Mondo Tours

You can take the little commuter train Circumvesuviana and exit at the Pompeii Scavi stop. You're now at the entrance to the ruins and there will be scads of tour guides offering their services to you. You don't really need to prebook anything, you don't even really need a guide unless you just want one.

Thanks. I did know there were official guides. I might do that, instead of waiting to see if this is a go.

Lulu, I'm not sure about "official" guides, but there are many guides waiting, available and inexpensive around the entry to the ruins at Pompeii. Maybe they are official, maybe less formal than that. Best approach is to talk to a few and then hire one who you find personable and with English you can understand easily. Usually the tour they give is about two hours, and you can take more time on your own after that. I recommend using one of these guides, as they are highly informed, totally know their way around the huge site (a whole city, you know), never get lost, plus they will know which streets or rooms might be closed for renovation or repairs. I tried to navigate myself with a book, map and audio guide and wasted much time and energy wandering around lost. I think it!s a good idea to read some and focus on a map of the site before you arrive, Identifying some of the specific spots you know you do not want to miss. Bring water, maybe some food with you. Depending where you are starting that morning, you can easily visit nearby Herculaneum the same day, another very interesting and very different site of Roman ruins, more concentrated and better preserved than Pompeii. A few minutes closer to Napoli on the same train line.

Thanks Larry. i couldn't decide between the two...as I read how much better preserved Herculaneum is. However, I really want to see the caste figures...and they only have those at Pompeii. I won't have time to see both so I had to make a decision. Although, my mind could be changed!

Hi, Lulu: Back to your original question, we signed up for a Mondo tour of Pompeii last year, June I think. Evidently about 11 people signed up for the tour, but only three actually showed up. Our guide, Vicenzo (maybe), said this was not uncommon. He cancelled the tour, but before leaving gave us a great 45 minute introduction to the site. It did help, but we wish we could have had the full guided tour.

One other comment: we arrived early at the designated meeting place, but it took us about 15 minutes before we found our guide. I suspect some of the other folks who had signed up may have given up finding him, as we almost did.