Pompeii Tour Guide

[omalley]

Is a tour guide needed to enjoy a visit to Pompeii.

 

Omalley

[ab0si]

"needed" is impossible to answer.

 

If you have done lots of research before going, then, no, it is not necessary to hire a guide. There are several excellent guide books available (complete with short history, maps, etc.)

 

Just walking around sans guide or guide book strikes me as a waste of day.

 

There are licensed guides hanging around the site, by the way. It is of course pot luck whether you end up with a good one or not,

[CintiPam]

Is a tour guide needed to enjoy a visit to Pompeii.

 

Omalley

 

I do not think so. We knew we wanted to have more than a two-hour visit, the norm for tour guides hired there or ahead of time.

 

After you buy your ticket, go to the windows on the left, and ask for the free booklet (about 80 pages, really terrific!) which describes in great detail by numbers all of the sights keyed to the numbers on the map you were given with your ticket, one page per sight.

 

You also can rent an audioguide which basically recites all that is written in the book. We prefer to read instead, and had a fabulous 4-1/2 visit.

[omalley]

Thanks for the advice about the free booklet. I think we will try that combined with a download of an audiotour as well for the iPods.

 

Omalley

[oweknottin]

Does anyone know if Pompeii and the museum is closed on Mondays?:confused:

Does anyone know if the sites are closed on Mondays. We will be in the area for 2 days and Monday worked to visit.

[dfwguy62]

Does anyone know if Pompeii and the museum is closed on Mondays?:confused:

Does anyone know if the sites are closed on Mondays. We will be in the area for 2 days and Monday worked to visit.

 

This looks like it might be the official website of Pompeii. http://www.pompeiisites.org/

 

and it shows:

 

November - March, every day from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last admission 3.30 p.m.)

April - October, every day from 8.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. (last admission 6 p.m.)

 

Closed: 1st May

[cruisemom42]

If you mean the Naples Archaeological Museum, you are in luck -- it is one of the few museums I can think of that closes on Tuesdays, rather than Mondays.

 

So you are good if that's one of your destinations.

[texancruzer]

I strongly disagree. Pompeii is huge. Much bigger than I expected. And the streets go on and on..... with ruins on both sides. Most you cannot even begin to guess what they were or how they were used.

 

We had a private guide waiting for us (pre-booked by our tour co.) at the entrance and we had her all to ourselves (group of 8) for about 2.5 hrs of the morning. Granted, from a guidebook or audio tape you will get information but they will not tell you the stories our guide did, how the people lived and co-existed and most of all, they cannot answer questions when you have them ! And I asked a bunch :o

 

We are all for DIY and have done many places as such.....but this is one place I would spring for a guide !

[Andym]

We had a private guide waiting for us (pre-booked by our tour co.) at the entrance and we had her all to ourselves (group of 8) for about 2.5 hrs of the morning. Granted, from a guidebook or audio tape you will get information but they will not tell you the stories our guide did, how the people lived and co-existed and most of all, they cannot answer questions when you have them ! And I asked a bunch

 

You do not need a private guide, you can join a group at the entrance , depending how busy it is, depends how big the group is, but we have been on a large group and a small group and the experience was the same. the guides are the same for private tours or gathered tours. They bring the place alive with their talks and will answer questions. It's a great start to your visit and then you can go off and explore the places the guide doesn't take you on your own.

[texancruzer]

You do not need a private guide, you can join a group at the entrance , depending how busy it is, depends how big the group is, but we have been on a large group and a small group and the experience was the same. the guides are the same for private tours or gathered tours. They bring the place alive with their talks and will answer questions. It's a great start to your visit and then you can go off and explore the places the guide doesn't take you on your own.

 

Oh absolutely. There are always guides waiting at the entrance. Once they have a group of 10 or so they will begin the tour. They charge 10 euros per person - so a group of 10 will be 100 euros. Our private guide charged the same amount and we had 8 in our private group. They say it usually takes about 30 minutes or so to get a group together. We didnt wait any time at all..... she was right there waiting for us when we arrived. And they really do "bring the place alive" !!!! Well said.

[yorkiemomjn]

Is a tour guide needed to enjoy a visit to Pompeii.

