just past the knees of one of them. In one of the displays there is a loaf of bread that was found in the oven of a bakery in Pompei. There's even a section for errotic artifacts,children under 15 are'nt allowed in this part. The museum does have various exhibits that change throughout the year and there's also the usual gift shop.Guided tours in English can be pre-booked. read more