The ruins of Pompeii are one of the most popular stops on any trip to Italy. Until today, I had never managed to get down to them. My plan had originally been to walk the short distance from my hotel to the gate nearby but the audio tour that I reserved was, naturally, at the gate farthest from my hotel. I’ll make some recommendations at the end of today’s post.

The currently excavated ruins of Pompeii cover quite a large area. As I had the whole day I decided to see as much as I could. I certainly got my money’s worth out of my ticket as I spent around seven hours walking around the ruins. I have the sore feet and sunburn to prove it!

The written part of today’s post is going to be fairly short as I did not keep track of where each photo was taken and there were so very many photos taken. What I have below is just a taste of the site as a whole. There were a lot of very well preserved frescos and I have tried not to spoil the experience by showing them all.

When you go to Pompeii you want be sure you have several things with you. Make sure you bring water as there are no drinking fountains. Have good walking shoes, your feet will thank you. Bring some snacks as well as the only food available is at a very slow cafe.

If you don’t want to hire a tour guide I highly recommend getting an audio tour as you will miss a great deal if you just walk around. Be ready to wait a while at the toilets and be prepared for a lack of toilet seats.

This last bit is for thee cat lovers.