 

Omalley

 

We just returned from an Oceania cruise. We used the tour guide Rick Steves recommended in his book and also used on his TV show. He was EXCELLENT!! It was raining that day and we hardly even noticed because he was so interesting to listen to. He truely brought Pompeii to life for us. Here is his website and email:

www.pompeiitourguide.com

gaetanoguide@hotmail.it

[2tsquared]

We just returned from an Oceania cruise. We used the tour guide Rick Steves recommended in his book and also used on his TV show. He was EXCELLENT!! It was raining that day and we hardly even noticed because he was so interesting to listen to. He truely brought Pompeii to life for us. Here is his website and email:

www.pompeiitourguide.com

gaetanoguide@hotmail.it

 

Hi Yorkiemom,

 

Can you let us know how much Gaetano charges for his tours? I read on Rick Steves' site that he charges 50E per person (a total of 150E for 3 people). Do you happen to know if the 150E is for the 2 hour tour no matter how many people join the tour; e.g., 2 or 3 couples or is it 50E per person no matter how many are in the tour?

 

I appreciate any information you can provide. As this will be our first visit to Pompeii and I think we would prefer having an expert bring the site "alive" for us.

 

Thanks for your help.

tt

[yorkiemomjn]

Hi Yorkiemom,

 

Can you let us know how much Gaetano charges for his tours? I read on Rick Steves' site that he charges 50E per person (a total of 150E for 3 people). Do you happen to know if the 150E is for the 2 hour tour no matter how many people join the tour; e.g., 2 or 3 couples or is it 50E per person no matter how many are in the tour?

 

I appreciate any information you can provide. As this will be our first visit to Pompeii and I think we would prefer having an expert bring the site "alive" for us.

 

Thanks for your help.

tt

 

His charge was 480E for the 2 hour tour. We ended up with 7 people. His price was per tour, not per person. I don't know if he had a maximum number though. When you email him, he will reply promptly. I really hope you are able to book him because he was absolutely wonderful!!!!

Judy:D

[mydreamvacation]

At first my husband balked at the cost of the guide but I overuled him saying it was going tobeour only visit there. We were so glad we got her. Not only could we go places that big groups could not but she explained things we never would have picked up on like the "menu" listed on the wall of thr brothel (which we probably would not have even known what it was) the place s HUGE and you could waste a whole day there aimlessly waundering and miss the key spots! Go for it and make cuts elsewhere you won't regret it

[cruisemom42]

At first my husband balked at the cost of the guide but I overuled him saying it was going tobeour only visit there. We were so glad we got her. Not only could we go places that big groups could not but she explained things we never would have picked up on like the "menu" listed on the wall of thr brothel (which we probably would not have even known what it was) the place s HUGE and you could waste a whole day there aimlessly waundering and miss the key spots! Go for it and make cuts elsewhere you won't regret it

 

On the other hand, I had read about the "menu" in at least one if not two guidebooks beforehand.....:rolleyes:

 

If one really does the research and reading in advance, I do not think a guide is necessary. Some people prefer to do minimal preparation and hire a guide. Others don't need one. It's really up to your own preferences.

[2tsquared]

Thanks, Judy. I appreciate your reply!

 

tt

[Andym]

At first my husband balked at the cost of the guide but I overuled him saying it was going tobeour only visit there. We were so glad we got her. Not only could we go places that big groups could not but she explained things we never would have picked up on like the "menu" listed on the wall of thr brothel (which we probably would not have even known what it was) the place s HUGE and you could waste a whole day there aimlessly waundering and miss the key spots! Go for it and make cuts elsewhere you won't regret it

 

We joined a group that was being gathered at the entrance 10euros.There were 10 of us when we set off. We were shown the menu on the wall of the brothel .We have noticed that the guides who are all the same guides that show private and gathered groups seem to have a standard route around the ruins. We talked to people who were with a private guide and when we saw their photos they had the same guide that we had been with in the morning.

[PatriciaF]

We did Pompei without a guide. I thought I had done some great preparation, printed walking tours, research of top places to see--but we were really overwhelmed by the site and probably did not get as much out of it as we could have with a guide. Our daughter was there a few years before and just raved about the site and HER GUIDE.

 

One of our few regrets of our two weeks in Italy.

 

Spend the money and get a guide!

[maidut]

Pompeii is MUCH bigger than I expected and I am very happy we hired a guide. Without a guide, we would not have known some of the back stories of what we were seeing. Not only that, we have limited time (2 hours) to enjoy Pompeii and the guid kept us on time and enabled us to see the highlights.

 

We got there right before they opened and we were the first ones in the gate. It was so wonderful to enjoy some of the ruins on our own before it got so crowded. I felt like we had the place all to ourselves.