Where to first? Museo Archeoligical Nazionele or Pompeii?

It depends: Go to the Museum first if you'd prefer to see the artifacts that were removed from Pompeii first, and then go to Pompeii to see where the artifacts in the museum were before being removed.

Go to Pompeii first if you'd prefer to see the place first and the artifacts from it second.

If the sequence doesn't matter to you, flip a coin.

I recently went to both, & was glad I saw Pompeii first. One thing I would do different -- after I finished touring the site I bought a little "then & now" book with photos of the site and clear overlays that showed what it probably looked like back then. I wish I had that book while walking around the site!

One more note - Pompeii is a big site with very little shade. There is no place to get water inside the site so be sure to take some with you.

It's definitely worth the time to go to Pompeii!

We visited both 2 springs ago - the site first and the museum second. I think this is a good way to do. You see the whole city and get a real feel of what life must have been like there, and then the artifacts make sense and help bring the whole thing into focus. I think seeing the museum first can leave the pieces a little out of context - i.e. here is a sculpture, here is a mosaic, here is a piece of pottery (could be from anywhere).

BTW the museum is fantastic and has other really amazing sculptures beyond the Pompeii collection.

Thanks all, for the help. I think we will do the site first.

Gail,do you remember where you got that book?

having been to both Herculaneum and Pompeii on trips to the region, I enjoyed Herculaneum much more. While not as big as Pompeii, the ruins were better preserved because it was quickly covered in a mudslide instead of by ash. If I was doing it again I'd skip Pompeii.

Herculaneum is more fun in some ways than Pompeii. It's better preserved--some of the buildings have upper stories and there are more murals--and it's far less crowded, but of course, you must see Pompeii.

I bought the before-and-after book on my way out, at the Villa of the Mysteries. I agree that it would have been better to have had it going in. Inquire at the entrance.

I went to the museum in Naples the day before Pompeii, and it worked out fine. You might want to consult the weather forecast before deciding--it poured while I was in Naples, but it didn't matter the way it would have in Pompeii, which must be somewhat more difficult to enjoy in the rain.