POMPEII --Guided or Self guided tour?

[carraizo99]

Do it on your own, it is very easy. Rent a self guide,they give you a map.

[Cambscruiser gb]

We did Pompeii a few years when staying in Srrento. I down loaded an article called "The smart guide to Pompeii" by Anthony Pererine published the the Times 2004 - we followed the suggested tour and missed a lot of the crowds If you try to download from Timesonline.co.uk you now have to pay but if you google the article name you can access it. He gives you lots of interesting info about the places. Even if you don't follow the whole route its a good idea to start where he suggests at the Villa of Mysteries to miss the crowds at the Forum (like the whole of Pompeii).

[utsoob]

We are just back from our trip as well. I would agree with the poster who regrets not getting a tour guide for Pompeii. We had a day trip down from Rome with Rome in Limo to spend 2.5 hours in Pompeii and about 2.5 hours in Sorrento. Our driver was very nice, but I would say that it was not enough time to do either place justice. If we could have spent 2.5 hours IN Pompeii, it would have been one thing, but the line (which did not appear that long) was incredibly slow-moving, so that it took us about 45 minutes to get inside the gate! :eek:

 

We had downloaded the Rick Steves tour which is really pretty good, but it really didn't hold our tween-age kids' interest. I think a live guide would have been much better, and this is one place I am sorry we didn't spring for it. We also didn't have time to get through the whole thing with the slow-moving entry. If you don't get the guide, be sure you've got a minimum 3 hoursat the site to get you tickets, get oriented and get through the self-guided tour. I loved Pompeii though -- have a great trip!!

[vadell]

We used the audio guide and found it very informative.

[nelderwoman]

Hi

We have just returned from Pompeii. We were travelling on RCI Voyager of the Seas. Hiring the guide for 10Euro each for Pompeii was the best money we spent, we are not always in favour of guides, but in Pompeii it is so massive and mostly looks all the same that our guilde took on a two hour tour and we saw all the wonderful sights. We are so glad we booked him. We had an hour on our own at the end and one street just went into another and it was a bit boring. Take the guide.

NEXT VITAL TIP

Pompeii opens at 8.30am, be there then, there was a small queue of about 30people, really nothing when we got there and you have choice of a guide in whatever language you needed, It gets really really hot. When we were leaving at around 12.30 the queue was a mile long. I would have hated to be standing in that mid day heat and Pompeii itself was getting really crowded.

 

It is a magnificent site, well worth visiting, we loved it. We are fit couple in our 50's. I would say dont miss it but plan it well. Railway station just a few metres away from entrance.

 

Enjoy

[labeachcomber]

I agree about being there right at 830 when it opens, when there is no line like there will be later in the day. Our driver took us to Pompeii for that reason and also because it gets really hot in the afternoon.

 

Ultimately it will depend on your personality. If you're the type that likes to read on your own in tour books and do internet research to print out information, etc., then you'd be fine on your own. I would imagine that most of the information that a live tour guide would provide you can be found in some form through another source - whether it be a tour book, a podcast, an audio guide, internet websites, etc.

 

We like to do things at our own pace and skip the things that aren't interesting to us, so we don't like being with a tour guide where we are more confined. But it's really a personal preference.

[bbqbears]

Labeachcomber,

Do you happen to have a link for the Rick Steves podcast?

Thanks,

Kathy

[yorkiemomjn]

Trying to decide whether to do our own self guided tour or hire a guide for Pompeii???..... My husband & I, as well as the couple traveling with us, have all done research on Pompeii, but I want to get an opinion from anyone who has done either guide / DIY or both !

 

Thanks...:)

 

 

....

 

We took this tour last April and we used the tour guide Rick Steves so highly recommended in his book and the one he toured with on his TV show about Pompeii. His name is Gaetano Manifredi and his website is

http://www.pompeiitourguide.com/ He was wonderful and bought everything to life for us! We had a private CC tour of just 8 people and we all agreed he was excellent and having him was a highlight of our trip!

Judy

[labeachcomber]

Labeachcomber,

Do you happen to have a link for the Rick Steves podcast?

Thanks,

Kathy

 

Hi Kathy,

 

You can find it on iTunes... lots of free podcasts for Rome as well.

[michaeleds]

nice video; which tour guide company did you use? did you get the guide when you arrived at Pompeii or booked ahead?

 

Sorry for delay... Giuseppe De Toro got us the tour Guide... not the best answer... but Giuseppe, by the way was a great Amalfi Coast Tour Guide, He actually set us up with Raphael... I failed to get his info but to reach Giuseppe use email and or web site below

info@sorrentotopcar.com

http://WWW.sorrentotopcar.com

[bbqbears]

Thanks! I will check it out.

[cruisedad521]

We had guides in Ephesus and Pompeii but did the Acroplis on our own. I think we did it the right way for our family. Pompeii as mentioned is big and I feel we made the most of our time there by having a guide. We went on to Sorrento and Poistano for the rest of the day and I think we would have missed a lot in Pompeii without the guide. In Ephesus the guide was very knowledgeable and was able to show us a lot in a short time. We also went through the Terrace houses which we loved. Unlike Pompeii, the 'path' through Ephesus is more obvious so you could tour on your own and not miss sections, but you might not know what you are looking at and miss the small things.

 

The Acroplis is probably the best of the three to do yourself, in my opinion. The major attractions are easier to identify from a distance and it is hard to get lost up there. A guide may have given us more information on what we were seeing, but with advance reading and a guidebook I think we did fine.

[cruisedad521]

We had guides in Ephesus and Pompeii but did the Acroplis on our own. I think we did it the right way for our family. Pompeii as mentioned is big and I feel we made the most of our time there by having a guide. We went on to Sorrento and Poistano for the rest of the day and I think we would have missed a lot in Pompeii without the guide. In Ephesus the guide was very knowledgeable and was able to show us a lot in a short time. We also went through the Terrace houses which we loved. Unlike Pompeii, the 'path' through Ephesus is more obvious so you could tour on your own and not miss sections, but you might not know what you are looking at and miss the small things.

 

The Acroplis is probably the best of the three to do yourself, in my opinion. The major attractions are easier to identify from a distance and it is hard to get lost up there. A guide may have given us more information on what we were seeing, but with advance reading and a guidebook I think we did fine.

 

 

Oops, you didn't ask about Ephesus and the Acroplis...that was a tangent on the thread so sorry to answer a question you didn't ask.:o

 

For Pompeii, as I said above I think a guide is a good investment if you have limited time and want to be sure you see everything you can.