04/29/2026
If you're visiting Pompeii, please don't make these mistakes.
I watch tourists do this every week. They block off two hours, wear sandals, walk in at 11 in the morning in July, and leave exhausted having seen a quarter of the site. Pompeii is not a museum. It is a Roman city, 44 hectares of streets, houses, and baths. It needs a plan.
MISTAKE 1: TREATING IT LIKE A MUSEUM AND BLOCKING TWO HOURS
Two hours is not a visit. Two hours is the walk from one side to the other. Block five to six hours. If you can only do two, you are doing the wrong site. Go to Herculaneum instead.
MISTAKE 2: NOT VISITING THE NAPLES ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM FIRST
The mosaics are not at Pompeii. The bronzes are not at Pompeii. The most famous frescoes are not at Pompeii. They are all at MANN, the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. Pompeii is the empty shell. MANN is where the contents went. See MANN first. You will understand what you are looking at when you arrive at the site.
MISTAKE 3: FOLLOWING THE TOUR GROUPS INTO THE WRONG PORTA MARINA
There are two Porta Marina entrances, Superiore and Inferiore. Tour groups stream into the upper one. The path takes you along the periphery before you reach the centre. Enter through Piazza Anfiteatro instead. It is a 15-minute walk from the train station, the queues are shorter, and you walk the city through the middle from the start.
MISTAKE 4: NOT GRABBING A MAP BEFORE YOU PASS THE TURNSTILES
The free map is at the information point near the entrance, before the ticket gates. Once you pass the turnstiles you cannot go back for it. Without it, the site is a labyrinth. Signage inside is poor. Take the map.
MISTAKE 5: BUYING THE €18 TICKET AND MISSING THE VILLAS
The €18 Pompeii Express ticket gets you into the main city. It does not get you into the Villa of the Mysteries, the Villa of Diomedes, or the Antiquarium at Boscoreale. For those you need the €25 Pompeii+ ticket.
MISTAKE 6: NOT KNOWING THE FRESCOED HOUSES CLOSE AN HOUR BEFORE THE PARK
The Casa dei Vettii, the Casa del Fauno, the painted houses are the reason most people come. Many of them close an hour before the rest of the site. Visit them first. Save the streets and the amphitheatre for the last hour, when the houses are already locked.
MISTAKE 7: BUYING TICKETS OR HIRING GUIDES OUTSIDE THE GATE
Shops near the entrance with names like Pompeii Service or Pompeii Tourist Office are not official. The only official ticket offices are inside the park at Porta Marina, Piazza Anfiteatro, and Piazza Esedra. Online, only vivaticket. The men with badges waving you over are often unlicensed. Real guides have a Region Campania license card. Ask to see it.
MISTAKE 8: WEARING SANDALS AND ARRIVING AT MIDDAY IN JULY
Roman roads are uneven stone with cart grooves. People twist ankles every day. There is almost no shade. Ambulances are called for heat exhaustion regularly in summer. Wear closed shoes with grip. Enter at 9 or after 1. Bring more water than you think. There is one bar inside the park and it is overwhelmed.
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