Pompeii tours

If you want to focus all your attention on just one place, make it Pompeii itself. The site is remarkably well-preserved, apart from a few Victorian restorations which display their reserved attitudes, and touring the site will take at least half a day. Take in the open space of the Forum, where some of the most important official buildings once stood; today, only ruins remain. You’ll hear all about the House of the Faun, with its ‘welcome’ mosaic outside and a (replicated) tiny bronze statue from where the house takes its name; a few streets along is the Lupanare, the town’s brothel; but the highlight has to be the Villa of the Mysteries, with its huge frescoes set against red walls depicting the initiation into the Dionysiac Mysteries. But there’s plenty more to see, and you’ll be glad to have an expert guide to show you the way and point out the details you may have missed yourself.

If you want to make a full day of Roman archaeology, tag Herculaneum onto your Pompeii tour, which is a very popular option when it comes to Pompeii tours. The site is much smaller than Pompeii, so while the architecture isn’t quite as impressive as Pompeii’s the buildings are better preserved. Plus, it gives an authentic insight into the ordinary life of Romans, when the history books so often depict the life of demanding emperors, grandiose villas and dominating temples. Among the sights to see in Herculaneum include the House of the Mosaic Atrium and the Casa del Bel Cortile.

You can see the natural monster that started it all with a trip up to Mount Vesuvius, which is still active and considered a very dangerous volcano. It’s long plagued the residents who live around the Bay of Naples, with the last eruption in 1944 claiming 28 lives. If you still want to dare the visit, book onto a guided tour, where your guide will lead you through marked paths up to the crater. Once you reach the top, gaze into the jagged crater with its sporadic plumes of smoke, before your guide trails you around half of the crater and explains more about the geology, science and history of the volcano.

You can’t go to the south of Italy and not pay a visit to Naples. Spend a couple of days in this bustling, almost-overbearing city and you’ll be happy to retreat to Pompeii for the day, before you’ll start to wonder what you’re missing out on in Naples and head right back to the heart of the action. In terms of tours to take in Naples, there’s plenty of history to uncover: book onto a tour of the Bourbon Tunnel, which is filled with statues, cars and even motorcycles which tell the history of the city.

Some Pompeii tours truly make the most of the gorgeous Amalfi Coast, with tours starting and/or ending in Sorrento, down on the tip of the Amalfi Coast. Sorrento looks out towards the island of Capri, so once you’ve returned from your tour of Pompeii and/or Herculaneum, the tour bus will drop you back at Sorrento, which you can then explore at your own pace; if you’re looking to make the most of the dazzling Amalfi Coast, then this is the place to come. Browsing cheap holidays to Pompeii? While Sorrento isn’t the cheapest place to stay and eat, it’s certainly a more affordable place to base yourself and explore further out.