On average, how long does it take to tour Pompeii ruins....

Three hours. You can sprint through in an hour. Four will be too much. It also depends how far away from the entrance you have to park.

To give it justice, all day. Leave Rome on the 7ish train and stay all day. It's a huge site but well worth the time. There is no shade at the site so wear a hat and use sunblock. Also take water with you.

donna

We hired a guided at the entrance, his tour took about 2.5hours, we then did a bit on our own for 45 minutes.

It depends. Do you enjoy ruins and history and want to investigate every nook and cranny? If so, you may need all day.

For most folks, as stated earlier, 3 hrs is probably optimal.

I would say 2 to 5 hours depending on what you want to do while you are there. It is a long day trip from Rome but definitely doable. We took the train to Naples, transferred to the Circumsuviana to Pompeii. We hired a guide at the gate and he turned out to be Gaetano Manfredi and he was fantastic. Our tour with him lasted around 2 hours. We took food with us and had a picnic there after our tour. (near a group of Italian schoolchildren who were also having a picnic lunch). We then walked around an hour or so more and then went back to Naples where we had pizza at Da Michele before we returned to Rome. I highly recommend that you eat pizza there if you decide to go to Pompeii. I have also gone to Pompeii without a guide and paying for a guided tour is definitely the way to go. Especially if you can get Gaetano Manfredi!

Take a tour guide to get an overview and then walk a bit at your own pace.

Usually the guide takes about 2-2.5 hours to show you the highlights. Then you might have a picknick lunch. Add to that an hour to walk around at your own leisure and you easily fill 4 hours.

This is one of the sites I HIGHLY recommend to get a tour guide. It is HUGE and you get so much more out of the experience with a local guide. Especially, if you can't wander around the whole day and get lost in the maze of ancient streets and ruins ...

We spent over 6 hours there our last trip, it was our second time there, but we also went in to some of the locked houses which I think are open to everyone now. A lot depends on your interest level. For some people the 2 hour tour is more than enough, some people can spend days there. The site is much larger than many people realize and many of the tours only concentrate on the main area and don't go down to where the amphitheater is.

Kelly,

Pompeii is a fairly extensive site, so I'd suggest at least three hours (but preferably at least four hours).

Taking a guided tour of the site is highly recommended, as it will provide a much better view of the history. This Guide is excellent but he's often fully booked. There are usually Guides available at the entrance as well.

Visiting Pompeii on a day trip from Rome will be a LONG day, so be sure you have a good idea on the travel route. Spending at least one night in Sorrento would provide a more relaxing schedule to tour Pompeii.

Happy travels!

I appreciate everyone's response. You all are so helpful. I am still in limbo whether to go or not, as I only have 4 days in Rome and I do not have plans to stay south of Rome (Sorrento next time, maybe!). I am going to just have to soul search on this one.

If you only have the 4 days in Rome, consider Ostia Antica for a half day trip instead, however, unless you've been before, you may not even want to leave Rome with just 4 days.

The free guide booklet and map you get with your entrance ticket sets out 2,4 and 6 hour itineraries.

As you are only in Rome for four days I suggest that you to wait until you return and visit from Sorrento. That way you will have the time to enjoy your visit. I hate visiting places and having to clock watch at the same time.

I would save Pompeii for another trip. There's a lot to do in Rome & I found that 4 days was not enough for us & I'd like to go back! I agree with the other poster that if you've seen all that you want in Rome in 3 days, then visit Ostia Antica on the 4th day; it's much closer than Pompeii. Have a great trip.

Once again, thank you for your valuable opinions. I will take all of this into consideration.

It is worth the trip. You will probably want to spend 2-3 hours, unless you are a real history buff and can't get enough Pompeii time.

two suggestions: first, consider Herculaneum instead of Pompeii. The ruins look more like an old town and less like a collection of fences made of old brick and mortar. Second, take a guided tour -- doing it on our own (in Pompeii) just didn't really have as much impact as having a tour guide that can point out things and explain them.

3-4 hours should be plenty to see Pompei once you get there.

We had the RS podcast and it made a private tour guide unnecessary

There are water outlets throughout so you can easily get drinking water as you wander around

Four hours should do it some justice.