Pompeii: Highlights and Tips

*** NEWS UPDATE: Good-bye ClaireintheWorld! A lot has changed since I started this blog during Covid, and Wix (the website host) keeps raising their prices, so I decided to stop paying for premium and I will lose the "Claireintheworld.net" URL. In a few days this site will be called Wix+random numbers. I'm going to start writing shorter posts over at my company website Wild Sage (see the "news" tab), so please join me there! I'll post again with more information before I go. THANK YOU SO MUCH for keeping me company through tough times. I'll see you out there, and enjoy this long-form post about Pompeii! ***

💜💫🍋💙 🍷🎈🌞

I've been to Pompeii several times but always with a group or a guide, so I never had the time to explore slowly and on my own. Last November (2024) I got my chance, and it was marvelous.

First of all, Pompeii is BIG:

The ruins today cover some 163 acres (66 hectares), surrounded by a city wall that's 2 miles (3 km) long. About 25-30% remains unexcavated (read more on that in this interesting NatGeo article) but that leaves a LOT to do on foot. Just getting from the main entrance at the Porta Marina (bottom left on the image below) to the ancient amphitheater, or colosseum (far right), is about a mile (1.6 km), and you won't be walking fast with all the things to see!

Secondly, not all sites are always open

If you want to streamline your visit, consult which sites are open and which are closed so you don't waste time walking around. You can see the current list here.

Thirdly, should you get a guide?

This of course depends on you. If it's your first time to Pompeii and you don't know a lot about Ancient Rome, a guide will give you the back-story you need to understand the site and will make sure you see the highlights. Alternately, if you've already seen a lot of ancient sites and you like to wander and see where the spirit takes you, you can just do a little research and see it on your own. My (honest!) feeling is that a good guide is worth every penny while a bad or so-so guide can be an annoying waste of money. -- Audio guide? Didn't like it. It went too slow for my taste and I couldn't hear it well.

HERE ARE MY HIGHLIGHTS! Keep in mind that some things were closed when I was there, or I could have just missed something as I went around, so let me know if you have a favorite that I need to check out!

You can get this map online (click here) and they give it to you at the entrance, so with a little advance prep you can easily make a plan of attack. If you're arriving by train it's a short walk from the station to the Porta Marina main entrance. I went in November and only waited about 15 mins to buy tickets but the line can be 1-2 hours in the high season, so get tickets early, get skip-the-line, get whatever it takes to avoid waiting that long! There are a few other entrances and exits so do your research as to which is best for you.

1) The Suburban Baths (Terme Suburbane) [no. 1, Reg VII on the map]

Just inside the main entrance (down to the left) is a bath complex that used to be right on the waterfront (so, imagine a bath house for sailors😉). I saw it a few years ago but it was closed when I was there in November, so I didn't get a good look at it this time.

The rooms were fairly well preserved and it was fun to imagine these windows looking out onto the port, with its lively marina filled with bustling trade and bobbing boats. It was also fun to see 8 erotic panels depicting things you don't even find at the "Lupanari" or brothels (like threesomes, etc.), and current research on this suggests that they were just fun ways to remember which locker number was yours (NOT activities for sale, since there was no brothel on-site here). Hmmmm! 🤔

2) The Sanctuary of Apollo [no. 5, Reg VII]

There's not a lot to see here but I like to pay my respects to Apollo, the Sun God 🌞

3) The Basilica [no. 2, Reg VIII] Across from Apollo is the imposing Basilica, which wasn't a church but a government building for legal, political and economic affairs.

4) The Forum [no. 6a, Reg VII]

Just past the Basilica is the Roman Forum, the main civic square of the city. You can see the sloped silhouette of Vesuvius off to your left, and a (modern) statue of a Centaur by Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj in the center. You'll see other important structures surrounding the Forum, like a Temples to Jupiter, Vespasian and Augustus. There are other buildings in Reg VIII but since there's a lot to see I recommend heading to the theater district.

5) The Big Theater, Small Theater (Odeon) & Gladiator Barracks [no. 10, 11 & 12, Reg VIII] The gladiator's barracks and training ground is on the right while the seats of the Teatro Grande are visible on the left.

