Is a guide necessary for Herculaneum?

[Kelmn07]

Hello,

 

I've tried searching on here and the web, but most results just end up talking about Pompeii. We will be stopping at Herculenaum before traveling to the Amalfi coast so I was wondering if there are guides we can find there or if there will be audio guides, or if a guide is even necessary? I also couldn't find the cost to enter?

 

Any info is appreciated!

[klauer]

We got the audio guide, which wasn't too helpful because the stops often didn't have signs with the numbers.

[TLCOhio]

Hello, I've tried searching on here and the web, but most results just end up talking about Pompeii. We will be stopping at Herculenaum before traveling to the Amalfi coast so I was wondering if there are guides we can find there or if there will be audio guides, or if a guide is even necessary? I also couldn't find the cost to enter? Any info is appreciated!

 

For our visit to Herculenaum on June 11, our guide really helped us understand and know what we were experiencing. Below are some of my visuals for what is there for this luxury resort town for the elite of the Roman empire. This is super historic and an important "slice" of life from nearly two thousand years ago. With a guide, it all comes together, plus then you've got someone with you to answer immediately questions, clarify any issues, etc. We had visited Pompeii in 1999. In both places, a good guide really makes a huge positive difference. We had a group of eight and it was well worth the cost.

 

I can post more of my pictures, if that's helpful.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Recently back from a June 7-19 Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 42,762 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

We are getting ready to enter Herculaneum's main market area and this is part of the overall view for this section of the town.:

 

 

 

For the baths at Herculaneum, this view shows the arched roof that managed to survive the fall-out and coverage by the volcano ash.:

 

 

 

This is the interior of the temple or religious area at Herculaneum used by local residents there.:

 

 

 

In the interior of this religious area at Herculaneum, here is the large wall graphic.:

 

 

 

For one of the most elite homes in Herculaneum, this was the view from the dining area out towards their enclosed gardens that had an overlook of the coast at that time before the volcano eruption.:

 

 

 

These were a couple of grain grinding stones/tools used to prepared bread and food at Herculaneum.:

 

[Susan-M]

Both guides and audio guides are available at the entrance. I would go with the live guide ... we did the audio guide and as mentioned above it was a bit confusing matching your audio guide up with the correct site. Entrance fees are 11 euros I believe.

[Keith1010]

I would highly recommend getting a guide. It will really add to the experience.

 

Keith

[cruisemom42]

Sometimes live guides can also get you into areas that may be off limits to the casual independent visitor. (Especially true in Italy, I've found!) So if you are particularly interested in the site, a guide might make sense.

 

On the other hand, there are good guidebooks, websites, etc that will help you do some research in advance. I'll be visiting Herculaneum in depth on my upcoming trip to Naples; I do not plan to use either a guide or audioguide but rather my own notes and a good guidebook.

 

Here's one site with a wealth of information on both Pompeii and Herculaneum:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/

 

I've used this information (plus a few other sources) to put together my own touring guide for Herculaneum.

[wantocruisemore]

Our guide really enhanced our visit to Herculaneum this summer. We were a group of 9, including 4 teens. I know that if we had tried to do it with just research on our own the experience would not have gone as well.

 

Love your photos Terry. You really captured some of the highlights. Did you by any chance get a photo of the wall in the room with the barrel ceiling inside the women's bath area? Mine has a weird light in it that I can't figure out the source.

[Kelmn07]

Thank you everyone for your responses, I am glad to know there will be guides at the entrance, as we booked a private car for the day but the driver is not a licensed guide so we have to hire that on our own. Does anyone know the range of what that might cost for maybe 2 hours?

[maryann ns]

We used the auto guides, but I found them annoying as you could not give feedback as to whether the information was too detailed or not detailed enough.

 

If you have done your homework and have a good guidebook and notes, that is great. Otherwise I think a guide is best. However you do have to pay. Try and get a group together to split the cost.

