​I’ve been wanting to go to Pompeii ever since I was a little girl.

I had documentary videos on Pompeii and would read different books on it.

I don’t know why, perhaps because how so well preserved it is and the remains of bodies in shells to the point you can see their face and clothes.

It’s like stepping back into time…

However, perhaps because I put so much thought into what it would be like, it was actually a bit disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it and thought it was cool, but I just built it up in my head so much that how could it live up?

I heard it is a big place and wanted to give myself as much time as possible. I had the whole day dedicated to it.

In Naples, there are different transportation options- the standard (metro, bus), regional trains, and finally a train/metro combination called Circumvesuviana.

This goes along the coast to places outside Naples proper that are heavily visited, etc. It’s cheaper than a regional train and runs pretty often.

There are two types of these trains- D and DD. D is standard, stops at all the stops and is a bit slower. DD only hits the main stops (all the ruins, etc.). These are less frequent.

I got on the 8.45 train (it says 8.41, but the two times I took it it came to Napoli Girabaldi at this time and arrived in Pompeii at about 9.25. The entrance is super close to the train. There are of course signs to help guide the way.

There’s a combination ticket for Pompeii and some other ruins. Please look into this for more cost savings. There is also this card called Artecard, which is run by Napoli Campania. This card covers many major museums and sites and transportation. There are different options, such as 3 day or 7 day and student or regular.

I bought the student 3 day which gave me all the ruins free and my transportation to them.

I just gave the ticket woman my card and she scanned it, gave it back to me, as well as my Pompeii ticket.

They give you a free map and information booklet as well. I got my ticket with a Spanish man. His accent in English reminded me of a friend from the Canary Islands so I asked him where he was from in Spain. He said Madrid, but anyways. As soon as we entered he took off and I thought I wouldn’t see him again.

I read online that it’s good to download an audio guide and there are several free ones, but I picked the one from Discover Pompeii Team and it was quite informative and worked offline.

I also brought an external battery charger as I knew my phone would die after using the app and my camera function.

Bring food as well as there’s nothing inside…there is, but bring food anyways…it’s a small cafe and probably super expensive.

Here are several pictures from my time:

I would prefer not to recount the history of Pompeii and I don’t remember stories from all the buildings.

I spent 5 hours in Pompeii and by the end, I was mentally exhausted.

I decided to take the 14.23 (?) train back to Naples and lord and behold, the Spanish man, A, was there. I thought he would have left a lot earlier.

“I wanted to see everything.” He said.
“Me too, but you were on a mission!”
“I think I’m a bit weird, but I wanted to see more people….more dead people….” I told him.
He laughed, “Yes that’s weird, but I thought the same. We just won’t say it again.”
I had messed my camera up a bit prior, and he had a look at it and said it should be fine. I’m still looking for a camera shop though.

In fact, I found 3 sites where they had the dead displayed, or rather their casts.

One group of 3 was in a house. Another group of 13, I believe, was in a garden called “Garden of Fugitives.” And the last group were held in a house as well; however, the house was closed and you could see them through the bars on the door and windows.

Either these are copies or some copies are displayed near the forum (the big square).

I also thought seeing these casts would be more emotional- something like going to any concentration camp for the Holocaust. Maybe it wasn’t because it was so long ago….but maybe also I thought their positions and facial expressions would be more in pain. The only one I thought that exhibited fear and pain (all my readings said all of them do…) was that of the dog, as it was curled up with its legs over its head and teeth barred.

Some of the actual treasures and findings are in the Archeological museum in Naples. I went to see it first, please see Naples City post, but perhaps it’s better afterwards as you can imagine where they were originally instead of trying to imagine it at the location.

I went on a clear sunny day and it had great views of Mt. Visuvius and the Gulf of Naples. I would suggest not going on a rainy day as it’s all outdoors and like I said it could be the whole day.

I’m so glad I was able to have this opportunity to go and highly recommend it.

Check out my time at lesser known Paestum and other ruins in the area.

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