Pompeii and Vesuvius tour

Spend an unforgettable day discovering, with our authorized guide, the archaeological site of Pompeii and the natural beauty of the Vesuvius volcano.

The itinerary will be as follows:

- The Basilica , with its extension of 1,500 square meters, was the most sumptuous building in the Forum, and its space was used for commercial activities and for the administration of justice.

- The Forum is the hub of daily life in the city and is the focal point of all major public buildings for city administration and justice, business management and commercial activities, such as markets, as well as the main places of worship of the citizens.

- The Temple of Jupiter dominates the north side of the Forum, with Vesuvius rising dramatically behind it. When the colony was founded (80 BC), the temple underwent a radical renovation and became a true Capitolium with the three cult statues of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, which resembled those of the Capitolium in Rome, placed on a high base so as to make them visible to those passing by in the Forum square.

- The Macellum consists of a tuff quadriportico with a cult room in an elevated position on the eastern side, in line with the entrance. In the niches of the side wall are copies of two marble statues, one female and one armed male, together with the fragment of a larger statue, probably belonging to an emperor, Titus or Vespasian, which indicates that this area was intended for imperial worship. On the left is a room for the meetings of a sacred table and on the right a large room with a brick counter perhaps for the sale of fish.

- Via dell'Abbondanza was the main street (decumanus maximus) of ancient Pompeii; it crossed the city in an east/west direction from the Forum to the Porta Sarno.
In ancient times the street was crowded and noisy with many shops, workshops ("officinae"), cafes, snack bars and restaurants.

- The Forum Baths are located behind the Temple of Jupiter and date back to the years immediately following the foundation of the veterans' colony by General Sulla (80 BC). The women's and men's quarters had separate entrances. The men's section features an apodyterium (changing room), also used as a tepidarium (for medium-temperature baths), frigidarium (for cold baths) and calidarium (for hot baths). Like many buildings in Pompeii, the baths were severely damaged during the earthquake of 62 AD

- The House of Menander is an excellent example of a Roman villa owned by a high-ranking family. It is richly decorated with wonderful frescoes depicting scenes from the Trojan War; many silver objects and pottery were found here, now preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Naples. The house owes its name to an image of Menander, an Athenian poet, placed in the portico.
The house belonged to Quintus Poppaeus Sabinus of the Poppei family, relatives of the empress Poppaea Sabina, Nero's second wife.

- The Great Theatre of Pompeii was built by the Romans on the slope of a hill; they exploited the natural depression of the mountain to create a majestic auditorium divided into 5 sectors.
Tragedies from the Greco-Roman tradition were performed on stage.

In the second part of the tour you will reach the slopes of Vesuvius at an altitude of 1,000 m.

Free time of about 2 hours to reach the edge of the crater at 1,280 meters from which you can admire a breathtaking view of the Gulf of Naples.
The trail surface is uneven, but the walk is pleasant and worth it.

Return to Sorrento in the afternoon

- Departure from Naples

- 2-hour tour of Pompeii

- Stop at Vesuvius for 1 hour and 30 minutes

- Return to Naples