Private Tour: Herculaneum - Pompeii - Vesuvius with pickup
Description
Guilty of decimating Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79, Mt Vesuvius looms over the Bay of Naples like a beautiful, silent menace. Stopped in their tracks by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, Herculaneum and Pompeii offer the best look anywhere at what life in Rome must have been like around 2,000 years ago.
Tour Options
Itinerary
You will meet a licensed guide at the main gate in Pompeii, after purchasing tickets, the tour begins and you will be led by the guide through the ruins of this amazing ancient town.
This gate provides access to the west of the city and it is the most impressive among the seven gates of Pompeii.
The Civil Forum is the core of daily life of the city and is the focal point of all the main public buildings for city administration and justice, business management, and trade activities such as markets, as well as the main places of citizen worship.
This space was used to carry out business and for the administration of justice. It is accessed from the Forum through five entrances separated by tuff pillars
This was a small cook-shops where hot food was sold
It is one of the larger houses of Pompeii, covering an entire block of about 3000 sqm and, according to its original layout, it dates back to the 2nd century BC.
The house, one of the richest and most famous in Pompeii, is under the protection of Priapus, the god of prosperity, painted to the right of the door, symbolizing the economic success of the owners, the brothers Aulus Vettius Restitutus and Aulus Vettius Conviva liberti, who became rich through trade.
The pool is found to the left, whereas a colonnade is found to the right, which leads to the men's quarters, which are split into the apodyterium (dressing room), with the frigidarium (for cold baths), which leads to the tepidarium (for medium temperature baths) and then to the calidarium (for hot baths).
The Grand Theatre was built by exploiting the natural slope of the hill for the construction of the auditorium. The staircase was separated into three areas with corridors, which were in turn divided into five sectors, and was based on a passage with a barrel vault.
You will be taken by your driver to the Archeological Park of Herculaneum. There, you meet a licensed guide at the main gate and after purchasing tickets, your tour begins. You will be led by the guide through the ruins of this amazing ancient town.
You will admire one of the last discoveries made by archaeologists, the incredibly restored remains of a boat dug up in the marina area, the same one where 300 skeletons were found.
The nature trail n. 5 “Il Gran Cono” starts from the Piazzale (square) at an altitude of 1,000 metres above sea level in the municipality of Herculaneum at the end of the provincial road Ercolano-Vesuvio. At the moment, the Piazzale hosts a parking area for those who come by car. Before starting the climb, you can visit one of the info points of the Vesuvius National Park where you can receive useful information about the protected area and buy a map. From the Piazzale you can already enjoy a splendid view of the northern side of Mount Somma with the cognoli of Sant'Anastasia and Punta Nasone, the top of the ancient volcano which 1,132 metres high, opposite the cognoli of Ottaviano and Levante. While looking upwards, you can hold your breath and see from below what will be the ascent to the bottom edge of Sterminator Vesevo.
Approximately 40 minutes drive from the highway to the point closest to trail that takes to the summit. An approximately 35 min. walk to the top of the volcano. An approximately 35 min. walk back down to the car. Approximately 40 min. drive down to the highway.
One of the wealthiest private homes in Herculaneum, its owner was certainly a billionaire.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Departure Point: if streets allow, straight from your accommodation, otherwise at the spot accessible by car closest to your accommodation. Cruise docking (if coming on a Cruise ship) in the Naples area, Salerno & Amalfi coast area, Sorrento's area. From the train platform (if you come by train). Dates: Daily Return point: Pickup point or any different requested drop off point located in the area of the excursion
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- If passenger are on a Cruise ship, at time of booking, They must provide the following information: ship name, docking time, disembarkation time and re-boarding time
- Dress code is casual
Reviews(295)
Antonino was awesome! He was very knowledgeable about each location on the tour and made sure we had plenty of time to fully see what we wanted and to ask questions.
Tony was amazing! He picked us up directly from our hotel and dropped us off there again. He was so knowledgeable on the ride to the separate locations and was an excellent tour guide once there. He answered all and any questions we had ranging from Pompeii to generalized Italy questions. He also helped us get tickets for my Vesuvius when I was unable to on the website. If you pick this tour it will be so informative, fun, and overall a great way to spend the day touring 2000 years ago! Definitely will be back and using him again for other tours!
