Mount Vesuvius popped its top in August 79 AD, exploding hot ashes, boiling mud, and pumice in all directions, burying the city of Pompeii and resort towns of Oplontis and Herculaneum.
The buried cities were forgotten for more than a thousand years, until the 18th century, when Herculaneum was discovered first, and Pompeii.
Visiting the ruins of ancient Roman cities, everything you see has been dug up, and most of Herculaneum is still buried under volcanic debris.
Decorative paintings in villas, financial documents on wooden tablets, ads for gladiator shows, loaves of bread in bakery ovens, children’s drawings on walls, survived this destruction!
Pompeii is the most famous and largest archaeological park, but Villa Oplontis and seaside town of Herculaneum are well worthwhile.
Tip: Planning your trip, be sure to visit Naples National Archaeological Museum before or after exploring the ruins. The museum has best preserved frescoes, statues, mosaics and artifacts from Pompeii and other sites.
Tickets
Tickets – Pompeii and Oplontis
Pompeii Archaeological Park has a daily limit of number of visitors per day. Tickets have date and time slot, and name of the visitor. Kids under 18 are free admission, but need a ticket. Buy tickets well in advance.
Pompeii Express –
Pompeii only, 1 day
3 Days –
This ticket includes Pompeii, Oplontis, and two other sites.
Tickets – Herculaneum
Ticket is for one day, Herculaneum only.
Pompeii
Pompeii – what to see:
Forum market and boys school, House of the Tragic Poet and House of the Faun, public baths, snack bars, bakeries, street of tombs, city walls and watchtowers, Amphitheater.
What is remarkable about Pompeii – eruption of Vesuvius preserved history of the people and city.
Portraits of what Romans looked like, houses where they lived, how they took baths, where they bought bread bread, what was a big sports complex, how they honored gods in temples and household shrines.
This is a painting of the Amphitheater for 20,000 spectators, where gladiator games and wild beast hunts were staged.
Today kids can explore the Amphitheater, going in through the tunnels where gladiators and animals entered the arena. Take a seat on the best seats, on the lowest level next to the arena. Or, run around the arena, just like the gladiators.
Tip: Pompeii covers a very large area. Take your time, let kids enjoy exploring the labyrinth of ancient buildings. Also, it’s a long walk, but fun to walk down the main street, Via dell’Abbondanza, to the Amphitheater.
In Pompeii, public temples, crossroads, shrines, kitchens, shops, were decorated with serpents. In these places, the snakes were not scary or evil. Quite the opposite, snakes were guardian deities and “bringers of abundance.”
Read our blog post: Snakes of Pompeii
Villa Oplontis (Villa Poppea)
Oplontis – what to see:
Kitchen, private baths, dining room, household shrines for the gods, latrine (bathroom with running water), large swimming pool, gardens for entertaining outdoors.
This ruin is a villa, located three miles west from Pompeii. The suburban residence would have been a great place for a wealthy family to come for fun in the sun by the sea.
As this was a luxury villa, walls are beautifully decorated with fancy marble columns, bright glowing paintings, and colorful floor mosaics. It’s thought the house belonged to Poppea Sabina, second wife of emperor Nero, or his other family members.
On the walls, look for paintings of peacocks. Peacocks were associated with the goddess Juno, and a symbol of protection and immortality.
Tip: Villa Oplontis is located in the town of Torre Annunziata, a stop on the Circumvesuviana train. From the train station, walk west down the hill a few blocks, following signs to the “scavi” (ruins).
Herculaneum
Herculaneum – what to see:
Temples to Venus, Vulcan, Neptune, Mercury, and Minerva, huge sports complex, women’s baths, wine shop, mosaics in House of Neptune and Amphitrate, paintings in Hall of Augustales, boat houses.
In legend, Herculaneum was founded by the Greek hero Hercules, and by 1st century BC, the city was a popular seaside resort.
When Mt. Vesuvius erupted, Herculaneum was buried under 65 ft (20 meters) of volcanic rock. Buried deeper than Pompeii, much of the city is still unexecavated.
On the main street of Herculaneum was the Forum, center of political, commercial and religious life in the city. There were spacious villas, shops, water fountains, lots of snack bars, two public baths for men and women, a huge sports complex (palestra).
Tip: Taking Circumvesuviano train to Herculaneum, stop is Ercolano. Walk four or five blocks to the ruins.
Naples National Archeological Museum
Naples Archaeological Museum – what to see:
Athena and four dancers sculptures from Villa Papyri, dog, lion, panther, and head of Medusa mosaics, portrait paintings of ancient Roman men and women, busts of Roman emperors.
In the museum are amazing artifacts, mosaics, paintings and sculpture, removed from ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum and preserved here.
Tip: Some galleries are only open in morning or afternoon, so check hours when you enter the museum. Museum is closed Tuesday.
Where to Stay
Sorrento is a resort town, easily accessible by train from Rome, and convenient to visit sites of Pompeii, Oplontis, Herculaneum.
Read our blog post: Sorrento – Where to stay visiting Pompeii.
Check out Travel for Kids recommendations:
Sorrento family hotels
Sorrento family apartment rentals
Tip: Ice cream shops and pasticerrias have wonderful selection of sweets. Some of our favorites are sfogliatelle, flaky layers of pastry with creamy ricotta in the center, lemon mouse, and zeppole (like a mini-cream puff). And of course, lemon gelato.
