Pompeii or Herculaneum

Your question calls for a great deal of opinion, so it's hard to say that one reply alone is definitive. It would be helpful to know if there are factors like young children or disability, because walking inside any ancient site can be a chore. There is no place to eat inside Herculaneum, but it's still a nice place to visit. Herculaneum is 15-minutes downhill from the Circumvesuviana train. How will you be getting to the site you choose? Will you have luggage? Will you be disappointed if you spend six hours at Pompeii and fail (as you will !!! :-) ) to see EVERYTHING there?

Part of the "museum" question is how you like visiting museums. I hope it will be less crowded in October. Do you also want to see the Farnese Marbles? It is not absolutely necessary to go to the museum. It has the originals of many of the small bronze statues, and frescoes that have been replaced with replicas at the real sites.

There are actually five major sites in the area (I know, there are more than that!) but you named the two largest and most famous.

My own choice for you is Pompeii.

We've been to both, and enjoyed them both. Herculaneum is smaller, and not nearly as crowded. There's more to see in Pompeii.

We saw the archaeological museum after both sites. I don't know that our experience would have been better had we seen it before.

If time is a factor, go to Herculaneum. If you want to spend the whole day, choose Pompeii. Any reason you can't do both? They're quite different. We saw Ercolano in 2005, and Pompeii 10 years later. I think seeing both on the same trip would be great.

If I had to choose "the best" in the area you describe it would be the Boat Sheds where hundreds died (skeletons on display) in Herculanum, and the tour up Vesuvius (you didn't ask, I know), from which you can see the metropolis of Naples which is currently at risk - Just as Pompeii was 2000 years ago. The Pompeii site is huge, and remember it was mostly excavated back when collecting objects was the goal - not putting objects into context. The Archeological museum has almost all of the loot from the early excavations, and is excellent in what it has, but very out of date on contextualizing what it displays. How many display cases of kitchen objects does one really need.

Like Tim said, it's all opinions and personal tastes. I was wowed by the museum and spent at least 4 hours there. I went back on my second trip to the south and again spent more than a couple hours seeing the collections a second time. For me, it didn't matter that I visited the sites first and the museum later.

Pompeii is a much larger site, even if you skip the amphitheatre (IMO too far for too little), and especially if you walk out to the Villa dei Misteri (beautiful frescoes in situ). There are more bits to see including a theatre but walking in some parts is difficult. Herculaneum gives one more of a sense of a whole city.

Expect very hot weather. Best to go first thing in the morning when it's least hot and the sun is not as strong. There's precious little shade in either place. Herculaneum may be less crowded.

It honestly does not make any difference what site you choose and if you visit the museum before or after! Do what is best for the time you have available.

Expanding on the mention of Villa Mistiri, I count that as an "advanced topic" for Pompeii visits. It is a long walk in the heat, and it's often closed for conservation or lack of guards. The (probably, intentionally dim) lights were not on last time I was there, despite the building being open. But we went in, because it's a very famous place AT a very famous place! As of a few years ago, all of the original frescoes were still in their original places. Their (painted) subjects are an enigma to scholars. It's controversial that there has not been the will and the money to move them to a climate-controlled location.

But one argument in favor of Pompeii is the number of major villas and other sites that are scattered around, like the Alexander mosaic, the Villa of the Faun, the Villa of the Vetti, the bath houses ... The Alexander mosaic, which is (at Pompeii Scavi) a replica - the original is in the museum, and does not travel, is a vivid example of why the replicas have value at their original sites: It is just huge, and is (for a replica) quite thrilling in place.

Personally, I'd do the Archeological Museum first and visit the replica of the Pompeii site. I think it puts into perspective just how large the site is.

https://www.museoarcheologiconapoli.it/en/room-and-sections-of-the-exhibition/the-model-of-pompeii/

Agree completely with Jane' comments. Herculaneum is smaller, not nearly as crowded, but there's more to see in Pompeii. If time is a factor, go to Herculaneum as one can easily spend an entire day at Pompeii. They are totally different places and you should see both if time will allow.

I saw both, and felt they were both excellent and quite different from each other. In a perfect world... see both. Go early to Pompeii, take a lunch break and see Herculaneum in the afternoon. I believe it’s generally open until sunset, unless it’s off season. Herculaneum is smaller and takes a little less time to see. If you have to choose one or the other, I would go with what’s convenient for you. You say you’re staying in the “Amalfi Coast area” which can mean a lot, and different bases pose their own obstacles. For instance, Herculaneum is quite close to Naples, but Sorrento is much more convenient to Pompeii.

Hello,

it depends on You, i would suggest to visit all of this spots because they are worthy. You coul plan to visit Sorrento and Pomei one day and Herculaneum and Vesuvio another day.

My wife and I went in spring 2019.
We ONLY went to Pompeii - so can't address your topic there.

We went to the museum afterwards and it was nice to see the items after-the-fact.

We went to Pompeii on Monday - 6+ hours
Paestum on Tuesday - 5+ hours - and we both said "we like being here more than Pompeii"
Paestum has the temples as well as Roman houses. The houses were not covered by volcanic ash, so their walls a 1 foot tall and there's less tile - but we could walk around 'everywhere'

I only have a dozen vidoes at YouTube - four of them about our Paestum visit - so "easy to find" at https://www.youtube.com/user/EvanShad/videos