Pompeii and Herculaneum

Might depend on the time of year? In summer heat, I wouldn't advise it. In a cooler season? Probably survivable if you're OK on your feet for the described amount of time.

We booked a 8 hour tour of both Pompeii and Herculaneum through Askos Tours for next May. We will leave from our hotel in Sorrento. Our guide at both sites is included. It will be a long day but we expect those when we travel.

It's not crazy if that's the time you have. Both are worthy, and many people are completely satisfied with just the 2 hour tour of Pompeii. Perhaps your rushed visit will inspire you to come back even if you currently don't think you will.

We visited Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast off of a cruise ship in 2014 and it was a whirlwind day of rushing around on tour busses and being frustrated with how little we saw, but it inspired us to visit again in 2023 for a 2 week stay in Sorrento. For that trip we spent about 12 hours over two days in Pompeii, about 3 hours in Herculaneum and then to tie it all together, a visit to the Archeological Museum in Naples.

We spent a full day at Pompeii (and about 3/4 of a day at Herculaneum). Both sites are quite interesting, some overlap. If it were me, I'd do a full day at Pompeii and see Herculaneum at another time. Perhaps you could do a short stay in Naples on another trip and see the archeology museum and Herculaneum at that time.

Month of year? Heat and sun are major factors, especially at Pompeii, which is far bigger. Food inside Pompeii, none in Herculaneum. Herculaneum is 15 minutes downhill from the Circumvesuviana, Pompeii is 300 feet from the CIrcumvesuviana. It took us almost two hours to have a modest sit-down lunch in a very basic restaurant (but with good food) on the street in Ercolano. You don't have time for that.

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

Artistically and culturally, you can make an argument for the three other ancient sites in the immediate area. Of those, I've only been to Oplontis, but it was completely unlike Pompeii or Herculaneum, and artistically quite important. Short walk from the Circumvesuviana, and even smaller than Herculaneum Scavi. Almost deserted. One reason I mention this is that at Oplontis, you enter and walk around inside and outside a rich guy (?)'s villa. At Herculaneum, the houses are behind fences, sort of like a zoo. (I'm not slamming Herculaneum, lots of people love the fact that some wood parts survive there, among other things.)

Herculaneum is wonderful. We easily spent 4 hours there. I never felt it was a lesser visit.

Pompeii and Herculaneum deserve their popularity. But consider dropping one of them and visiting Oplontis and/or Stabiae instead. A guide service like Askos can make it happen.

https://pompeiisites.org/en/oplontis/

https://pompeiisites.org/en/stabiae/

https://askostours.com/

Oplontis looks amazing.