Pompeii and Vesuvius tour

Spend an unforgettable day discovering, with our authorised guide, the archaeological site of Pompeii and the natural beauty of the Vesuvius Volcano.

The itinerary will be as follows: 

- The Basilica, with its extension of 1,500 square metres, was the most sumptuous building in the Forum, and its space was used for commercial activities and the administration of justice.

- The Forum is the hub of the city's daily life and is the focal point of all the main public buildings for the administration and justice of the city, business management and commercial activities, such as markets, as well as the main places of worship for the citizens.

- The Temple of Jupiter dominates the north side of the Forum, with Vesuvius rising dramatically behind it. When the colony was founded (80 B.C.), the temple underwent a radical renovation and became a real Capitolium with the three cult statues of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, which resembled those of the Capitolium in Rome, placed on a high base so as to make them visible to those passing through the Forum square.

- The Macellum consists of a four-sided tufa porch with a worship hall in an elevated position on the eastern side, in line with the entrance. On the niches of the side wall are copies of two marble statues, one female and one armed male, together with a fragment of a larger statue, probably belonging to an emperor, Titus or Vespasian, indicating that this area was intended for imperial worship. On the left is a room for meetings of a sacred table and on the right a large room with a masonry counter perhaps for the sale of fish.

- Via dell'Abbondanza was the main street (decumanus maximus) of ancient Pompeii; it crossed the city in an east/west direction from the Forum to Porta Sarno.
In ancient times the street was crowded and noisy with many shops, workshops ('officinae'), cafés, snack-bars and restaurants.

- The Forum Baths are located behind the Temple of Jupiter and date from the years immediately following the foundation of the veterans' colony by General Sulla (80 BC). The men's and women's quarters had separate entrances. The men's section had an apodyterium (changing room), which was also used as a tepidarium (for medium temperature baths), frigidarium (for cold baths) and calidarium (for hot baths). Like many buildings in Pompeii, the baths were severely damaged during the earthquake of 62 AD.

- The House of Menander is an excellent example of a Roman villa owned by a high-ranking family. It is richly decorated with marvellous frescoes depicting scenes from the Trojan War; many silver and pottery objects were found here and are now preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Naples. The house owes its name to an image of Menander, an Athenian poet, in the portico.
The house belonged to Quintus Poppaeus Sabinus of the Poppei family, relatives of the empress Poppaea Sabina, Nero's second wife.

- The Teatro Grande of Pompeii was built by the Romans on the slope of a hill; they took advantage of the natural depression of the mountain to create a majestic auditorium divided into 5 sectors.
Tragedies from the Greco-Roman tradition were performed on the stage.

In the second part of the tour you will reach the slopes of Vesuvius at an altitude of 1,000 metres above sea level.

Free time of about 2 hours to reach the edge of the crater at 1,280 m, from where you can admire a breathtaking view of the Gulf of Naples.
The surface of the path is uneven, but the walk is pleasant and will be well worth it.

Return to Sorrento in the afternoon

- Departure from Naples 

- 2 hours tour to Pompeii 

- Stop at Vesuvius for 1 hour and 30 minutes 

- Return to Naples

- Official guide 
- Skip the line entrance tickets to Pompeii 
- Priority access to Vesuvius Volcano
- Departure and return to Naples city centre
- Return transport by air-conditioned vehicle
- Earphones for groups of over 12 participants 

- Food and drinks 

- Tour may be operated by a multilingual guide
- Availability may change due to adverse weather conditions
- Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with mobility difficulties or wheelchair users
- Time and meeting point must be confirmed 24 hours prior to departure
- Departure and return times may vary due to traffic and unforeseen circumstances
- The programme is subject to change due to weather conditions or force majeure (road closures, public events etc.); in these cases it may not be possible to make some of the stops or visits mentioned in the programme and the guide may slightly modify the itinerary.
- In the event that Vesuvius is closed due to bad weather, a panoramic tour of Naples will be provided as an alternative and no refund will be offered.

- To receive a full refund, travellers may cancel up to 24 hours before the start date of the experience in their local time zone.
- No refunds will be given after this time.

Departure at 09:00 a.m. outside the entrance to the Starhotel Terminus hotel at Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi no. 91 (opposite Napoli Centrale railway station).
Departure at 08:30 a.m. at the office "IAMME IA!" located in Piazza Torquato Tasso nr. 16 behind the statue of Torquato Tasso.