Pompeii Archaeological Park, Pompeii

Stunning Roman city preserved for 2,000 years. I knew of Pompeii for the plaster casts of people who tragically died when the city was buried in volcanic ash, but I was not prepared for the incredible experience of visiting the site. The architecture is outstanding, beautiful use of stone, brick, marble in buildings. Amazing artistry in mosaic floors and wall paintings - frescoes - preserved and restored, shows what a colourful city Pompeii was. Being free to roam and explore much of the city, experience the streets and pavements, walk through houses, palaces, gardens, theatres, brought to life the day-to-day life of this Roman city 2,000 years ago. At €16 each to enter it's excellent value. We took the train from central Naples, also good value at €2.80 each way. We spent 3 hours exploring and did not cover the whole city but definitely felt that we had experienced Pompeii. We visited in February, the weather was lovely - cool after a rain shower - and it was not crowded. The information office on the way in provided very helpful map and guide book free of charge. Note: we did not take the offer of a guide and we bought our tickets on-site. This gave us the freedom to explore and enjoy at our own pace. Final pro-tips: 1) Wear comfortable shoes! 2) There's a cafe/restaurant on site which provided much-needed coffee after a few hours strolling around the stone streets. 3) From the entrance that's close to station Pompei Scavi, we rambled along towards the amphitheatre, taking most of the side streets along the way, and then headed back and up towards the cafe.

You’ll need a guide if you want to have a good overview of what the city was like. Even the audio tour has its limits to explain to you what it was like. There are a couple of entrances to the ruins so make sure you get to the correct one if you are meeting your guide. Visited during January which is a low season and it was lovely to be able to walk around freely. Was told by the guide that during the summer months there is usually a 10-15min queue to step into some of the buildings.