Travel Guide to Pompeii Archeological Site

I’m Kim, the Abundant Traveler and welcome to the channel if you’re new here I put out laid-back luxury travel videos inspiring you to buy that plane ticket and go see the world if you are a subscriber thank you so much I so appreciate your support today I’m going to be sharing with you tips inspiration ideas and a little history on pompeii that’s actually the archaeological site not the town of pompeii I’m going to be sharing ideas how to get there what tours to take what to bring what you can expect to see and everything that you need to know before you go let’s start with a little history of pompeii there’s actually a main city of pompeii the pompeii of today which is spelled p-o-m-p-e-i with one eye the archaeological site has two eyes at the end so something to note when we think of pompeii we think of the roman times when 79 a.d mount vesuvius erupted it is crazy to look all over the bay of naples and you can see mount vesuvius looming up there it can erupt at any time the actual eruption that destroyed the village the roman village of pompeii was in 79 a.d there were about 11 000 inhabitants that were in living in the city at that time it was a relatively wealthy city sort of a merchant city it was also located on the coast today it’s inland but back in 79 a.d it was on the coast and what happened was mount vesuvius when it erupted it gave a lot of gas a lot of fire and up to 20 feet of ash so it basically just encompassed and enclosed the entire city of pompeii let’s talk a little bit about getting to the archaeological site of pompeii first and foremost I recommend taking a tour if you can if you’re in sorrento or in naples or in the amalfi wherever you are take a tour get an organized tour in advance of course i’ve left a link in the description below for a couple options for you it is well worth getting the history and the information it’s just not the same if you listen to one of the audio guides some of the tours will meet you at the gates and some of them will pick you up in the city where you are staying so it just depends on the tour if you have to get to pompeii on your own there are a couple of ways to get there one you can take a car but that’s gonna take you driving in the middle of southern italy which is kind of risky you can take a sita bus from naples as cedar buses go that’s the main bus line in the area it goes from near the port from the other towns like amalfi and sorrento you can take a seat of us over to pompeii in naples there are two trains you can take first is the circumvesuviana which is a local train that’s packed with people no ac relatively inexpensive and at least from the main train station in naples one tip is if you get on the circumvesuviana one stop before the main train station you’re likely to get a seat also something to know is watch out for pickpockets on that train you can take the second more uh local train the metropolitan train but that train actually stops in the town of pompeii not the archeological site whether you’re taking the train or the bus from naples it’s gonna take you 35 to 45 minutes to get there one of the best things about the seat of us and the circumvent suviana train is they drop you right off at the skyv gate just something to know when you’re meeting your guide or when you’re going in on your own there are three gates to the archaeological site so pay attention to which gate you’re actually supposed to be at so if you’re headed to naples and pompeii and possibly the amalfi coast make sure to go the description below and download my free packing guide to naples and the amalfi it’s going to have everything that you’re going to need from fancy dinners to hiking the path of the gods to going to pompeii hanging out in naples maybe hanging out in capri as well so go to the description below and click the free packing guide so as you’re checking out this travel guide to pompeii make sure to check out my other videos on the area including naples and the amalfi coast in general capri positano things to do in naples day trips from naples even a catamaran trip around the bay of naples and the amalfi coast so make sure to check out all those videos as well when you arrive at the skavi entrance there’s a couple of things there one you can leave your luggage there if you’re going to be transferring from one city to the other and you’re just doing a day trip through pompeii you can leave your luggage for a fee there at that particular gate also at that day and the other gates you can pick up an audio guide you can get the auto guide that’s great but do do a tour so entrance into the site is 16 euros and it opens at 9 o’clock in the morning and closes at 7 pm supposedly in 2022 there are going to be twice as many visitors to pompeii that there are normally I guess everybody saved up their time during kobed and now in 2022 pompeii is full of people so it really doesn’t matter when you’re going to be going if you’re going in 2022 the place is going to be packed also something to note when you go in if you get there early make sure to if you’re not with your guide go directly to the back of the 160 to 170 acres of the site and start at the back where there aren’t as many people and then work your way forward because what happens quite a lot is people come in they only spend a couple hours there they do their tour and they leave by 12 or 1 o’clock so as you start in the back and then you’re coming forward crowds are starting to be a little bit less do remember that everything closes at 7 and also in the afternoon they’re going to be less tours less crowds and also in the heat of the day less people if you can stay all day that is ideal going for two hours and doing a tour and leaving is not the way to go there is so much to see and do and it’s an unbelievable sight it isn’t it’s crazy to see how the romans lived how uniquely different their lives were and then again how ordinary and the same that our lives are today it’s such an incredible place to visit and you want to give it its do and spend the entire day there there are several things that you have to see one you have to go walk the entire forum the entire perimeter it’s incredible to see the architecture and to see that this huge area was a pedestrian walking area just to walk up and down the streets of pompeii is something incredible as well they have taverns and they have brothels and they have roman baths uh you can see where they had uh you know in a house where they had these beautiful mosaics there was even a mosaic that had a dog with a chain on it and I was supposedly it says beware of the dog I guess it’s for the first beware of the dog what’s so incredible is the fact that it’s frozen in time and it’s roman times and how unique it is but then again how normal it is and how similar we are today as to the people who are living in 79 a.d it’s crazy while you’re wandering around pompeii on your own after your tour maybe you have your audio guide if you see a locked gate they’re probably doing excavations there or they’re doing a movie who knows but sometimes you may peek through that bar where you can’t get in and if you walk around the corner there may be an interest that might be open where you can go in and you can see some other spectacular thing so don’t take no for an answer keep walking around and keep wondering and again as I said before spend the entire day there it is so worth it so a couple of modern day logistics as well as things that you should take when you’re going to pompeii let’s start with modern day logistics if you have a stroller it’s really hard to get around also if you’re not agile there’s lots of up and down the rocks are very slick even when they’re dry just be careful if you’re not super agile I would suggest maybe bringing a walking stick or two with you just to maintain your balance it doesn’t matter what time of the spring summer or fall it’s going to be hot there’s no shade open sun it’s those stones are reflecting the heat as well and they heat up and never cool off all summer long so heat is a big thing to worry about while you’re there so my suggestions of what you should bring when you go one bring a water bottle there is plenty of water there I would bring a big water bottle but they do have some water stations along the way that it’s safe to drink they do have one restaurant inside pompeii it’s a little cafeteria so I do recommend that you bring a backpack you bring lots of water I do recommend that you bring some snacks as well so you don’t have to leave the site to one of the restaurants at one of the gates or one of the kiosks out there bring your snacks bring your lunch as well if you’re coming with kids bring them in a papoose remember that it is not super friendly for them being out in the heat all day so plan accordingly I recommend bringing a hat or bringing an umbrella I took an umbrella on my trip and it was a godsend it was such a blessing to have that huge umbrella with me to keep the sun off of me I recommend sunscreen if I haven’t already said that great sunglasses make sure to bring very sturdy strong sold good walking shoes it is so slick there were a couple of times I was in my tacos which have sort of a hiking bottom on them and a couple of times I slipped I mean just right out from under me my foot slipped and it was dry and hot so definitely wear very solid shoes if you’re going to be there for any length of time and the last thing I recommend there are a few bathrooms placed around and some porta potties but I do recommend bringing some wipes and some tv just in case just saying thank you so much for watching this video I really appreciate you being here I’m kim the abundant traveler and i’ll see you at some amazing unesco world heritage site very very soon take care bye