Walk the streets a Roman city paused in 79 AD

Yes — please PRINT your ticket on A4 paper before you arrive. After payment you'll receive a payment receipt by email, then within 2 hours a second email with your official entry ticket attached as a PDF. Pompeii's barcode turnstiles do not reliably read phone screens, so print one A4 page per visitor (colour if possible — the page can be folded in four to fit the scanner). Each ticket admits one person and carries that visitor's name printed on it, so every member of your party must bring their own printed page.

Priority entry through any of the three main gates (Porta Marina, Piazza Anfiteatro, or Piazza Esedra) bypassing the general queue, plus full access to the 66-hectare archaeological park — including the open houses, the Villa of the Mysteries, the Forum, the amphitheatre, the Lupanare, and the body-cast displays. Under-18s are free at the gate; the family tier just bundles the paperwork.

Minimum 4 hours for the headline sights walking at a reasonable pace. A full day (6–8 hours) if you want to actually see the Villa of the Mysteries, the amphitheatre, and the Lupanare without rushing. Factor in 8–10 km of walking on uneven basalt streets.

Both, if you have the days. Pompeii is huge and chaotic — the experience is scale. Herculaneum is smaller, richer, and better preserved (wood, not just stone). The combo ticket (valid 3 consecutive days) saves a queue and most visitors who do both choose it.

Summer weekend queues at Porta Marina can hit 60–90 minutes at midday. And there's almost no shade inside — Pompeii's streets were designed for Roman summer, which means pale stone and minimal trees. Start at 09:00 opening. Bring 2L water per person, a hat, sunscreen. Skip-the-line cuts the queue to under 5 minutes.

The Villa of the Mysteries (for the frescoes, at the west edge of the park — easy to skip by accident), the Forum with Vesuvius behind it, the House of the Faun, the amphitheatre (oldest surviving Roman amphitheatre, 70 BC), and the body casts at the Granai del Foro. The Lupanare if that's your taste.

Tickets are issued for a specific date and are non-transferable once issued. If your plans change, reply to your confirmation email at least 48 hours before your date and we will rebook your visit to any open slot in the operator's calendar.

Yes — kids 8+ tend to get gripped by the body casts, the Lupanare (handle that conversation in advance), the amphitheatre, and the 'frozen in time' scale. The walking is serious (8–10 km) and the heat in summer is real. Under-18s are free at the gate.

Tickets are issued for a specific date and are non-transferable once issued. If your plans change, reply to your confirmation email at least 48 hours before your date and we will rebook your visit to any open slot in the operator's calendar.

Pompeii Archaeological Park preserves the remains of a Roman city near Naples in southern Italy that was buried by the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Founded centuries earlier, the prosperous town of some 11,000 to 20,000 people was entombed under several metres of volcanic ash and pumice, which sealed its streets, frescoed houses, shops and gardens almost intact. Systematic excavation began in 1748, and roughly two-thirds of the walled city has since been uncovered, including the Forum, the House of the Faun, the amphitheatre and the suburban Villa of the Mysteries. Plaster casts taken from voids left by the dead capture the eruption's victims at the very moment they fell. Inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997, the park remains an active dig where significant new discoveries are still made today.

Pompeii Archaeological Park lies close to the modern town of Pompei, near Naples in the Campania region of southern Italy, and is easily reached by public transport. The most direct route from Naples is the Circumvesuviana commuter railway on the Naples-Sorrento line: alight at the Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri station, which sits a short walk from the Porta Marina entrance. The journey takes roughly thirty-five minutes, and trains run frequently throughout the day. From Sorrento, the same line runs in the opposite direction in a broadly comparable time. A separate regional service on the Naples-Salerno line stops at the town's main station, a longer walk from the ruins. Drivers using the A3 motorway can exit at Pompei and find paid parking near the entrances, though the roughly half-hour rail link is usually quicker and avoids the heavy coastal traffic.