The Big Theater could hold 5,000 people and put on plays while the Small Theater (Odeon) was for musical performances.

Gladiator combat was down the street in the Amphitheater (or Colosseum), but it was a bit of a walk to get there and it wasn't very big and was quite overgrown, so unless you've got lots of time it's not in my "must sees." Here it is:

6) 3 Cool Houses (Menandro, Efebo, & Cornelii):

Exit the east side of the Odeon and go down a small street until you get to the House of Menander [Casa del Menandro; no. 7, Reg I]:

This noble house is vast inside and has various atriums and frescoed walls.

Just across from it is the House of the Ephebe [Casa del Efebo; no. 7, Reg I], which has a wonderful open-air dining area in a back garden:

And other fun details:

Double-back towards the Odeon but go to the corner with the "main road" (Via dell'Abbondanza") and find the House of the Cornelii [Casa dei Cornelii; no. 15, Reg VIII]:

It boasts this spectacular hunting fresco but also has a very cool interior:

** BREAK TIME! **

You've probably been out about an hour and a half by now, so you might want to head east Via dell'Abbondanza to the House of the Eagle [Casina dell'Aquila; Reg IX] to use the bathroom, get a drink or a snack (not much available but it'll do in a pinch!). Back in November they were doing major restoration works and you could walk all around on top of scaffolding to see down into the site. Pretty cool even if you don't need a WC break!

7) The Stabian Baths [Terme Stabiane; no. 16, Reg VII] These baths are much more interesting than the Terme Centrali, so definitely stop in!

You'll see pools, passageways, and underfloor heating:

8) The House of Sirico [Casa di Sirico; no. 17; Reg VII]: another noble house, right next to the baths and across from the brothel is this House of Scirico:

9) The Brothel [Lupanare no. 18; Reg VII]: one of the most notorious set of rooms in Pompeii is the brothel, nicknamed "Lupanare" or "wolf den" (Lupa = she-wolf was slang for prostitute). This "oldest of professions" was quite accepted in the ancient world and there were probably some 25 brothels in the city. Here you can see small rooms with stone beds -- there would have had mattresses on them -- with frescoes illustrating what was on offer; visitors to the brothel would have spoken a variety of languages and couldn't necessarily read Latin, so they could choose from a visual menu:

10) Fast-food stand [Thermapolium no. 7; Reg V]:

One recent find is a colorfully frescoed "thermapolium" or "hot & cold food stand." I didn't make it over there this time but here it is!

11) House of the Vettii [Casa dei Vettii no. 6; Reg VI]:

This is one of the most impressive houses in the city, with a manicured atrium and a host of side rooms with colorful frescoes. A lot has been reconstrcuted but that's fine with me!

So many cupids, classical stories, and welcoming gentlemen!

12) House of the Faun [Casa del Fauno no. 1; Reg VI]:

This is another mega-villa where they found so many beautiful pieces that you can see in the wonderful and highly-recommended Archaeological Museum of Naples (the MANN):

13) "Beware of Dog" mosaic [Thermopolium/Casa del Poeta Tragica no. 4/5; Reg VI]: One of the more famous floor mosaics is the "Beware of Dog" (Cave Canem) at the entrance to the House of the Tragic Poet:

** Extra Credit: The Villa of Mysteries [Villa dei Misteri]:

At this point I had been walking around for almost six hours so it was time to call it a day, but I will mention one more marvellous fresco cycle at the Villa of Mysteries, about a 15-minute walk to another of the entrance/exits to the site. The vibrant colors on the blood-red background were really striking!

I was going to add a whole "Getting there" section with tips and links but it's a busy work-weekend for me and I have to take care of upcoming tours in Provence, Sicily, Turkey, Croatia, and Morocco. When I have a moment I'll do a short post over on the NEWS tab on the Wild Sage website.

Thanks again for hanging out with me! Can you believe it's been six years since Covid crept in and took us all hostage?? Drop me a line at CLDuiker@gmail.com if you want to chat, or join me and Wild Sage for a tour. And Happy 2026!