7:00 – 8:00 – 9:00 – 10:00 am
airports, railway station, ports and hotels all through Italy.
approximately 8 hours
Tip
Pompeii entrance fees: €16 per person
Herculaneum entrance fees: €10 per person
ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONS
from April 1 to October 31 from 9 am to 9 pm
from November 1 to March 31 from 9 am to 5 pm
closing days, December 25 – January 1 – May 1
from March 16 to October 14 from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm
from October 15 to March 15 from 8:30 am to 5 pm
closing day, December 25
A particular day tour that will take you to the two most important excavations sites of the area of Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum, but also to Boscoreale, another significant city around Mount Vesuvius.
Travel to each site in a comfortable Mercedes vehicle with a personal local Guide who’ll give you important information about the history and the culture of the places that you will visit. Explore each of the archaeological sites of the area of Naples.
You can also get some of the local food during this tour, just ask your guide to get recommendation about the best places of the area.
It is almost ironic how thanks to such a devastating event like the eruption of mount Vesuvius in 79 D.C., today we have the possibility to visit one of the most fascinating locations in the world.
Once in the ruins you really have the sensation to be transported nearly two millennia back in history, the city has been almost perfectly preserved by the layers of crystallized ashes remained by the Vesuvius, to the point that you will even see the casts of the citizens of Pompeii frozen in time in the last moments of their lives.
The many frescos, most of which are still very well preserved, will gradually tell you the story of this ancient city, you will learn about the way of the people that lived there, you will get to know the names and the lives of notorius inhabitants of the city, you will see with your eyes what where the customs, the virtues and the vices of a community that on the fatal day of August the 24th, 79 AD., met their end by the eruption of mount Vesuvius, which with very little warning wiped the population of this bustling and flourishing city.
In contrast to modern Ercolano, classical Herculaneum was a peaceful fishing and port town of about 4000 inhabitants, and something of a resort for wealthy Romans and Campanians.
Herculaneum’s fate paralleled that of nearby Pompeii. Destroyed by an earthquake in AD 63, it was completely submerged in the AD 79 eruption of Mt Vesuvius. However, as it was much closer to the volcano than Pompeii, it drowned in a 16m-thick sea of mud rather than in the lapilli (burning pumice stone) and ash that rained down on Pompeii. This essentially fossilised the town, ensuring that even delicate items, like furniture and clothing, were discovered remarkably well preserved.
The town was rediscovered in 1709 and amateur excavations were carried out intermittently until 1874, with many finds being carted off to Naples to decorate the houses of the well-to-do or to end up in museums. Serious archaeological work began again in 1927 and continues to this day.
Although not as famous as Pompeii or Herculaneum, the city of Boscoreale is another important location ubicated in the province of Naples around Mount Vesuvius that, just as the two aforementioned towns, welcomes thousands of tourists every year thanks to its archeological sites.
Boscoreale homes a number of points of interest, such as the museum Antiquarium of Boscoreale, the archeological site, the “Treasury of Boscoreale” which is a collection of 108 pieces of jewelry of the first century AD and the beautiful Villa Regina, which some of its remains are even exposed to the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Boscoreale definitely makes for an interesting and educational visit, one that really compliments a day tour around the history of the province of Naples.
