Visiting Pompeii Italy: Video Travel & Pompeii Facts
Bienvenido a Pompeii, Italy!
When you live in Naples, you always know that Pompeii is RIGHT there waiting for you to come visit. Sadly, that trip to the ancient city of ruins- one of the BEST places to visit Italy- can sometimes wind up on the back burner as a result.
I spent about 5 months in Naples (here and there) before I finally said that’s IT, I have already conquered Mount Vesuvius, now I’m going to visit Pompeii. Unfortunately, this moment came in late July during a very hot summer.
I knew it was hot, but it had been REALLY hot for the past 3 weeks straight. My girlfriend Andrea and I couldn’t spend every single day in the Mediterranean (mostly because it’s terrible for your hair) and we could no longer refuse to live our lives because of the heat.
So we decided to make a casual visit to Pompeii, and OH so smartly chose to take the train to get there.
Ok it was me, I decided. Andrea was like “oh hell no”. But I convinced her it would be fun, and cultural. An AMaeTV adventure! And it was..
But you will have to watch the video to fully understand our struggle on this train to visit Pompeii.
⭐️ WATCH THE VIDEO ⭐️
Visiting Pompeii
To some, navigating the deep dark train system in Naples can be quite terrifying. Personally, I’ve experienced better and I’ve experienced worse.
In this case, I was fortunate to be in one of those situations where my travel companion sort of knew what was going on, while I was confused as hell. Where to buy the ticket, where to get on the train, where to transfer, where to get off the train, all became issues at one point. Normally not a big deal, if only more than a handful of people in Naples spoke English, or if my Italian were better.
So the lovely Andrea- who speaks native Spanish, perfect Penélope Cruz flavored English, as well as Italian, handled the asking for directions, while I fully settled into my right brain to film what I could of the experience. A discreet GoPro was all I felt comfortable using in these train stations, although it would have been amazing to shoot more on my DSLR. Maybe we’ll bring our bodyguards next time.
I include international trains a bit toward the end of both my Paris and Singapore videos too- two very different experiences.
So like I explain in the video, everything you read online says to take the Circumvesuviana train from the Garibaldi station. It’s €2.80, per person, each way and makes 20 stops totaling maybe an hour.
Although it felt like 5 hours to me.
Walks Of Italy has some details on this Naples to Pompeii train process HERE, and additionally they offer some even sweeter options such as private transfers.
Here is more great INFO written about visiting Pompeii by James M Deem. He actually wrote an entire book about Pompeii –Bodies From The Ash– that looks awesome too!
Arriving in Pompeii, as I show you in the video, can be quite confusing if you become intrigued by the idea of booking audio tours, guided tours, etc. If you would like to take a guided tour then jump in there and book one. If you are simply trying to get into Pompeii, just proceed past everything to reach to Porta Marina where you can purchase a 13 euro ticket.
We chilled out at the restaurant before going in. It helped us prepare to use my secret line avoidance technique- discussed in the video.
Here we are, Peronis in hand and NOT in a line!
Once inside the walled city of Pompeii, you can see Mount Vesuvius looming more discreetly yet more ominously than it seems to in Naples (due to the distance) The city essentially remains as it was, and functions like more of open square or park area rather than like a museum- hence the yoga.
There is no signage or labeling of each element, which make it important to either study up in advance (as I did) or follow a tour to learn all about how Pompeii was covered in the ash of erupting Mount Vesuvius, completely destroying the beloved seaport town.
I delicately drop some Pompeii facts in the video, but here are a few more..
Pompeii Facts:
- Pompeii was a fun, seaport party town along the way to Rome.
- Pompeii partly became such a booming town because of the volcanic soil in the region from previous eruptions. It was rich in nutrients and great for farming.
- The eruption of Mount Vesuvius lasted over 24 hours and shot volcanic ash 22 miles into the sky.
- When Mount Vesuvius violently erupted, many Pompeiianeans stuck around to watch it, as they didn’t quite realize what was happening.
- Pompeiianeans is a term I completely invented on accident. I realized it wasn’t exactly correct when I thought of the olive oil brand- Pompeian. Oh well!
- The buried city of Pompeii, Italy was not even discovered until 1748, and was excavated and restored over the years to follow.
- This is why they say Pompeii is a city ‘lost in time’. If it hadn’t been buried all those years, and somewhat preserved as a result, it would never stand today in such great shape.
- Visiting Pompeii is such a popluar thing to do while traveling in Italy, that the city sees over 2.5 Million tourists per year.
- Mount Vesuvius is said to be the ‘most dangerous volcano in the world’, due to the 3 Million people who live in uncomfortably close proximity to it- knowing that it will erupt again soon.
I highly recommend watching this BBC Documentary before you visit Pompeii > Pompeii: The Last Day
It’s FULL of Pompeii drama.
So with everything in mind, we explored the town and fused our existing knowledge with some very interesting discoveries. Look, a cave!
As always, thank you for enjoying my travel adventures on AMae.TV. Please leave a comment below or on the YouTube channel to let me know what you think about Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius- the most dangerous volcano in the WORLD!
And of course, don’t miss my MOUNT VESUVIUS travel video.
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Visiting Pompeii, Italy
