Pompeii / Herculaneum tour for old codger

[notenoughwrists]

My father wants to visit - but he is 84 and his lungs are shot from 60 years of lovely fags.
He can potter about, but really is limited to slow, shorter walks.

Anyone any experience of a guided tour that might support that, or am I better sorting it myself and hiring a car etc?

Any thoughts much appreciated


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[dougair]

While Pompeii is impressive it is big and a lot of walking is required. Herculaneum is smaller, better preserved and quieter in my experience.
You be better off taking him there. We always walk from the train station but I'm sure you'll be able to park near.

Not sure about organises holidays but it is simple to sort yourself. Fly into Naples and get the train or bus. I would stay in Sorrento, easy access and beautiful. Cars not the easiest on the Amalfi coast and if you’re staying on the north side public transport seems pretty good.

[Reeny]

Herculaneum was smaller and on a slight slope down to the sea.
Pompeii is flatter but spreads out over a square mile.
Both are do-able.
Herculaneum could be a tester before doing the big one.


You can spend most of the day at Pompeii.
It is normal to run out of time or energy before seeing everything available.
We arrived by train from Sorento - the Pompeii rail station is just outside the front gate.
Then we walked to the amphitheater in the far corner to start our visit, and finish back at the entrance gate when the legs were most tired.
Note: we had the place to ourselves for nearly an hour, then the public started to drifted over.
The theater is impressive, and the plaster casts in the olive garden next door are sobering.

Top-tip
Buy the Pompeii guide book and swat up before arriving - I spent most of my time reading about each area when I bought the book at reception on-the-day.
Reading up before hand with a site plan will help to plan your day.

[hughtrimble]

I visited Herculaneum a couple of years ago - I can't comment on a tour guide, but can only advise against the guide app they sell/you can download yourself for use on your phone; terrible UI and patchy reception meant it kept failing.

I realise that wasn't your question, but just in case you become tempted by the app, hopefully you have a better experience with it than I did! Also beware of the ticket touts that are at the entrance to the walkway down to the ticket office; when I visited they even had a little office set up in a building that appeared to be part of the site, but they weren't. They weren't scammers, but did charge slightly more and also they lied, saying there weren't official audio guides when there actually were in the proper ticket office. It was all just to sell the rubbish audioguide app.

[Padders]

For the reasons already stated above, Herculaneum is a much better bet for anyone of limited mobility (or attention span for that matter) as it has a lot to see on quite a small site. Don't miss the arches along what was the sea front/beach very moving and sobering as many poor souls met their end there. New stuff is always being excavated at Pompeii so if practical archeology is your thing that is a better bet but it does have the feeling of a building site as a result and the distances between items of interest are much much bigger.

I too would probably choose to stay in Sorrento vs Naples but the latter is definitely worth a day drip as it is a lively and interesting city with great food choices.

[adrianw]

I’ve done both a few times, I would say you need to be stable, especially in Pompei, the restored streets are rough cobbles

[Foxy100]

I echo what's being said about Sorrento and while you may already know this, if you rent a car do so in advance and pay the excess waiver on the insurance.

[reecie]

I visited Herculaneum a couple of years ago - I can't comment on a tour guide, but can only advise against the guide app they sell/you can download yourself for use on your phone; terrible UI and patchy reception meant it kept failing.

I realise that wasn't your question, but just in case you become tempted by the app, hopefully you have a better experience with it than I did! Also beware of the ticket touts that are at the entrance to the walkway down to the ticket office; when I visited they even had a little office set up in a building that appeared to be part of the site, but they weren't. They weren't scammers, but did charge slightly more and also they lied, saying there weren't official audio guides when there actually were in the proper ticket office. It was all just to sell the rubbish audioguide app.

The wife and I used Rick Steves Europe app whilst in Rome and it was pretty good. You can pre-download the appropriate tour onto your phone to get past the reception issues. If you ignore the occasional US humour the actual content and the way it flows is pretty good. He has a Pompeii tour in there. That said I think for some things, like the Colosseum in our case, having an actual human guide is worth it.