[hylasgirl]

Terry, I didn't know you went to Herculaneum with Romeinlimo. I would LOVE to hear about it. Did Romeinlimo set up a guide for you or did you set one up yourself? I would LOVE to visit Herculaneum on our next Med cruise and was wanting some more information. I've done Pompeii several times with them and the last time we had them set up a private guide and it made ALL the difference and I think when we split the cost with our van it was so affordable. It was worth every penny. My husband and I had spent two times there just wandering. It was interesting but we had no clue what things really were. The guide, like you say here, really does bring it together.

 

I would love to hear about your day if you wouldn't mind? Do you still have my email address from our Roll Call?

 

Thanks so much!

[wantocruisemore]

The day we went from Rome to Pompeii/Sorrento/Herculaneum with RIL they had set up for a guide, Elvira, to tour us around Pompeii & Herculaneum. She did a great job. On the way to Sorrento she showed us the church where she was married that was up the hill.

 

We got so much more out of the trip by having us with us. She was waiting for us when we arrived at Pompeii.

[TLCOhio]

Terry, I didn't know you went to Herculaneum with Romeinlimo. I would LOVE to hear about it. Did Romeinlimo set up a guide for you or did you set one up yourself? I would love to hear about your day if you wouldn't mind? Do you still have my email address from our Roll Call?

 

wantocruisemore: Love your photos Terry. You really captured some of the highlights. Did you by any chance get a photo of the wall in the room with the barrel ceiling inside the women's bath area? Mine has a weird light in it that I can't figure out the source.

 

Appreciate the nice comments on the pictures. Great to hear more from Steph. Will follow-up by e-mail. When RomeinLimo arranges a local guide for either of these two great historic places in the Naples area' date=' I think it runs roughly around 100 euro for your group. I think that is a set rate for those guides who are certified and allowed to operate within these sites. Our guide as you saw pictured was very good, both in explaining what we were seeing and answering our questions as we walked around this historic treasure.

 

We had visited Pompeii on our 1999 trip to the area and we wanted to sample Herculaneum on this second visit to the Naples area. Herculaneum was a nearby luxury resort town for the elite of the Roman empire. Pompeii would still probably be the first-choice as its variety and options offer so much more there to reflect what happened in that larger city. Plus, downside, the bigger crowds. Herculaneum was nice option to do for our re-visit and it was good to be able to see it without battling large numbers of other people. Only about a third of the total site has been opened up as the other areas are covered over by current housing/suburbs of Naples.

 

On the question of "photo of the wall in the room with the barrel ceiling inside the women's bath area", I re-checked my photos. Below are a few that I had not posted previously on this thread. I did show one picture in that room, if I am understanding correctly your question, but I didn't find any wall art pictures from that room. Tell me more to help me understand exactly what you're seeking. Are any of these closer to what you are seeking?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio[/font']

 

Recently back from a June 7-19 Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 42,859 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

In another of the bath rooms at Herculaneum, here is a view of its features and details.:

 

 

 

In a residential room at Herculaneum, here is an example for interior art and design.:

 

 

 

In the top residential home at Herculaneum, here is one wall with original interior art on it and our guide explaining the details.:

 

 

 

This picture gives more of the overall, cut-away view for one side of Herculaneum that would have faced the waterside area.:

 

 

 

This is part of the design for the floor of the bath house in Herculaneum. Under this floor, the Romans had heating ducts constructed as a part of the bathhouse design:

 

 

 

This was a water supply area in the main market area at Herculaneum used by local residents there. The richer people had direct piping to their homes.:

 

[wantocruisemore]

Thanks Terry, but No, you may not have one. It's the women's bath area. I've searched on You Tube etc. and can only find ones of the mosaics on the floor and part of the way up the walls. To be honest, I'm trying to explain something strange that happened to me there. I am not one to have "feelings" in places or anything, but I did have a strange experience in the women's bath area. I was the only one of the group that experienced it. In all my years of going through ruins I've never felt like I had been "pushed" before, overwhelming cold and feeling sick like I had to get out. DH had asked me what was wrong when I exited the room because I was white as a sheet and shaking.

