Getting in to see Pompeii

I'm still yet to see a certain museum in Munich - I keep on hitting it on unexpected closed days! If something is important to you - see it early in your stay. And double check opening hours at the site's website - not third parties like guide books

No idea which edition of the Italy book you have, but the official site shows closing at 1900 ( 7PM) not 930PM

http://pompeiisites.org/en/visiting-info/timetables-and-tickets/

Hopefully you will return, and that the rest of your trip was pleasant.

We did not see Moses ( at St Peter in Chains church) until our 2nd trip due to their long lunch time closure we failed to account for our 1st time there.

Right. The official site Joe linked also shows last entrance at 5:30 (17:30), as you experienced.

Things can change more quickly - and sometimes more often - than guidebooks can keep up with. Info may already be outdated the day they've gone to press! That's a big reason many of us recommend using the guidebooks only for background/historical info of an attraction, and the attraction's own website for most current hours, entry fees, temporary closures, etc.

Very sorry you were disappointed, and I hope you can get back to that area to give it another go in the future!

Things change after guide books are published, it's unavoidable. The last 2 years have affected things even more than usual.

What Kathy said. Remember it's a GUIDE book.

Even websites can be wrong or not account for special circumstances. Years ago we drove from our rental cottage near Lago Trasimeno to Gubbio. After lunch we decided to press on to Urbino. We wanted to see the Palazzo Ducale with its wonderful art collection. We parked and walked up, only to find that some local government body was meeting there , so the Palazzo was closed. It took us about 20 years, but we finally made it back to Urbino and visited the Palazzo.

If a certain place is important to me, I go to their specific website to verify hours, days, prices. Usually the websites are quite accurate, except for churches. If there is any confusion, I contact the place I'm staying for assistance. We were in Sicily over two national holidays and it wasn't clear if the church we wanted to see in Palermo and the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento would be open and if so, would the hours be different. Both inns were able to quickly get the information I needed.

Its hard to miss out on something you were really looking forward to seeing. We ended up not being able to see a single amphitheater in Sicily. In Rome, I really wanted to get into Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and had checked for accurate hours. When we got to it we found out it was closed indefinitely for repairs. The Rome portion of our trip was a RS tour and our guide was even surprised the church was closed, he had just been there the week before. I believe it is now open.

Posts like Patrick's are important. They're good reminders that checking more than one source is always a good idea.

So sorry you missed seeing Pompeii. This post is a caution to use websites to check for more current info.

Aww bummer...sounds like you did everything right. Thanks for posting and the excellent advice to visit the official website, even up to the day of your event. Travel is so different after Covid, I was thinking I could relay on my 6 month pre- trip research (Using official websites) but I will be more diligent in the future. Heck even my local Chipotle and Starbucks hours change daily due to staffing with the posted scheduled out the door.

Thanks, Patrick, for your generous post. It will certainly help others to avoid your unfortunately experience. Italy is worth many visits! I hope you're able to visit Pompeii next time.

I'm so sorry this happened to you, but thanks for posting this. I'm planning to go to Italy, with the main purpose being to see Pompeii, which is what sparked my love of travel almost 60 years ago! It would kill me to miss it. I know everyone loves Italy, but my husband does not and it's not my favorite country either, so I believe this will be our only time in Rome.