Pompeii and Herculaneum Small Group Tour with an Archaeologist
Recommended by 95% of travelers
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Pompeii, Italy
- 6 to 11 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Pompeii and Herculaneum are among the world’s most important Roman archaeological sites, but the ruins can be hard to interpret to the untrained eye. Experience the extraordinary archaeological wonders with a professional archaeologist on this hassle-free small-group tour. Learn about the history and architecture of these two cities buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. Choose the departure option that best suits your travel plans and enjoy a seamless visit with admission tickets included.
- Skip the hassle of following a map by visiting the sites with a guide
- Benefit from your guide's insights into the main villas, temples, and other highlights
- Assistance during travel between the two archaeological sites by train
- Admission tickets to both Pompeii and Herculaneum included
What's Included
- Circumvesuviana one-way train ticket from Pompeii to Herculaneum (Tour from Pompeii)
- Round-trip transportation to/from Naples, outside Starhotels Terminus (Tour from Naples)
- Round-trip transportation to/from Sorrento, P.za Angelina Lauro (Tour from Sorrento)
- Train tickets to/from Rome to Naples + Full Day transportation service (Tour from Rome)
- Entrance fee - Herculaneum entry tickets - 'Pompeii express' entry tickets
- Guided tour service in both Pompeii and Herculaneum
- Headsets for all participants
- Meals and drinks
- Personal expenses
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
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End points
This activity ends in a different location. See details below:
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Itinerary
Meet your archaeologist guide at the meeting point corresponding to your selected option: Pompeii (Porta Marina Superiore), Naples and Rome (Starhotels Terminus), Sorrento (Piazza Angelina Lauro).
Travelers from Naples, Rome, and Sorrento enjoy full-day transport by modern minibus, while guests starting in Pompeii receive a train ticket to reach Herculaneum with their tour guide.
Begin your guided visit in Pompeii, spending two hours exploring major highlights such as the Forum, Stabian Baths, the House of the Faun, and the famous plaster casts. After a short lunch break (own expense), continue toward Herculaneum—by minibus for Naples, Sorrento, and Rome options, or by train for the Pompeii option.
Skip the ticket lines and explore Herculaneum with your archaeologist guide for two hours, visiting several remarkably preserved houses, baths, and public buildings. The tour concludes according to your departure option: return transport to Naples or Sorrento, drop-off at Naples station for Rome travelers, or directly in the Herculaneum ruins for travelers departing from Pompeii.
Travelers from Naples, Rome, and Sorrento enjoy full-day transport by modern minibus, while guests starting in Pompeii receive a train ticket to reach Herculaneum with their tour guide.
Begin your guided visit in Pompeii, spending two hours exploring major highlights such as the Forum, Stabian Baths, the House of the Faun, and the famous plaster casts. After a short lunch break (own expense), continue toward Herculaneum—by minibus for Naples, Sorrento, and Rome options, or by train for the Pompeii option.
Skip the ticket lines and explore Herculaneum with your archaeologist guide for two hours, visiting several remarkably preserved houses, baths, and public buildings. The tour concludes according to your departure option: return transport to Naples or Sorrento, drop-off at Naples station for Rome travelers, or directly in the Herculaneum ruins for travelers departing from Pompeii.
1
Basilica
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Foro de Pompeya
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Via dell’Abbondanza (Pass By)
3
House of Menander
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Granaries of the Forum
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Stabian Baths (Terme Stabiane)
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Lupanar
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
7
House of the Faun
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
8
Odeon - Teatro Piccolo
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
9
Teatro Grande
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
10
Archaeological Park of Herculaneum
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
11
House of the Deer
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
12
La Terrazza di M. Nonio Balbo
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
13
College of the Augustales
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
14
Casa del Rilievo di Telefo
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
15
Partem Domus lignea - Casa del Tramezzo di Legno
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
16
House of the Skeleton
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
17
Central Thermae
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
18
House of the Black Salon
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
19
Casa Sannitica
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
20
Casa del Bel Cortile
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
21
House of the Grand Portal
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Herculaneum ruins' entry tickets: 16 euros (adult) 2 euros (EU citizens 18-25 y.o.); Pompeii ruins' entry tickets: 20 euros (adult)
- Not recommended for visitors in wheelchairs
- Not recommended for visually impaired guests unless accompanied by a dedicated personal assistant
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 1,798 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Great tour with a knowledgeable guide. We had an easy meeting place and traveled via a comfortable, air-conditioned bus, with a great driver. Our guide was friendly, and very knowledgeable, & hit all the highlights of both parks. It was a challenge to have enough time to take photos, and if you got behind a little, the headsets were intermittent. The parks are huge, so having to keep moving was necessary. There was a good break for lunch. I definitely recommend this tour and this tour guide.
Our "small group" tour had over 20 people.
Pros - guide was historically knowledgeable, transit was easy, got to see a lot of Herculaneum
Cons - size of group, lunch was dropping us off at a mall food court, no free time to explore or take photos at either location
It was great! The anthropologist very knowledgeable. Very kind and pleasant.
It was a great experience and we totally recommend.
This tour was fascinating! Our tour guide, Amedeo, was very knowledgeable about Pompeii and Herculaneum. We took this tour on the advice of a friend that had done it. We had no idea about Herculaneum before, but thought that it was even more fascinating and better preserved than Pompeii.
