Herculaneum Small Group Tour and Ticket With an Archaeologist

About this experience

Get the chance to visit the site of Herculaneum being guided by an Archaeologist. Get to know more about this ancient Roman city, inhabited by merchants and nobility, whose life ended dramatically fast in 79 AD. The guide will show you the waterfront where more than 300 remains of people trying to escape by sea were found, but also the Samnite house, the thermal baths, the Temple of the Augustales, the forum, the house of Neptune and Amphitrite, the Gymnasium, the house of the wooden partition and much more. You will get an intense experience: you can see not only stone, marble and ceramics left, but also carbonized wood and even more exquisite paintings and mosaics than in Pompei. Herculaneum was destroyed by a much more powerful force which instantly burnt all wood and buried the city under a thick layer which didn’t let the air go through and cause decay.

What to expect

1. Stop 1

   Meeting place is the Ticket Office of the Herculaneum ruins. You can get there as follows: - By car in via Pignalver (There is a not guarded parking very close the meeting place) - By train in Corso Resina 1 (Circumvesuviana train station is 10 minutes walk away)

2. Stop 2 · 10min

   The house receives its name from marble statues of stags/deer found in the peristyle.

3. Stop 3 · 10min

   M. Nonius Balbus was the city's major benefactor restoring and building many public buildings. On his death he was made patron and feted with many honours, detailed in the long inscription on his funeral altar.

4. Stop 4 · 10min

   It is thought that the building was a centre of the cult of the Emperor Augustus and the headquarters of the Collegium Augustalium (or possibly even the local curia).

5. Stop 5 · 10min

   The house possibly belonged to one of the town's leading benefactors, Marcus Nonius Balbus and is somewhat unusual in that it has its own private access to the adjoining Suburban Thermae to the south.

6. Stop 6 · 10min

   It is very important house for the elegant wooden partition remained.

7. Stop 7 · 10min

   The House of the Skeleton probably the aggregation of three smaller buildings, derives its name from the discovery of human remains in a second floor room in 1831.

8. Stop 8 · 10min

   The Central Thermae were built around the beginning of the 1st century AD and were divided, as was then the common practice, into men's and women's baths, each with their own separate entrances.

9. Stop 9 · 10min

   The House of the Black Hall is one of Herculaneum's more luxurious mansions. The house has a monumental entrance which still retains the carbonised remains of the doorposts and lintel.

10. Stop 10 · 10min

    The house has an arrangement that was typical of the Samnites (an ancient people of the Sabine race who occupied this mountainous part of central Italy). The splendid atrium is skirted by a gallery with Ionic columns. The rooms are decorated with frescoes.

11. Stop 11 · 10min

    This is one of the most original houses in Herculaneum. It has a courtyard with a stairway and a stone balcony instead of an atrium.

12. Stop 12 · 10min

    Beautiful domus in the Centre of the archaeological area, with various environments, collonnati, frescos e-com everywhere at Herculaneum-charred remains of wooden parts.

Tour & ticket options

Options may have different inclusions and meeting points. Choose your option when booking on Viator.

Meeting & pickup

• Meeting place Ticket Office of the Herculaneum ruins. You can get there as follows: - By car in via Pignalver (There is a not guarded parking very close the meeting place) - By train in Corso Resina 1 (Circumvesuviana train station is 10 minutes walk away)

End point

• The tour ends inside Herculaneum Ruins

Meeting: Ticket office of Herculaneum ruins. The guide will hold a sign with ASKOS TOURS on top. DELAYS: be there at least 10 min before the tour. If you won't show, please let us know. Maximum wait is 5 minutes.

Before you go

• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• Confirmation will be received at time of booking
• Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
• Dogs are allowed at the Herculaneum Archaeological Park without breed or size restrictions, however they must be kept on a leash or muzzle and it is mandatory to have bags to collect any droppings. For reasons of logistics and conservation, within the Antiquarium premises, the Boat Pavilion, and the domus featuring mosaic floors, access is permitted only to dogs that are carried in arms or transported in an appropriate carrier.
• Herculaneum ruins' entry tickets: 16 euros (adult) 2 euros (EU citizens 18-25 y.o.)

Cancellation policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.