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How to plan a visit to Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

How to plan a visit to Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

There are places one can visit, admire, photograph and then move on with one’s life. Then there are other places that are not meant to be visited, they are meant to be lived. Pompeii is one of the latter.

Being an Italian and having lived in Italy for most of my life, I’ve seen many archaeological sites. In Italy, as you can imagine, they’re just all over the place. Even in the small town where I grew up, that has something like 700 inhabitants, we have an arc from the Roman Era, a Medieval church from the Medieval time and a cemetery from the Napoleonic time. And I can assure you that my hometown is as common as any small town in Italy.

One might think that after so much archeology under my eyes on daily basis, nothing could impress me. The reason why we went to Pompeii is mainly because Klaus wanted so much to go, both for the history of the place and the fact that Pink Floyd had a concert in the Pompeii’s amphitheater.

How to plan a visit to Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

How to plan a Pompeii tour

One thing you should immediately know about Pompeii: the place is H U G E. Of the 66 hectares (170 acres), 40 hectares have been excavated and it’s impossible to tour the whole city in one day. What you have to do first is to go to the Pompeii website and take a look at the list of houses and buildings of Pompeii. Choose from there the ones that seem more interesting to you, then download this map and plan how to walk through the city based on the places you chose to see. This is in my opinion the only way to get the most out of a single day in Pompeii.
Next I’ll share with you the most beautiful parts in Pompeii, in order as we saw them entering from the Porta Marina.

How to plan a visit to Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Sanctuary of Venus

Starting the tour from Porta Marina, the first thing you’ll see will be the Sanctuary of Venus. Considered that Venus was the patron goddess of Pompeii, no wonder the temple dedicated to her has the best spot of the town, looking over the Gulf on Naples. Sadly, almost nothing is left of the temple because after it was destroyed in an earthquake in 60 AD, it was still under construction when the Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. One of the majestic sculpture from the artist Mitoraj can be admired in this spot.

Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Basilica and Forum

The Forum was the core of the city life. All the main buildings would surround it, included the Basilica, which is the most important building of the town as it was the center of the economic and political life.

Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

How to plan a visit to Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Forum Baths

Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of the Orchard

or of the Floral Cublicles

House of the orchard | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of the orchard | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of Paquius Proculus

House of Paquius Proculus | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of Octavius Quartio

or House of Loreius Tiburtinus

House of Octavius Quartio or House of Loreius Tiburtinus | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of Octavius Quartio or House of Loreius Tiburtinus | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of Octavius Quartio or House of Loreius Tiburtinus | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of Octavius Quartio or House of Loreius Tiburtinus | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of Octavius Quartio or House of Loreius Tiburtinus | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Amphitheater

Roman Amphiteather | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Roman Amphiteather | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Ludwig, the pineapple leaf fiber backpack | #LUDWIGontour in Italy | Roman Amphiteather | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Remember this pineapple fiber Ludwig backpack? Go read more about it here!

Foro Boario

Vesuvius, Foro Boario | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

 

House of Venus in the shell

House of Venus in the shell | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Fresco in Pompeii | House of Venus in the shell | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House and Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus

House and Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

This is how bars and restaurants use to look like two thousand years ago.

House of the faun

Casa del fauno | House of the faun | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Casa del fauno | House of the faun | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba Casa del fauno | House of the faun | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

In this house is found the mosaic picturing the battle of Alexander and Darius.

Arch of Caligula

Arch of Caligula | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Necropolis of the Herculaneum Gate

Necropolis of the Herculaneum Gate | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Necropolis of the Herculaneum Gate | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Villa of the Mysteries

This was most definitely the highlight of the whole tour. If you have to choose one single place to see, choose this one.

The Villa has one of the most well preserved frescoes and from the room that hosts these frescoes come the name of the Villa.

The reason why the Villa is called of the Mysteries is because of these frescoes, that portray a woman undergoing some sort of ritual. Some say this symbolizes the process of the young woman through the rites of marriage and some say this is an initiation of the woman to a mystery cult. Also some have hypothesized that Augustus’ wife Livia owned the place. It seems that the truth is far from being unveiled and that’s also what makes this Villa so special.

Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries | Frescoes of Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries | Frescoes of Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries | Frescoes of Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries | Frescoes of Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries | Frescoes of Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries | Frescoes of Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries | Frescoes of Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

How to get to Pompeii

The easiest way is taking the “circumvesuviana”, the trains that connect Naples to the nearby cities and towns. The line (here the timetable) that has Sorrento as the terminal brings you right to Pompeii. You can purchase the tickets directly from the ticket vendor at the station. I would advice to stop to Pompei Scavi Villa Misteri, so that you’ll start the tour from Porta Marina and the museum. From the train station, just follow the crowd and don’t buy the entrance ticket anywhere but the official front office (it’s cheaper from there). Also remember that if you’re resident in a country that belongs to EU and are between 17-24, you have the right to a discount, just show your ID at the office and you’re good to go.

How to plan a visit to Pompeii | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

Other things to remember when visiting Pompeii

Leave space to spontaneity

Pompeii is an ongoing project. All the time there are excavations and restorations. The day we visited 3 restored houses (“Domus e Botteghe”, “Casa del Tricilino all’aperto” and “Casa del Larario Fiorito”) were being opened to the public that day (how lucky were we?). So start the tour with the assumption that the map won’t show you all the houses and places you can visit. For example, the House of Paquius Proculus with its amazing mosaic floors is not yet in the official maps.

Plan your toilet stops

There are few toilets in Pompeii and mainly at the entrance gates. Only a couple are in the town, so take that also into consideration for your tour. It would be a bummer to run all over the site just to get to a toilet, right?

Take water, snacks and sunscreen with you

We visited Pompeii at the end of December and there were still +15 C in the shadow and a burning sun. So I am pretty confident to say that it’ll be as hot or much worse the rest of the year too. I wouldn’t consider eating a meal in Pompeii, as the food is so overpriced and overrated, also outside the site. Plan to take some snacks and lots of liquids with you and eat only afterwards outside town.

Wear comfortable clothes

You’ll walk like you’ve never walked before. And you’re not going to walk on normal asphalt, but on two thousand years old travertine paved roads. Absolutely forget heels, as the roads are not even and there are gaps between the blocks.

What I wore was this pair of Italian handmade mocassin shoes from iovado, a new dynamic brand conceived from the idea of three childhood friends Albert, Hans Paul and Stefano to create a unique and timeless moccasin shoe 100% handcrafted in Italy with strong lines and very comfortable. These three guys are bringing the handmade to a new era, creating mocassin shoes to fit the exact shape of your foot, using biometric scanning and 3D technology. These guys are soon opening the online website, so if you want an Italian handmade leather shoe that will fit your foot perfectly, follow them and stay tuned!

iovado - Italian leather mocassin shoes, made through biometric scanning and 3D printing technology | Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

iovado - Italian leather mocassin shoes, made through biometric scanning and 3D printing technology | Thais FK | Due fili d'erba

House of Venus in the shell | Pompeii: a travel guide by Thais FK | Due fili d'erba | Son de Flor woolen coat | iovado - Italian leather mocassin shoes, made through biometric scanning and 3D printing technology |

 

 


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Pompeii travel guide on The Adagio Blog, by Thais FK

 


TRADUZIONE ITALIANA

Thais FK

Italian photographer, recipe developer and content creator, Thais came to Finland by chance, but stayed for love. Through photography she tells stories about traveling, eating, cooking and living sustainably, in order to discover new cultures and not to forget her origins. Thais FK's portfolio: thaisfk.com

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3 Comments

  1. Reply

    Colin

    February 22, 2018

    This is top of my to-see list when I head back to Europe! Leaving Singapore for Finland after 7 years here and 10 years in total in Asia. These ancient sites are what I’m drooling about before coming back! Pompeii and Egypt here I come!

    • Reply

      Thais FK

      February 22, 2018

      Amazing you come to Helsinki! I myself live in Finland, in Oulu to be more precise. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your adventure in the country of a thousand lakes! Pompeii is definitely something worth visiting. The place is so unique, it will knock your socks off!

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