I visited one of Italy’s most popular attractions – 1 mistake ruined the whole experience | Europe | Travel

My first-ever Italy trip was full of some of the country’s most famous sites, and they really did live up to the hype. However, I made a mistake at one of them that I instantly regretted, and it’s something you should definitely avoid if you are planning to pay this place a visit in the future. As I was staying in Naples for a few days, it was only natural that I decided to make my way out to Pompeii and neighbouring Mount Vesuvius for an enriching tourist experience. 

While these spots can get quite busy, they are definitely worth visiting. After my fascinating visit to the volcano, it was time to head to Pompeii, where I would learn all about the history of the infamous eruption and walk through where it all happened. However, I didn’t learn much about the history as I made one vital mistake. 

Pompeii is a fascinating place and it is absolutely worth a visit. However, my partner and I decided that we didn’t need to pay extra for any audio guides or printed information booklets. 

This turned out to be a big mistake. Walking around the ancient city of Pompeii (which is surprisingly massive) is a surreal experience. If you have a vague idea of the history and what life was like here, you will still find it more than interesting. 

However, we didn’t realise that none of the sites were labelled, and for much of the experience, we didn’t know what we were looking at. Don’t get me wrong—I enjoyed immersing myself in the old city, but some information about what I was looking at would have completed the experience. 

After all, we visit these sites to learn about their historical and cultural significance. So, if you decide to go, don’t be cheap like me. Buy the guide to make the most of the experience.

That doesn’t mean that it was a completely wasted excursion. Knowing the basic information about Pompeii and the Vesuvius eruption, it was a fascinating experience to walk around and see the damage caused and imagine what life might have looked like before this place was destroyed. 

But I missed out on a huge part of this trip, learning the actual facts and events that make this place so famous, as well as the context of the Roman Empire. 

There are different types of tickets you can purchase for Pompeii. There is Pompeii+ which grants you access to the ancient city and the suburban villas. 

I went for the regular Pompeii Express ticket which didn’t include the villas, but I still spent quite a few hours there. When we arrived, we decided not to purchase the guide books which proved to be a mistake.

Afterwards, we discovered that there were free guides available to download from Visit Pompeii, which also would have come in handy.

If you plan to visit Pompeii during a trip to Italy, I recommend going to know how you are going to get your information because you might be surprised to find that there are no museum-like plaques to read when you’re in there. Considering how many YouTube videos about Pompeii I watched when I got home, I guess that I would have gotten great use out of a guide while I was there.