Pompeii Guided Tour with Priority Entrance

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Meet your guide at the Zeus Car Park meeting point

   Passes by

2. Join us to explore the legendary ruins of Pompeii. Beat the crowds and enjoy priority access to this extraordinary UNESCO archaeological site.

   2 hAdmission included

3. The Civil Forum is the core of daily life of the city and is the focal point of all the main public buildings for city administration and justice, business management, and trade activities such as markets, as well as the main places of citizen worship.

   Passes by

4. The Temple of Jupiter dominates the north side of the Forum, with Mount Vesuvius scenically rising behind. When the colony was founded (80 BC), the temple underwent a radical renovation and became a real Capitolium with the three cult statues of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, which looked like those of the Capitolium in Rome, placed on a high base so as to make them visible to whoever passed in the Forum square.

   Passes by

5. The Macellum consists of a tuff quadriporticus with a hall for worship in an elevated position on the eastern side, in line with the entrance. The copies of two marble statues, a female and a male armed, are found on the niches of the side wall, together with the fragment of a larger statue, probably pertaining to an emperor, Titus or Vespasian, indicating how this area was intended for the imperial cult. To its left is a room for meetings of a sacred board and to the right a large room with a masonry counter perhaps for fish to be sold.

   Passes by

6. Via dell’Abbondanza was the ancient main street (decumanus maximus) of ancient Pompeii, which ran across the city in the direction east/west 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 for food and drink.

   Passes by

7. The Forum Baths are located behind the Temple of Jupiter and date back to the years immediately after the founding of the colony of veterans by General Silla (80 BC). Women's and men's quarters had separate entrances. The men's section presents an apodyterium (dressing room), used also as a tepidarium (for medium temperature baths), frigidarium (for cold baths) and calidarium (for hot baths). Like many buildings in Pompeii, the baths were heavily damaged during the earthquake of 62 AD.

   10 min

8. The Lupanar of Pompeii is the most famous brothel in the ruined Roman city of Pompeii. It is of particular interest for the erotic paintings on its walls. Lupanar is Latin for "brothel". The Pompeii lupanar is also known as Lupanare Grande. The prostitutes in the brothel were mostly Greek and Oriental slaves who were paid between two and eight Asses (a glass of wine cost one As) for their services.

   10 minAdmission included

9. Then step inside the elegant House of the Faun, a grand Roman villa famous for its mosaics, including the striking Alexander Mosaic — a masterpiece of ancient art and storytelling.

   Passes by

10. Here you’ll admire the Large Theater, an open-air venue where crowds once gathered for comedies, dramas, and musical performances.

    Passes by

11. The Basilica, with its extension of 1,500 square metres, was the most sumptuous building of the Forum, and its space was used to carry out business and for the administration of justice. It is accessed from the Forum through five entrances separated by tuff pillars; inside it is divided into three naves with two rows of brick columns with Ionic capitals.

    10 min

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 82 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Pompeii

• Its from-price is 75% below the median of the 718 experiences we list in Pompeii.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 72 of 718.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Pompeii

Pompeii is a Roman town near Naples frozen in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, with streets, villas and frescoes preserved beneath the volcano.

Pompeii was a thriving Roman town when Vesuvius buried it under ash and pumice in AD 79. Excavation, begun in the eighteenth century, has uncovered paved streets with stepping stones, shops, bakeries, bathhouses and the forum. The amphitheatre, among the oldest Roman ones to survive, and the grand House of the Faun show the range of life, and plaster casts of the dead record the final moments of some residents.

Top-ranked sights in Pompeii: Pompeii Archaeological Site, Stabian Baths (Terme Stabiane), Via dell’Abbondanza.

See all 718 experiences in Pompeii