Four of us will be visiting Naples, Amalfi and Pompeii at the end of October. We are interested in a guide that can show us Pompeii, including the Villa of the Mysteries.
Has anyone been to the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii? Is it best to see it on a tour or on your own? Does anyone have a recommended guide for Pompeii who would ideally meet us near the entrance and show us the sites? We estimate we will need from two hours to half a day for the tour.
Just FYI Pompeii supplies no official guides. There are plenty of guides there looking to get hired and guides in Italy are licensed and tested but qualities beyond that - like enthusiasm and humor - can vary. If it's important to you it's worth arranging beforehand.
Even if your guide doesn't take you there don't miss the current excavation at Pompeii. You can climb the to the platforms above the on-going work and watch them working below (except Sundays). I was checking the photos and they've gotten so far since I was last there in 2024.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
Last year, we hired Dr. Anna Maria (Pina) Esposito for a day at Pompeii and Herculaneum, and a tour of Naples and the National Archaeological Museum the day before. She met us at the gate of Pompeii. She’s outstanding!
Her Doctorate is in Archaeology, and although we didn’t go to the Villa of the Mysteries, I would think she would also be excellent for that. E-mail her and see if it’s among her specialties -
[email protected]
We used Sara Prossomariti from Morosofi Unusual Guided Tours
https://www.morosofi.it/en/about/
[email protected]
Sara is an archaeologist, speaks good English and provided a professional service throughout.
I think if you'd like a tour, it's helpful as they're all archaeologists themselves. We used Askos for a group tour and we loved our guide! Here's a tour that includes Villa of the Mysteries, it's 3 hours long. Just Pompeii was 2.5 hours. https://askostours.com/pompeii/pompeii-3-hour-small-group-tour-with-villa-of-the-mysteries/.
And as Todd mentioned, you definitely want to walk further to the overhead walkway to view the latest archaeological finds. We spent about 12 hours over 3 days inside Pompeii, depends on your level of interest, have a great trip!
I was just about to recommend Askos, but Sandancisco beat me to the punch.
The Villa of the Mysteries was one of the highlights of Pompeii for me.
