Pompeii is the Roman town that the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 buried under metres of ash and pumice, preserving it like nowhere else on earth. It is not a field of ruins: shop signs are still legible, election slogans are still painted on the walls, cart ruts are still worn into the paving stones.
From the B&B it is the easiest day trip of all — and the only one you can do with no car, no ferry and no organised tour.
Getting there from the B&B
Sorrento station is a two-minute walk from our door on via Marziale. Sorrento is the end of the Circumvesuviana line, which is a real advantage: the train starts here empty, so you always get a seat — something passengers boarding in Naples cannot count on.
Take the Naples–Sorrento line and get off at Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri. Mind the name: the "Pompei Santuario" stop is on a different line and serves the modern town, not the excavations. The ride takes about half an hour, and the Porta Marina entrance is directly opposite the station exit — no taxi, no shuttle.
In high season the Campania Express also runs: a tourist train with fewer stops, air conditioning, a guaranteed seat and luggage space. It costs more than the regular service, but at nine in the morning in August you feel every cent of the difference.
Tickets: read this before you set off
The entry rules have changed, and it pays to know them before you turn up at the gate.
- Tickets are personal: they carry the visitor's first and last name, so book them in the name of whoever is actually going.
- The park applies a cap of 20,000 visitors per day.
- In peak months entry is split into a morning and an afternoon time slot. The morning slot has far more places; the afternoon one sells out sooner.
- Tickets are sold online. Always check opening hours, slots and availability on the official park website before you travel.
Opening hours follow the season — longer from April to October, shorter in winter, with last admission roughly an hour and a half before closing.
How long you need, and where to enter
The site is vast and only part of it is open. A fair visit takes three or four hours; seeing everything properly takes two days.
If you have half a day, this is the route we suggest to our guests: enter at Porta Marina, climb to the Forum, then the Stabian Baths, the House of the Faun and the House of the Vettii, and finish at the Villa of the Mysteries, which sits outside the walls a few minutes from the exit back towards the station. The Amphitheatre is at the far opposite end — magnificent, but budget half an hour of walking just to reach it.
When to go
From June to August there is no shade inside the excavations, and the stones radiate stored heat for hours. At midday it feels far hotter than the thermometer reads down on the coast. Take the first train, go in at opening time and come out around lunch.
April, May and October are the best months by a distance: good light for photographs, manageable temperatures, bearable crowds.
Our advice
Closed shoes with a thick sole. Roman paving is uneven and broken, and sandals last about half an hour. Bring at least a litre and a half of water each: there are drinking fountains inside, but they are few and far apart.
A guide — human or audio — completely changes the visit. Without one, Pompeii is a very beautiful maze of walls; with one, it becomes a town you can read. Guided visits can be arranged on the spot at the Porta Marina information desk during the first part of the day.
If you have to choose between Pompeii and Herculaneum: Pompeii is larger and more famous, Herculaneum is smaller, better preserved and takes half the time. With small children, or with only a few hours, Herculaneum is often the better call.
The Forum of Pompeii