Please advise if you have any recommendations for a specific tour company or guide for Pompeii.
Any other recommendations and observations such as restaurants, site experiences and hacks is also appreciated. We will be in Sorrento, Pompeii and Naples area in the next two months.
We used one of the tour guides at the gate. Engaged in a brief conversation about services and pricing. The purpose of the conversation was to judge his English speaking ability. He laid out about a three hour overview that ended at the little cafe in the middle. From there we took another three, four hours to visit in depth some of the earlier stops. Our guide answer a lot of questions from our sons. We have used this similar approach at many other sites and excellent results.
And you really need to spend time in the museum in Naples after the Pompeii tour. Be sure to see the secret room that used to require permission from the Pope to visit.
I wish we had spent an extra day in Pompeii instead of visiting the MANN in Naples.
We arranged private guides for both the museum in Naples and Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, and Stabiae with Askos Tours. The guides were unilaterally amazing.
The modern city of Pompei doesn't get a lot of love on this forum, but in 2022, we loved staying at the Hotel Forum, across the street from the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance to the ruins.
We spent about 12 hours in Pompeii over 2 days including a 2 hour tour via Mondo Tours at the beginning. Depending on your level of interest I'd also recommend Villa Oplontis which is one train stop north of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and to tie it all together a visit to the Archeological Museum in Naples. The visit was part of a 2 week stay in Sorrento. Here's my Trip Report if you're interested.
We were in Italy last month and went to both Pompei and the National Museum in Naples. At Pompei we did the self-guided tour from Rick’s guidebook and it was fine. There were lots of descriptions in both English and Italian as well as other guides whom we could overhear. We had a car so we parked by the Scavi train station entrance and went in that way, then at closing time we were by the eastern entrance towards the modern town so we left that way and I walked 3/4 mile back down via Plinio to retrieve the car. We had lunch at the cafeteria restaurant inside the site (Casina dell’ Aquila); the line was slow even by Italian standards but the food was pretty good. But with April crowds instead of January ones you might want to pack a lunch. The modern town is a regular Italian town, with restaurants, shops, a big church, etc. We particularly liked supper at Stuzzico by Lucius.
We did a day trip to Naples by train to see the museum. Naples itself is covered in graffiti, quite a shock compared to Rome or Milan. I know some people love it but we were glad to just be on a day trip. The museum was so empty it was almost creepy! I suspect in April it will feel like a normal museum. The Pompei exhibits are very interesting - it’s hard to believe regular rich people, not royalty, had such fine crystal and silverware 2000 years ago! The “secret” room is right on the marked tour route, nothing secret about it, but the mosaics really are explicit so think about whether you want kids to see them.
Good luck with the trip!
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy
Scroll to the bottom for the Pompeii audio tour.
It is what we used. Seemed to go everywhere all the live guides were going, with a bit of variation of the order.
I took a 2 hour tour with Askos Tours and enjoyed it. I felt it hit enough sites of interest for the amount of time. The Pompeii employees all knew our guide and referred to him by name, so this guide at least is definitely there a lot.
Note that you cannot re-enter Pompeii Scavi with a same-day ticket. So you either eat at the (satisfactory) glorified cafeteria inside, or eat before or after your visit. We don't use guides, so I can't help with your main question. We spent 6-8 hours, under rather hot late May conditions. But our day, the Villa of the Mysteries was open, and this requires a lot of extra walking time. There are a couple of hotels near the Circumvesuviana entrance (Porta Marina), but it's not a dining area. Note that Pompeii Scavi is only a small part of the modern, bustling city of [modern] Pompeii. As you suggest, most people stay in Sorrento or Naples to visit Pompeii without luggage. But there is good luggage storage at the Scavi entrance. I think it's free.
The comment about the Naples museum is interesting. I love museums, but I agree that more time in Pompeii Scavi is more important than seeing the Brothel frescoes and original art brought indoors for conservation. OPINION. BTW, the Farnese Marbles are also in that museum, really important sculptures.
but I agree that more time in Pompeii Scavi is more important than
seeing the Brothel frescoes and original art brought indoors for
conservation.
Agree, but with a "but." Firstly, I was impressed just how many frescoes can be seen in Pompeii and so when we visited the archeological museum the favors and sculptures were interesting but not as important. The highlights for us were the day-to-day items in one exhibit that included things like frying pans and glassware that were in such good condition that we could have been in an ancient Roman department store. Another area had gladiator armour from helmets to shin pads in outstanding condition.
So my " but" is that I think seeing both puts a bow on the package.
