Ruins of Herculaneum

[roupa]

Thinking of this shore excursion from Naples in June.  Your thoughts / opinions:

[fabnfortysomething]

20 minutes ago, roupa said:

Thinking of this shore excursion from Naples in June.  Your thoughts / opinions:

few questions

how many of you are there?

how much is it?

you may be better off getting public transportation by train or picking up a taxi at port entrance-they have fixed fares which include transport to and from Herculaneum with couple hours to explore on your own

guides are available to hire at entrance if you don't want to self guide with good notes[think its Cruisemom on this forum who has a very useful composition of notes she can email to you]

[cruisemom42]

Herculaneum is a fabulous site. I've been there several times and each time (I'm happy to say) it has looked better cared for.  (This is largely thanks to the very active Herculaneum Conservation Project.)

 

Herculaneum is both similar to and different from Pompeii.  One major difference is that it is much smaller, meaning that if you devote a half-day to it, you can see most of it without too much of a rush.  On the positive side, Herculaneum features many more houses that are somewhat more complete -- some with second stories, higher walls, even some furniture and window grilles remain. On the negative side, Herculaneum lacks the major public buildings common to Roman towns -- no forum, no theatre -- because only part of the town is excavated. So you do get a bit of a skewed idea of what the town must have been like.

 

Herculaneum is closer to Naples than Pompeii, making it fairly easy to do on your own. You can get there via train or by a fixed fare taxi that allows a certain amount of time at the site before returning you to the port. As mentioned, there are usually some guides at the entrance but there are only a few of them and so there's no guarantee that they won't be already engaged.  (Herculaneum is busier than it once was....) .  If you go on your own I'd have a guidebook or some notes with you. At the ticket desk they also have a decent pamphlet on the site but the English language version isn't always available. 

[John Bull]

I highly recommend Herculaneum. 

 

For those of us who aren't into dusty old ruins like cruisemom, Herculaneum actually looks like part of a town with complete / almost-complete buildings rather than a pile of rubble.

And a great deal easier (and shadier) than Pompeii

 

Yes, much better if you do your own thing via train or bus or even taxi.

Not regimented like ships' tours, and better value. 

 

JB 

edit. Ooops, I could have phrased that better. Not suggesting that cruisemom is a dusty old ruin 

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by John Bull

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

I Ooops, I could have phrased that better. Not suggesting that cruisemom is a dusty old ruin 

 

 

   Not yet anyway.

 

I do ❤️ a good 🏛️!

[wheezedr]

Herculaneum is a very easy do it yourself trip.  You can take the tram across from the port to the station for the Circumvesuviana and then it is a simple walk in town to the ruins.  The subway in Naples  may also work but it was still under construction when we were there.  Very easy to wander the ruins on your or guides available at the entrance.