 

After I got home I started going through the photos. There's a light in the corner of the room immediately prior to the room I had the weird experience in that I can't explain. I first thought it was a camera flash and checked with everyone else in my group. No one else took a photo of the wall in that area. We were the only group there. I had my flash off of both my cameras. I only used the Nikon inside structures. I can't find missing bricks to explain the light. Now, I am just searching for a sensible explanation to a strange experience.

 

Here's the photo:

 

I actually did not notice the light at first and when I did I just assumed it was a brick missing. But when I looked at it enlarged, I realized it was not. Then I started investigating a reflection or possible sun cast through a hole on the opposite wall. Now I just would love a logical explanation.

 

And no, this has NEVER happened to me before!

[Eileen G]

Sometimes live guides can also get you into areas that may be off limits to the casual independent visitor. (Especially true in Italy, I've found!) So if you are particularly interested in the site, a guide might make sense.

 

On the other hand, there are good guidebooks, websites, etc that will help you do some research in advance. I'll be visiting Herculaneum in depth on my upcoming trip to Naples; I do not plan to use either a guide or audioguide but rather my own notes and a good guidebook.

 

Here's one site with a wealth of information on both Pompeii and Herculaneum:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/

 

I've used this information (plus a few other sources) to put together my own touring guide for Herculaneum.

 

 

Thanks so much for the link to that site. We will be going to Herculaneum in two weeks and this site is fantastic. I always prefer to bring my oun info since guides go at a different pace than we do.

[cruisemom42]

Thanks so much for the link to that site. We will be going to Herculaneum in two weeks and this site is fantastic. I always prefer to bring my oun info since guides go at a different pace than we do.

 

You're welcome. Isn't it great? I'm sometimes amazed by what's out there on the internet. I've used it extensively in planning my Naples/Campania trip next year. It also covers some of the lesser known sites like Villa Oplontis and Boscoreale.

[zennor]

We went to Herculaneum last week and it was fantastic but we didn't have enough time there. We took the train from Sorrento but when we arrived at Ercolani Scavi station we weren't sure which way to go and it was very hot. There was a bus service by the station Vesuviusexpress (I think) who had a shuttle for about 3 EUR return. We took this & it was fine but he dropped us at 12 and told us to be at 2pm for the return so we only had 2 hours. We started with the audio guide but they didn't have the accompanying map and it was very confusing. We saw other people with maps which you can buy from the book shop behind the audio guide booth so we had to go all the way back to get one for 2 EUR. The map is good but has a completely different route from the audio guide so we ended up following the map route & using the audio guide every so often.

 

Btw, I thought the Women's Baths were amazing - so modern!

 

There is no cafe in the site but there were vending machines with water and snacks and some good toilets - all at the far end behind the audioguide kiosk.

[sippican]

Thanks so much for the link to that site. We will be going to Herculaneum in two weeks and this site is fantastic. I always prefer to bring my oun info since guides go at a different pace than we do.

 

We loved our visit to Herculaneum. Our guide was a past archeologist at both Pompeii and Herculaneum. He was fantastic. Prior to the trip we viewed a PBS video, Secrets of the Dead - Herculaneum. It really helped to prepare us for what we were going to see.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/previous_seasons/case_herculaneum/

[TLCOhio]

Thanks Terry, but No, you may not have one. It's the women's bath area. I've searched on You Tube etc. and can only find ones of the mosaics on the floor and part of the way up the walls. To be honest, I'm trying to explain something strange that happened to me there. I am not one to have "feelings" in places or anything, but I did have a strange experience in the women's bath area.

 

THANKS for posting that picture! Yes, I remember being in that room, but I don't have any pictures from that room, nor remember anything "unusual" as happened with you. Hard to know what happened. Strange!!! And, interesting!

 

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Recently back from a June 7-19 Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 42,859 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[wantocruisemore]

THANKS for posting that picture! Yes, I remember being in that room, but I don't have any pictures from that room, nor remember anything "unusual" as happened with you. Hard to know what happened. Strange!!! And, interesting!

