Pompeii and Herculaneum – Day Trip from Rome

See the might of Vesuvius firsthand as you skip the normal tourist lines and immerse yourself in the world’s most famous archeological site. This roughly 6-hour experience begins in Pompeii itself, and expands to include Herculaneum – another archeological site that shared in Pompeii’s fate, but whose ruins bear a style all its own.

Famously lost to the world in 79 AD, Vesuvius’ ash kept much of Pompeii’s ruins intact; sheltered away from the outside world. The site has been expanding as Vesuvius’ shroud has been slowly excavated away, opening up new discoveries as recently as 2018.

The preservation of Pompeii is both what makes the site so famous, so fascinating to study, and so attractive to passers-by. The area was once extremely wealthy, with a history dating before the Roman era. It thrived even through the Roman period, requiring a cataclysm at this scale to wipe it from the map. But thanks to the undying passion of Italian historians and archeologists, Pompeii thrives once more – just in a more scholarly role, teaching us fascinating secrets of the ancient Italian world.

But Pompeii was not the only site subjected to Vesuvius’ sheer power. Herculaneum, though smaller than Pompeii, was buried under mountains of pyroclastic material – meaning its preservation was second to none. Much of it was simply rendered immune to decay, allowing the wood and bones of this once thriving town to remain even into the modern era. Though it experienced great tragedy, its soul is open to all, eager to share its secrets with the world.

Once serving as a resort for the Roman elite, the luxurious area of Herculaneum had wealth that exceeded even Pompeii’s. That wealth funded immense beauty rendered in immaculate marble – beauty that can still be witnessed today. Step through time and see Herculaneum the way its inhabitants once saw it: as a place of unimaginable art and soul.