I can't find any place to buy tickets for sites that ARE NOT tours. We don't want a tour, just tickets to get in so we can walk around at our own pace and listen to audio tours. Other area of interest would be Herculaneum. Can anyone help on this?
Thanks
You can of course buy tickets at the gate, where the crowds have elbows. Do you mean buy in advance? You should try to find a good audio guide to Pompeii because the signs inside give only dim sense of its history amid the rubble.
Pompeii tickets - https://www.pompeionline.net/pompeii/pompeitickets.htm
Colosseum tickets: https://www.coopculture.it/en/colosseo-e-shop.cfm
Herculaneum -- take the Circumvesuvia, walk to the site entrance, buy tickets there.
Colosseum/ Forum tickets -- looks like coopculture.com sells tickets without tours.
Last time we went, we walked across the street to the short ticket line at the Forum, saw that and returned the next morning to the Colosseum using the same tickets. But I understand you need timed reservations now.
You can just buy them at the site in person or at their web ticket office. For the Coliseum I would suggest pre-ordering with a time specific entry - unless you like very long lines. Herculaneum is wonderful and so is Ostia Antica.
This is the official website for Pompeii:
http://pompeiisites.org/en/pompeii-map/
This is the ticketing portal:
http://pompeiisites.org/en/buy-tickets/
The € 16.00 "full price" ticket for adults does not include a tour, and note that they're currently only selling advance ticket through end of February. You could also just purchase an entry ticket when you get there although in advance might get you in sooner during high and shoulder season.
Colosseum: the coopculture site provided above is the official one, and this is the page you need for an "ordinary admission" ticket:
They aren't currently selling tickets beyond end of March but when May tickets become available, you will need to choose a specific day and entry time. You will not be able to access the arena floor or underground without a tour.
Herculaneum: just purchase tickets at the site. I wouldn't try to do BOTH Herculaneum and Pompeii in one day, and I'm not a fan of day trips to Pompeii from Rome. Use an online translator for the Herculaneum website below:
Thanks everyone for the response. This was very helpful.
This is an official Pompeii website
http://pompeiisites.org/info-per-la-visita/mappa-e-guida-degli-scavi/
It has links to the map of Pompeii AND to a language-specific guidebook.
The guidebook is a narrow style - 148 pages. I printed it out with 3 pages per 8.5x11 and read it all a few times before the trip. (starting at page 4, etc. to conserve a bit of space.
I brougt that printout with us for the day. Then threw it away.
