Skip the lines to enter Pompeii on an in-depth three-hour tour. Covering more ground than on other guided tours, your archaeologist guide will take you through the ancient city that was decimated by the explosion of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. Follow them through the UNESCO World Heritage site to see the amazing ruins of ancient shops, temples, homes (including the incredible House of the Vettii) and more. Wrap up with a walk along the city walls for sweeping views of Naples and Capri. Your small-group tour is limited to 15 people in order to ensure a more personal experience.
Posted By : ClaireWithLove
I researched Celebrity shore excursions, Viator, and other trips to Pompeii, but this excursion offered the longest time (3 hours) with a real archeologist and included Skip the Line tickets. This was our favorite excursion and memory of your time in Italy. Our tour guide was Sonia S. whose passion, enthusiasm and knowledge for Pompeii had her sharing fascinating stories and facts non-stop. She was an absolute pleasure and we would love to go on future tours with her. Her tour was absolutely fascinating. We saw the bathhouse, low and high class bordello, newer excavations of rich people's houses, fast food stands, bakery, theater. temples, the museum/antiquarium with the plaster casts of people and animals and other artifacts, and learned about the paved streets and life on Pompeii.
From the Naples cruise ship terminal at Stazion Maritima Molo Angioina (for Celebrity cruise line), we took a bus (be careful since one will only take you to the airport) to the Napoli Centrale Train Station around 7:30 am. You will need Euros or a credit card. Downstairs is the Napoli Garibaldi station with the Circumvesuviana train to Pompei Scavi station at 8:26 am (careful there is a Pompeii train station which is 9 km away and had more trains going to it) which is about a 30 minute ride, but the train was 20 minutes late, so it took us about an hour to get to Pompeii. It is only two stops away plus one where the train does not open the doors. Another older train came by but luckily a station attendant told us it was the wrong train. Trainline is a good app for seeing train schedules and buying tickets.
At the Pompei Scavi train station, there is a bathroom for 1 Euro (no seats on the toilet) with an attendant. It is a 2 minute or less walk, basically across the street and down a little to the Porta Marina entrance gate where we were to meet the Walks tour guide at 10:15 am (15 minutes before the 10:30 am tour).
I started getting nervous at 10:05 am with no Walks tour guide; other tour guides were there and was calling the Walks phone line and waiting on hold. Around 10:15 am, we looked to the left of the entrance (not to the right like on the ticket) and saw a small group for the Walks tours. There were two tour guides that day to keep the groups small, around 15 people each.
Our guide, Sonia S. checked us in and gave us audio device that fit over our ear and went to buy the tickets while we went to the bathroom (no fee and had toilet seats).
This tour is definitely not accessible for people who need wheelchairs, walkers, or have trouble with walking on uneven surfaces or climbing steps. The stone streets in Pompei are not smooth but slightly uneven, and you have to climb down or up at times or cross between blocks on stone steps. There are wagon tracks cut into the stone as well.
After our guide got us our tickets around 10:40 am, we were standing, walking, climbing until after 2:00 pm where we finished the tour at a place where we could eat our own snack/drink or smoke. No smoking is allowed most places. There were bathrooms downstairs in the gymnasium training area.
You need to bring your own bottle of water, and there are running fountains along the streets where the guide let us know where we could refill out bottle. I just used my hand as a cup to sample "Pompeii" water.
After the tour ended, we walked around some more for another hour, then took the 3 pm train back. It was packed standing room only with people with suitcases, and I am glad we left when we did to beat any rush hour since it is possible other trains would be too full to get on and we had a 6:30 pm be back on-board cruise time.
We took a taxi back to the ship. It was to the right when you exit the train station. To the left is where they drop people off and you cannot get a taxi on that side. The taxi ride back to the cruise terminal was 20 Euro. The meter said around 11 Euro but there is a cruise port surcharge we were told.
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Posted On : 2024-05-09 18:49:58 
Posted By : Traveler817338
In order to give you a wonderful overview of Pompeii this extended tour is a must. Our guide was exceptional, highly engaging extremely informative and motivated to keep our small group entertained. Through his knowledge he brought Pompeii alive!
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Posted On : 2024-05-09 10:13:48
Posted By : Dickzak
Great guide, explained very well with a lot of passion and knowledge. Made the visit to Pompeii special.
Definitely recommend to go to Pompeii with this guide.
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Posted On : 2024-05-07 15:50:32
Posted By : Jeff_F
Outstanding tour, our guide, an educated archaeologist, was very informative, friendly and spoke great English. Don’t hesitate, book it now!!
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Posted On : 2024-05-07 09:51:06 
Posted By : florencebT6283RE
Jen was amazing. The food was spectacular and so delicious! We never would have found or tried the food at the places she took us to. Also it was just us and one more couple so perfect size group
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Posted On : 2024-05-05 11:01:40
Posted By : John_J
We had Sonia as our tour guide and she was amazing!! She is very knowledgeable and provided us with so many details about Pompeii that we would not have known without a tour guide. I would definitely recommend this tour!
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Posted On : 2024-05-05 03:49:18
Posted By : John_L
Great tour with lots of information. Highly recommend. Sonia our tour guide was very detailed and thorough. She was very personable and cared about our group.
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Posted On : 2024-05-04 05:50:34
Posted By : Dai_O
We really enjoyed our tour today with Francesca G. She was professional, knowledgeable and interesting so that she brought Pompeii alive for the group. She also set a good pace and explained many iconic places in Pompeii while having time to look at them in some detail, take photos and ask questions. Francesca negotiated any crowds very skilfully and isuggested places for us to visit after the tour if we wished. Highly recommended.
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Posted On : 2024-05-03 11:37:58
Posted By : John_L
we arrived a few minutes late. They would not put us with another group till the next day, and we were not in the area
We had to pay for two more additional tours, no guide. Horrible experience
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Posted On : 2024-04-24 18:45:04
Posted By : Ian_A
Being sent from entrance to entrance and missing the tour which cost over £100.i had to buy 2 more tickets at a cost of 40 euros. Never again will I use Viator.
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Posted On : 2024-04-24 13:26:14
