Pompei, Herculaneum and the RS audio guide

Do you have the RS audio app? The Pompeii tour is there, you may want to download it. It is 38 minutes. We also followed the tour in the RS guide.

As far as I can see on the app, there are no Herculaneum RS audio tours.

Herculaneum is much smaller than Pompeii and you should probably allocate only a couple of hours if you're trying to do both in one day and commit much more time to Pompeii.

Rick has a tour in the book for Herculaneum which we used lightly when we were there. What's open and available varies from day to day and season to season so while Rick highlights many of the main building sites some may not be open but there are others to explore. If you have an understanding of the ruins much of it speaks for itself but more context is always helpful to add depth.

I think Herculaneum feels much more intimate and gives you a feeling of how people were living right up until the last minute. Pompeii is much larger and gives you a feeling of the size of the functioning city with trade, houses and industry. There is a multi-story display that let's you walk above an active excavation which I highly recommend to get a feeling for the work that it takes to expose the ruins. Also watch the recent PBS Pompeii documentary on Youtube or somewhere local before you go for a good look into Pompeii and the excavations efforts.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/herculaneum-and-pompeii-questions

EDIT: Do not overlook sun and heat in June. You will want to eat lunch in the air-conditioned cafeteria inside Pompeii, which will be crowded.

You already said you can't add any time here, but be aware that there are five important excavations operated in this area. I've only been to (much smaller) Oplontis among the less-known three, but it's quite interesting, and very different from Pompeii and Herculaneum. We used the Circumvesuviana to get there, not the (reported, unknown to me) ancient-site shuttle bus.

Thanks, everyone! We'll have been in Italy for about a month by the time we get to Pompei. Though it's in June, so it is tourist season. I'm thinking (taking into consideration your responses) that we'll start at Herculaneum at 8:30 when it opens (half an hour before Pompei), spend two hours or so, then drive the half hour to Pompei and spend the rest of the day there. Thanks for taking the time to respond, much appreciated.

Keep in mind that Pompeii is a lot more tiring than Herculaneum. It's not just the size, but also the punishing monster cobblestones. Take water with you and maybe some snacky things like fruit and/or nuts. I don't think there's a source of food in Herculaneum, and with the packed day you're planning, you may not want to stop for a sit-down meal unless you need to rest your legs.

When you arrive at Pompeii, check on what is closed that day, or closing early, so you don't head out on a fruitless hike to see something that is not open. In March 2023 that information was posted near the ticket counter.

I think leaning on the audio app is a good idea. Though I found Herculaneum’s audio guide to be quite good, and given the intimacy of the place was a real plus. You’re rightly focused on time (and physical demand) management at a busy time. The best thing you can do at Pompeii is to skip the amphitheater, which is far from the main part of the town and is naturally one of the last things you’ll see. Compared to the rest of the place, it’s not worth the stretch.

If you’re staying in the area, Herculaneum is actually open quite late in season, until sunset. That makes it very feasible to visit Pompeii early, take an extended midday break, then see Herculaneum in the late afternoon. Herculaneum is below street level with multistory buildings, so it can afford some shade depending on the hour. With that in mind, I’d also suggest flipping the order and seeing Pompeii early. I was on my way out by lunch and it had already gotten wickedly hot and the crowd had grown exponentially.

@awrzesinski, when you talk of the Herculaneum audio guide, you are not talking about a RS audio guide, correct? I don't see a RS audio guide for Herculaneum, unless I've missed it somewhere. I'm just wanting clarification because I'm going there in February.

RS does have an audio guide for Pompeii.