[apm101]

We did both H and P this year. My reflections

- Agreed re the Pompei app. It is inaccurate and confusing!
- P is huge, a whole day. H is alot smaller, but does have slopes
- For me, H was the more interesting.
- there is a GREAT pizza place almost nextdoor to H, called Pizza Ro.Vi. Big choice, local artesan beer and dirt cheap.
- we stayed in the hills just north of Torre del Greco, which was nice. Taxis are possible, but can be a bit pricey.
- bear in mind that if you see an eruption, you will have time to say 'Ooh look, Vesuvius is erupting' before the pyroclastic flow hits you at about 600mph and 500 degrees C!
- we absolutely loved it

[ptcoll]

When are you going ?

My memory of Pompeii is a lot of walking in burning sunshine. I don’t recall that much shade.

Pete

[Ruggertech]

When are you going ?

My memory of Pompeii is a lot of walking in burning sunshine. I don’t recall that much shade.

Pete

Good point, little to no shade and hot stone roadways.

[snowman]

While Pompeii is impressive it is big and a lot of walking is required. Herculaneum is smaller, better preserved and quieter in my experience.

Absolutely agree with this.

It's not a tiny site, so he may actually find it a struggle still, but it's much smaller than Pompeii and there is a lot to see without too much walking, whereas in Pompeii, while there are more interesting areas, the highlights are quite spread out across the site.

I'd also echo the thoughts on the heat - Pompeii is very exposed, Herculaneum a little less so, but it was nigh on 40C in northern Italy a month ago, so I'd imagine, even with a bit of cool air from the sea, it'll be roasting in Naples.

M

[ktmog6uk]

To echo what was said, surfaces can be very uneven, sturdy shoes or trainers advised. Herculaneum is on a slope. It can also be very warm there so take water. The best book by far on Pompeii is by Mary Beard, read before going and it will give you a great sense of what you are looking at. I have a lot of pics from there and some video if you want to get a sense of the place pm me and I’ll send some

- - - Updated - - -

To echo what was said, surfaces can be very uneven, sturdy shoes or trainers advised. Herculaneum is on a slope. It can also be very warm there so take water. The best book by far on Pompeii is by Mary Beard, read before going and it will give you a great sense of what you are looking at. I have a lot of pics from there and some video if you want to get a sense of the place pm me and I’ll send some

[hughtrimble]

I'd echo the points about the lack of shelter - whilst it was pouring with rain when I visited, that really demonstrated the need for an umbrella, and I'd actually brought it with me for sun shade! So I'd suggest take one too, to shelter from whatever the season may throw at you.

The wife and I used Rick Steves Europe app whilst in Rome and it was pretty good. You can pre-download the appropriate tour onto your phone to get past the reception issues. If you ignore the occasional US humour the actual content and the way it flows is pretty good. He has a Pompeii tour in there. That said I think for some things, like the Colosseum in our case, having an actual human guide is worth it.

Thank you for this tip - I'll save this for the next visit; I absolutely loved Naples, so will be back.

[Bazzman]

While Pompeii is impressive it is big and a lot of walking is required. Herculaneum is smaller, better preserved and quieter in my experience.
You be better off taking him there. We always walk from the train station but I'm sure you'll be able to park near.

Not sure about organises holidays but it is simple to sort yourself. Fly into Naples and get the train or bus. I would stay in Sorrento, easy access and beautiful. Cars not the easiest on the Amalfi coast and if you’re staying on the north side public transport seems pretty good.

Totally agree about Herculaneum, amazing place and so much more manageable than Pompeii (which is not to diss Pompeii in any way which is quite amazing, but HUGE), and defo, defo, get a guide. Worth every penny/cent/Euro

Agree about Sorrento, too. Yes it's a tourist trap but lots of great places to see, I hate crowds, but it was very manageable.
Enjoy!