Antonino is a fantastic guide! Very knowledgeable and friendly and enjoyable to be around. The history there is amazing and we loved going up Mount Vesuvius
An excellent guide who we would highly recommend
This excursion was amazing and we would recommend it to anyone wanting to explore Pompeii and the Herculaneum! We are grateful we decided to do a private tour instead of a group tour because we were able to ask questions throughout, did not have to have a headset to hear our guide, and were able to go to the locations we were most interested in. On an extremely busy day (with 4 cruise ships ported) our knowledgeable guide was able to take us to places that we wouldn't have seen in large groups, he knew where to go and what to avoid with the large crowds everywhere. Our driver, Antonio, was also our licensed tour guide so from the time we were picked up from our boat until we were dropped off at the end of the tour, we received valuable information about the sites we were seeing, as well as about Naples history. He even had photos and a Power Point presentation to prepare us for what we were going to see and to answer questions we had before we even got to the locations. Antonio was professional, had great communication, was friendly, and extremely knowledgeable. He made this trip what it was - unforgettable. Our family booked the pick-up/drop off Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Mount Vesuvius experience. Antonio let us know as soon as we booked that the tickets to Pompeii and the Herculaneum were already taken care of, but that the Mount Vesuvius experience is something that we book when the tickets open up on the park's website and he is able to take us there for the climb, but he also let us know that they are challenging tickets to get, and let us know the steps to obtain them and provided the website so we could attempt to get the tickets when they become available. (We found out later that it is so challenging to get tickets because the large tour companies are able to get them about 6 months in advance and they buy all the tickets so that small tour companies and individuals aren't able to get them at the standard price and have to go through the bigger companies to do the experience at a raised price - that is too bad, but has no reflection on Antonio or our experience, because he assured us that if we could not get the tickets he would be able to provide us with an experience we would enjoy). We ended up doing an extended tour at Pompeii taking us to an area in the back of the site, going to a delightful restaurant and having Pizza Napoletana while Antonio walked all the way back through Pompeii to get the car and we could relax and eat, we went to the Herculaneum and saw the museum there, and then did a tour of Naples seeing the beautiful panoramic views and the local buildings. Antonio was a great teacher, he prepared us well, so we could understand when we got to the sites, we could understand how to recognize shops, temples, and other significant features. Our daughter, who is 10, was able to recognize areas when he would say, "Question, what is this?" She knew it was a shop, or a temple, or a water fountain, or where awnings were, etc., because he had done a great job with showing us recognizable features and it helped us better understand what we were seeing. In addition, he brought in his tablet with the pictures so that when we were in specific areas of the site, he could say, "This is what it may have looked like" and you could picture the scene in your mind even better. He was mindful that our daughter was young and asked ahead of time whether we would like to see the "red light" district areas, or whether we would like to do another area, which was very thoughtful. He also did a great job comparing and contrasting the Herculaneum and Pompeii so we could understand the difference between the two sites. We are grateful that we booked this tour and recommend it to anyone! Antonio is amazing and we will remember this experience for a lifetime, thanks to him!!!!
Antonino was the best experience we had on our visit to Naples. He picked us right up from our hotel and gave us a knowledgeable tour of both Pompeii and Herculaneum. My wife is not the history buff that I am so he took care to not overdo it. I can honestly say we would not have had as easy and enjoyable of time if it wasn’t for him. I would recommend Antonino to anyone wanting the full archeological tour experience. He even dropped us off at the port afterwards so we could board our ferry to the next adventure.
This experience was, by far, the most interesting and informative one I have ever participated in. From the moment he picked us up until he dropped us off (9 hours later--which flew by, frankly), our guide Antonino engaged all 4 of us in an interactive discussion of Pompei, Mt. Vesuvius, and Herculaneum. He had amazing graphics and photos on his tablet to provide visual representations and had a warm sense of humor and delight as he explained what we were seeing and answered every question in a clear and accessible way. His passion and knowledge were stellar. As I told him at the end: "This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us and you were a once-in-a-lifetime guide."
Antonio was prompt, very communicative, good with kids and an excellent historian full of knowledge. He was let us take breaks as needed with the kids and still kept us on track to make sure we got to do everything. I recommend anyone do this tour over the large group tours we saw out and about. Thanks Antonio!
This is the true full day experience that was the best investment. We got great historic details, the little details about Pompeii you wont get on other tours, see everything up close with a highly knowledgebable and personable guide was the difference maker. An important note of thanks as advanced communication with the tour provider allowed us to add an extra stop on in our day at Bosco di Medici winery.
Antonio was super knowledable and had a knack of making what could be a very dry topic very interesting. He was considerate in pacing a very full day to our old legs!