Tour guides can make or break a guided tour and my tour guide Raphael was wonderful. Easy to understand, a real archaeologist, and a entertaining sense of humor. This tour was a great and easy way to see both parks on the same day. Nice to see Herculean first as a warm up and then be wowed by the size of Pompeii. Stopping at a mall's food court for lunch was a funny contrast to the ruins but had a decent variety of inexpensive food options.
Lovely experience. Were able to visit two historically important locations that provide a snapshot in time of Roman life.
Tour was excellent. Guide was knowledgeable and humorous.
Beautiful sights.
Bus ride was smooth.
Lunch was at a mall which was a bit unusual.
Vicencito was a wonderful tour guide! He was so knowledgeable and I learned so much! This was a once in a lifetime experiance!
Great tour with an excellent guide. at the initial meetup at Star Hotel, it would have been helpful for the guide to carry a Viator sign. We found him by asking around.
Our guide, Rafaelo, was fantastic. An archaelogist, he was very informative and willing to answer any and all questions. His English was terrific and he had a nice sense of humor that added to the day.
This was a wonderful tour that Liana guided. She has an incredible knowledge of both Herculaneum and Pompeii. She led us through the history of both places, selecting the most important ruins to discuss. We would highly recommend doing a tour with her.
We booked a small group tour for the personalised experience. It was extremely disappointing to be put on a group that exceeded the number supposed to be permitted per group. This resulted in the tour being rushed and a lot missed out.
This was the experience of most in my group as they were also expecting a small trip. The tour company didn’t not properly address this and didn’t not satisfactorily resolve my complain.
Wonderful tour. Vincenzo was knowledgeable, friendly and answered all of questions. We highly recommend this trip.
A great experence, watch where you step the stones are not flat or even. But the day was worth the effort. History, knowledge about how the people lived and worked was terrific .
It was a great tour with the best tour guide. His knowledge and dedication were very appreciated. Very informative
uneven walking paths. prepare for being in the sun a lot. very good historical information from the guide.
Excellent tour, so glad I picked the one with an actual archeologist! Fascinating experience just wish we’d been able to do the final stage, I would shorten the lunch break!
Had a great time. Everything was as advertised. Tour guide was informative and gracious to meeting everyone's needs. Only negative was that the audio on the bus was very distorted and no one could understand anything.
Mario was a fantastic tour guide - very informative and made sure we all had a great experience. Would highly recommend
It's very hot with no areas of shade so bring water and umbrella. Raphael was fantastic! Kind, knowledgeable and funny! Was definitely our top tour!
We chose the guided tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum as the first excursion of this trip. We were very excited about seeing both towns. Our tour guide, although very knowledgeable concerning daily life and the significance of architecture and design, was 15 mins late from the start and, throughout both towns, kept saying “There’s nothing of importance over there. Let’s keep going.“ Mario cherrypicked the “important” areas and details, but as we walked, we also listened to other tour guides explaining far more details and covering more areas. Our tour was supposed to last between 6 to 11 hours. We ended at 6 hours on the dot with MANY more areas to explore. On our way out the exit of Pompei, Mario stated we may have seen 20% to 25%. I would recommend this tour but you may be better off doing the self-guided tour with the audio guide from the park. I also encourage you to ask questions about your guide, and along the way, initiate dialogue and discussion. Do research in advance so you have better context. The history channel has multiple documentaries that were very helpful.
By the way, Mario was not an archaeologist. He was an economist.
Our tour guide and archaeologist was Michael who made the whole experience fantastic. He was so knowledgeable and engaging. The tour itself is a long day so make sure you have plenty of water and comfortable shoes but it’s certainly worth it!
From pick up in the morning to drop off, the day ran smoothly. Our driver Andrea was also great at safely transporting us around. If you’re looking for a tour of Pompeii- I’d highly recommend this one.
Raphael was an excellent guide: very knowledgeable about the tours sites and about Italian archaeology in general. I have background in these subjects as well, and I recognize the quality in Raphael's knowledge. A very enjoyable and interesting tour.
Lots of walking on uneven and steep terrain. Not for people who are not in shape. The guide was an actual archeaologist.
Really great day! Rafael was an amazing guide, so knowledgeable with great humour and touches that bought the experience to life. Really worth doing both herculaneum and pompei. Would be nice to go somewhere nicer for lunch though.
Excellent trip, very knowledgeable guide.lovely air conditioned bus. Good value for money. A very good day. Mario our archeological guide was superb x
Guide was wonderful (Rafael) transport seamless and the tours were very very good informative and I enjoyed them very much. What I did not like and cannot actually believe it happened was lunch, it was in a food court at a giant shopping centre 😱 in Italy, the country with the most wonderful places to eat and the most most wonderful food we were offered McDonalds etc it was just awful
Great tour, good guide but a boatload of information that comes at you in a rapid pace. Appreciate that the guide is an Italian archaeologist but perhaps at times the participants struggled with understanding what was being explained
It is a long tour but a very interesting one. Our guide Paolo was very intelligent, knowledgeable and interesting.
Paolo was our guide. He was great, and very knowledgeable. The tour is of the ruins on each site, the Herculaneum actually has a couple museum buildings for artifacts you can visit after the tour ends
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Attractions in Pompeii, Italy
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