Pompeii with a guide in August?

Ouch - it will likely be very, very hot. Hats, water (lots), sunscreen (lots too!). Last year was there in September and it was hitting 40C, admittedly an unusually hot September.
Rick Steves tours use Gaetano Manfredi - email [email protected]. He knows his stuff and makes it interesting and tries to find the shady side of the street, also works hard to avoid the crowds.

I agree Gaetano is a good guide, but he has raised his price since the first time I used him, and he was very rude to a female tourist (not in our group) when he was guiding us. We were embarrassed!

There will be scads of tour guides offering their services just as you exit the Circumvesuviana at the Scavi entrance. But do you really need a guide? We didn't have a guide, and I didn't really want one. It was interesting to see the ruins and you can read about them as you go if you have a decent book. We went in early June and it was dreadfully hot.

I also went without a guide and didn't feel as though I missed out on anything. I went in September 2010 and it was terribly hot and sunny then, so I'll second the others' suggestions re: water, hat and sunscreen.

Are you staying near Pompeii? Any chance you can get there earlier in the day?

You can also easily stay in Sorrento to get to Pompeii Scavi early.

Agree with other posters, we were there in Late June last year, hot, hot, hot. I had done a lot of research so basically knew what we wanted to see. Did not have a guide. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes, very uneven walking, take lots of water, hat and sun screen as others have said. It was worth it though. Go as early in day as possible.

Thanks to all for your reply. we are doing something very unusual this year, a bit to please our kids who like to party at night but also for convenience: were are taking a cruise on the Adriatic up to the mediterannean coast (we usually travel on our own with all RS books). I agree, August is terrible, we almost collapsed doing the Roman shuffle last summer. But no other time in the year with students...So we will go early, take all your advices, RS Audio guide and considering a guide when we get there...we already decided not to climb Mt Vesuvious...for obvious August reasons
merci!!

I would definitely recommend to go with a guide. Especially when it's hot. You don't want to end up getting lost and spending extra time in the sun trying to find your way to some of the more interesting places among the hundreds of ruins that all kind of look the same. That said, we had a great experience with one of the guides that wait for business right at the entrance. Very affordable and knowledgable. You get a 2 hour guided tour and afterwards you can still decide for how much longer you want to browse on your own. But at least you've gotten a good overview to this very large site.