Pompeii or Herculaneum?

Trying to do both in one day would be the less ideal choice.

How much time do you have and when would you be there? Shade is pretty much non existent at Pompeii.

Coming from where?

Coming from Rome/Naples on July 13. We will have most of the day in either location, then plan to spend the night in Sorrento. We know it will be hot.

It would be hard to spend a whole day at Herculaneum (Ercolano stop on the train) since the excavated area is much smaller. The mass grave in the boat sheds though have an immediacy that (to me) Pompeii lacks. And the town built on the impressively thick ash around Herculaneum is right above the excavation. Pompeii is wide and open now, with a great view of Vesuvius. You do not need to "see" all of Pompeii though, and might combine a tour of it with a tour up the volcano.

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

Hello sjbonsib,

If you primary concern is occupying your 14 year old I would opt for Pompeii over Herculaneum. As others have said Herculaneum is much smaller and would likely not fill a whole day. Pompeii is much bigger and has things like an Amphitheatre that you can completely explore and which looks like something from TV or the movies. There are also streets, villas and other things that don't need much imagination to visualize how people lived there.

My $.02, enjoy,
=Tod

Herculaneum is smaller but better preserved than Pompeii IMO. However at Pompeii you can go on a guided tour which I think is better than just reading a few pages out of a guidebook; a good guide will have pictures with reconstructions of how things might have looked to help you make sense of what you're seeing, and if you think about it two hours or so of speech dwarfs what you're going to find written in any guidebook. So if I was choosing it would be Pompeii.

There is no wrong answer, both are impressive, but for a full day my money goes to Pompeii as long as you can get there early early early. It's already crazy there in April. We were there at 9am yesterday and had zones 1 and 2 to ourselves for a couple of hours until the hoards arrived. Having said that, Herculaneum was crazy busy too, but I keep reading how people prefer it because it's less crowded. Maybe I picked a bad day?

How much time do you have and when would you be there? Shade is pretty
much non existent at Pompeii.

A hint. Lots of shade to be found in zones 1 and 2 near the theatre and amphitheatre and lots of grass and trees in the cemetery. Good for a noon time break. There are also a lot of villas open than the last time I was there 9 years ago that give you temporary breaks.

I’d lean towards Pompeii, but I am a huge fan of both and find them equally fascinating. Pompeii for sure if you can get there early, before the crowds and heat. Realistically, you’ll max out after a few hours. Then, head on to Sorrento, have lunch and take a break. If you felt up to it, you can see Herculaneum later I’m the day. In season, it’s open until sunset which can be quite late. (Or used to be, check the schedule.)

For all the excavations, check the website to see whether the museum is keeping the same hours as the outdoor sights. Sometimes the museum closes an hour (or more??) earlier.