Pompeii - Villa of the Mysteries

Sadly, I bet an RS tour will only spend 2 hours there and I doubt it will take you there, it's pretty far off the beaten path. It is worth seeing however and you'll break away from the crowds to see it. I'd also recommend the Garden of the Fugitives and a few other villas in that area. Unfortunately I'm suggesting ideas that are on diagonally opposite ends of the site. Will you already have your hotel in Sorrento? If so, I'd recommend telling the guide that you'll make your own way back from Pompeii.

The Villa of the Mysteries is one of the "must sees" among the must sees of Pompeii. I would use Day 10 to go back to Pompeii and see more than what you get on a 2 hour tour. For efficiency's sake, consider a private guide https://www.askostours.com/.

This lecture provides fascinating insight into the Villa of the Mysteries:

https://oyc.yale.edu/history-art/hsar-252/lecture-8

I haven't been in years. but this villa is perhaps the most frequently closed for one reason or another. Among reasons for that is that the actual frescoes are still in place there, so that calls for restricted light and visitors, conservation, and special curators (and corporate and scholarly special guests.) That said, I've gotten in twice, and one time there were no guards on duty (!) It is a long walk, but not impossible unless you are already overheated, dehydrated, or whatever. There is a direct [archaeological park] exit to the [modern life] main street right beside the Villa, so you can walk back to the Circumvesuviana under the trees (... gasp) lining the street, instead of the baked desert of Pompeii Scavi! It's a shorter walk, too.

It's often best to give the month of the year when asking for advice here. I don't see any reason why you couldn't get back to the train and meet up with the group at an appointed time. Make sure you have your train ticket, or know where the newsstand that sells tickets is located. Note that same-day RE-ENTRY to Pompeii Scavi is NOT permitted on any regular retail ticket I know about, just in case that is relevant to your plans. I agree that this is a very special place to visit. Although flashlights are probably prohibited, be ready with a phone or something, in case there are no guards and no one to turn the lights on, which is what happened to us. (Not advocating disobedience, just talking practicalities.)

You could also go (and pay again) if you have a day off in Sorrento or wherever. Sorry, I haven't been on that tour.

Edit: Google Maps shows the landmarks I mention, and can reassure you about walking distance. It can be very crowded, sunny and hot here in June. But your plan is easily do-able. FYI, don't forget about the 4 other archaeological parks in the vicinity.

Day 9: Pompeii and Sorrento

This morning we'll make a short drive to serene Sorrento, stopping for a thoughtful visit to unlucky Pompeii, where, with an ace local guide, we'll get a look at everyday life frozen in time two millennia ago. After free time to explore more of Pompeii on your own and enjoy lunch, we'll continue on to Sorrento, our cliff-hugging home set amongst the lemon groves. This afternoon, we'll take an orientation walk through town on our way to watch the creation of an Italian culinary masterpiece — gelato. The rest of your evening is free to explore more of this spectacular setting.

The description really is sparse on details ..... contact the RS office and ask how much time the tour takes and how much free time you have before the bus leaves for Sorrento.

In the meantime, maybe someone who has been on the tour recently can offer some info.

Thank you all, these responses are helpful. I'll contact support and ask for more info. I'd be visiting Pompeii in early June. If the scheduled Pompeii tour is brief, I'll try to find a way to spend more time there before I fly out of Italy, and I don't mind paying extra for a second ticket if necessary.

From the description of the day's itinerary Joe posted...

"This morning we'll make a short drive to serene Sorrento, stopping for a thoughtful visit to unlucky Pompeii...."

So the group is doing this activity from the RS tour bus and not the Circumvesuviana commuter train. You could, if you really wanted quite a bit more extra time, skip the bus onward to Sorrento and take the train. Tickets are cheap and easily purchased; they MUST be validated before boarding! Try to pre-arrange with the tour leader to have your bag unloaded and stored at the hotel desk until you arrive.

But this may be a workable option too:

"After free time to explore more of Pompeii on your own and enjoy lunch, we'll continue on to Sorrento..."

If you use that free time AND skip lunch (I am assuming lunch is 'on your own' and not a group thing) you may very well have enough time to do the Villa + make bus-boarding time. Pack along a heavy snack in place of a sit-down lunch.

See what the RS office advises but I'd try your best to avoid having to go BACK to the scavi on your Sorrento free day, especially if the Villa, great as it is, might be the ONLY thing you'd make the trip for.

i was on the RS South Italy tour this year in early June. Here is my experience. We arrived at Pompeii at 9:30 am and immediately started our guided tour with Gaetano Manfredi. The tour ended probably around 12 or 12:15. Gaetano had made a reservation for our group for lunch (we paid on our own) to help with the logistics. We were on the bus at 1:30 pm to drive to Sorrento and we were in our hotel by 2:30 (time stamp on my photos confirms this). I forget how much time we had to rest, but we then had an orientation walk in Sorrento and gelato demo (and sampling). The rest of the evening was free.

Thanks for this question - we are going next year, too, and I have been wondering the same thing.

Mary - thank you for telling us about your experience. That's very helpful.