Pompeii - how much time should you allow for your?

We spent 7-8 hours At Pompeii.

You could easily spend two days and not see everything. I’ve been there twice and each time I spent 3-4 hours. Both times I went it was early June, it was hot (although not unbearably hot like in July or August) but at the end I was exhausted. If you go in the heat of summer, I don’t think you’ll be able to survive over 5 hours.

Have you got a Circumvesuviana schedule as well? It's probably not as precise. I would want at least four hours after the turnstile, but I agree that eight hours is good. One issue is whether you are going to (long) walk to the Villa of the Mysteries and hope it is open. One trick there is to exit (when done) by the Mistiri gate, because the walk back to the Circumvesuviana then has many trees with shade. But it's less time inside the ancient city.

The Roman Forum, for example, is excellent. But it's hard to explain in words how great Pompeii is.

Oh okay, thanks for the tips. We will be there in 2 weeks so it should be too hot. As a follow up should I book trains in advance or is that something you can hook fairly easily spur of the moment? Do you buy tickets to Pompeii in advance or at the actual site? Thanks!

If I understand your plans right you're staying in Rome and going down to Pompeii for the day via train. If so, then you want to purchase the Rome <-> Naples portion now; the tickets are cheaper advance purchase. Be aware that for the cheapest fare you are locked into that exact train, no changes. The local train from Naples to Pompeii is not reserveable, buy your tickets at the Naples train station. If I remember right those trains are cash-only.

They sell admission to Pompeii right at the site, no need to buy that in advance. I highly recommend taking a guided tour. They'll be standing out front roping people in for tours or you can hire one in advance. Rick Steves set up a way to book a shared guide at https://www.sharedtours.com/, not sure if it's still running post-Covid. We did it on our own with just a book and don't think we got nearly as much out of it as we would have with a guide. In a guide book it's at most a few pages of description which you could read out-loud in 10 minutes. Contrast that with a guide talking for 2 hours, and whom you can ask questions.

It depends on what you want to get out of it. I did Pompeii and Vesuvio as a (long) day trip from Rome. Hiked up Vesuvio in the morning and was at Pompeii by 13:00. I did the RS Audio tour and wandered around to some other spots. Probably 4 hours total inside the gates and then another hour exploring the little town outside. That was plenty for me.

Some people spend multiple days there, though.

Lindsay, as others have said, your time schedule for the ruins at Pompeii will depend on a variety of factors, including your interest level, your stamina, the weather and temperature, etc.
Some years ago, I visited with just the RS guidebook, and found that inadequate. It was confusing to find my way around, the street signs were often different from the street names in the book, and of course no book can indicate which streets or rooms might be blocked off or closed for maintenance work that particular day.
I wish I had used a guide (person). Things may have changed, but I think there are guides around the entrance, and you can chat with some of them to find out whose style you like, whose English you can easily understand, and negotiate a reasonable price. I think these guided walks are usually about 2 hours, and my recommendation would be then to have a drink/snack/break, and then spend another couple of hours visiting additional areas or places you want to visit in more depth. Note that Pompeii was a large city 2000 years ago, and there are some major features at some distances from the site’s central area, walkable with some time and energy. Also, a guide would know which areas might be closed off on a given day, saving you time.
Be careful with your travel plan. If you take the train from Rome to Naples, you can go down a couple floors to the Circumvesuviana commuter train and take it to the Scavi stop right by the ruins entry. However, if you take a Rome to Pompeii direct train, that station is in the modern city of Pompeii, quite a walk, or taxi ride, from the ruins, meaning additional time, energy or money.
Finally, as I left Pompeii, I bought a souvenir guide book that I wish I had had while exploring the ruins. It is titled “Pompeii: 2000 years ago and today” published by Bonechi Edizioni “Il Turismo”. This book includes photos and descriptions of particular ruined buildings, squares, etc. today, and then also includes artist renditions of what those places actually looked like 2000 years ago, full buildings, colors, with gardens, people, etc. Also includes an excellent map of the entire site. Brings things to life quite well, while you are there. I see used English copies of this book available for a few dollars on Amazon, or else likely new copies in Italy, if you happen on it as you arrive in Pompeii or before.
Enjoy!

Thank you so much - that’s all very helpful. And you’re right, I was going to book the Rome to Pompeii direct and now I won’t - that’s a huge help!

We were just there at the beginning of April. Ancient Pompeii is HUGE! We splurged and hired a private guide who also set up a driver to meet us at the Naples train station (we took the bullet train down from Rome in the morning and arrived around 9am). Pompeii is also a bit crowded. It was so great to have a guide who could take us straight through the crowds and find us the most interesting spots and he was a wealth of knowledge. We only ended up only doing 2.5 hours - it went fast but we were exhausted and it was cold the day we were day. I felt like that was adequate, actually but I see a lot of other folks are telling you 8 hours so if you love ancient ruins and have stamina, go for it.

If you can afford it, try to hire a guide. Our guide came from this forum, his name is Gaetano Manfreddi. Good luck and enjoy Italy!

https://www.pompeiitourguide.com/about-gaetano/

There are two ways to get to Pompeii from Rome by train.

1. Fast train to Naples, then Circumvesuviana/Campagna Express commuter train to Pompeii Scavi. The CV/CE stops a short walk from the main entrance. The CV/CE runs about every 30 minutes and is often not on schedule. The CV is slower because it makes more stops, but they run on the same tracks so you'd take whichever was next. It takes 10-15 minutes to get through the station in Naples from one train to the other.

   1. Train to Pompei (modern city). It looks like you'd change trains in Naples. According to Google maps it is then a 3 minute taxi ride or about 1/2 mile on foot to the Piazza Immacolata entrance near the amphitheatre.

you can get the timetables online. Be sure to look at Italotreno as well as Trenitalia schedules to determine which works better for you. It looks easier to choose option [1]. BUT If you buy your return ticket to Rome in advance, be sure to allow plenty of time to get to Naples on the CV/CE, transit the station, find and board your train

Remember you are on holidays and you may never return. Give it the most of your time, pick up a tour guide who can explain what you are seeing. Have been 3 times and each time have seen a different part of the site as everything is not open to the public. History at its best, running water, homes with water pipes and fountains, speed bumps on the paved streets, water fountains in the town for locals to get a drink on a hot day, sidewalks, brothels (remember it was a port city), gyms, spas, arena for games, shops just to name a few things. Well worth a visit.

Here's the latest advice from the next edition of Rick Steves' Rome:

"A new BusLink shuttle goes from the Pompei town train station to the Pompeii archaeological site. Because of that, we now recommend getting from Rome to Pompeii via an express train to Naples, then taking Trenitalia’s Metropolitana train (part of Naples’ Metro line 2) to Pompei town and transferring to the shuttle (also operated by Trenitalia; entire train-bus trip shows up on their online schedules). This option is safer and more comfortable than the pickpocket-clogged Circumvesuviana commuter train, but takes longer (70 minutes versus 35 on the Circumvesuviana)."

Lauren's new report is very helpful. It's important to note that the decision can be affected by other factors:

1. Is this a daytrip runout from Rome?
2. Do you have luggage?
3. Is this en route to Sorrento or the AC or Capri?
4. Is this en route to Salerno or east of Amafi?
5. Is it high season or shoulder (no low, really.)
6. What comfort level do you prefer?
7. Is it the hottest part of the year?
8. How big is your party?
9. Is Naples part of your plans?

Just to pick one example, Rick's new advice does not apply directly to a day-excursion between two nights sleeping in Sorrento. Intimidating or not, the Circumvesuviana is probably best for that.