 

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Recently back from a June 7-19 Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 42,859 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

Thanks for looking Terry! And please keep posting your wonderful photos. They really are an inspiration and were the reason I pushed hubby so hard prior to the trip to get me a nice camera. (Which he did, Nikon 5100, but only got it the day before we left so I spent the trip trying to figure it out).

 

As for Herculaneum, still searching for a logical explanation. If nothing else, I can use it for argument on going back soon.;)

[hylasgirl]

Incredible photos! Thank you so much for posting!:)

[TMLAalum]

Have a daytrip from Rome to both sites with guides for each booked thru RomeinLimo and the photos and posts on this thread are getting me revved up for our visit. Plus we want to add a pizza stop for lunch- suggestions?

[wantocruisemore]

Have a daytrip from Rome to both sites with guides for each booked thru RomeinLimo and the photos and posts on this thread are getting me revved up for our visit. Plus we want to add a pizza stop for lunch- suggestions?

 

We did the same, day trip to both sites from Rome with RIL and a guide booked for both sites. We saw Pompeii, out guide Elvira was waiting for us when we arrived, then she joined us and we went to Sorrento for lunch. Loved the drive and the scenery. The restaurant was great. Then we drove to Herculaneum and she toured us around there. It was a long 12 hour day but because of the riding breaks we were able to tackle each site.

 

Wonderful, wonderful day! Just tell them what type of restaurant you're looking for and RIL will recommend an appropriate one. You can't go wrong!

 

Have fun!

[Susan-M]

We took the train from Sorrento but when we arrived at Ercolani Scavi station we weren't sure which way to go and it was very hot.

 

For others who might benefit from this, when you come out of the train station, turn right, and then immediately left at the main street. Herculaneum is at the bottom of the main street ... about a 10 minute walk. For a quick bite to eat, stop at the bakery on the right side of the street, about a block from Herculaneum ... wonderful fresh mozzarella cheese & freshly baked bread, and a large bottle of water for a ridiculously low price ... we brought it into Herculaneum with us and found a quiet spot outside of the entrance building to eat prior to doing our DIY tour.

 

p.s. Here's a map with walking directions.

[hylasgirl]

Have a daytrip from Rome to both sites with guides for each booked thru RomeinLimo and the photos and posts on this thread are getting me revved up for our visit. Plus we want to add a pizza stop for lunch- suggestions?

 

 

We had a GREAT pizza lunch that Romeinlimo set up for us in Sorrento. I was skeptical walking up to the restaurant but it was some of the best pizza I've had. And their caprese salad was OUTSTANDING! I'm still dreaming of the tomatoes that I had in Italy this last summer:o

 

Let me see if I can find the name of the place on Google maps or something and I'll post. It was delish and off the main square so it wasn't as expensive either. It wasn't cheap, but it sure was good!

[sippican]

Thanks Terry, but No, you may not have one. It's the women's bath area. I've searched on You Tube etc. and can only find ones of the mosaics on the floor and part of the way up the walls. To be honest, I'm trying to explain something strange that happened to me there. I am not one to have "feelings" in places or anything, but I did have a strange experience in the women's bath area. I was the only one of the group that experienced it. In all my years of going through ruins I've never felt like I had been "pushed" before, overwhelming cold and feeling sick like I had to get out. DH had asked me what was wrong when I exited the room because I was white as a sheet and shaking.

 

After I got home I started going through the photos. There's a light in the corner of the room immediately prior to the room I had the weird experience in that I can't explain. I first thought it was a camera flash and checked with everyone else in my group. No one else took a photo of the wall in that area. We were the only group there. I had my flash off of both my

cameras. I only used the Nikon inside structures. I can't find missing bricks to explain the light. Now, I am just searching for a sensible explanation to a strange experience.

 

Here's the photo:

 

I actually did not notice the light at first and when I did I just assumed it was a brick missing. But when I looked at it enlarged, I realized it was not. Then I started investigating a reflection or possible sun cast through a hole on the opposite wall. Now I just would love a logical explanation.

 

And no, this has NEVER happened to me before!

 

I took this photo the last week of September. Don't think it really helps your though.