Pompeii & Herculaneum★★★
On August 24, 79 AD, Vesuvius erupted and buried the thriving port city of Pompeii under 6 meters of ash and pumice. The horror of that day became a boon for archaeology: Pompeii is the best-preserved ancient city in the world — a time capsule that has preserved daily life in the Roman Empire in all its details.
What to see: Complete streets with wagon tracks in the pavement, houses with frescoes and mosaics (the Villa dei Misteri is breathtaking), baths with intact heating systems, the amphitheater, the forum, brothels with astonishingly explicit wall paintings, bakeries with petrified bread, and the poignant plaster casts of the victims in their final moments.
Herculaneum (Ercolano), 10 km away, was buried by a mudslide and is even better preserved than Pompeii — wooden structures, fabrics, and organic materials are partially intact. Herculaneum is smaller, more compact, and less crowded. If you can visit only one site: Pompeii for the scale, Herculaneum for the details.
💡 Tipp
Pompeii is huge (66 hectares) — plan at least 4 hours, better a whole day. Arrive at the Porta Marina entrance (main entrance) right at opening (9 am). Bring water, sun protection, and comfortable shoes — there's hardly any shade. Or: Take the less known entrance at Piazza Anfiteatro (Amphitheater) — significantly shorter queue.