Tour Description

Herculaneum walking tour

The archaeological site of Herculaneum is not so far from Pompeii (just 10 miles to the north,nearer Naples) and today offers a different view about the result of the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius of 79 AD. Herculaneum was, at the moment of the eruption, a roman residential town near the sea. It was covered not by the hot ash like Pompeii but with a boiling mud flow which later became rock solid volcano debris which makes it tough to excavate. In fact the archaeological site of Herculaneum is much smaller of Pompeii also because part of the modern town of  Herculaneum is built on top of it. On the other hand the rock-hard  covering made possible the preservation of wooden objects: traces of wooden stairways and balconies, and of wooden furniture.

Local practicalities:

-          Getting there: you can easily get to the archaeological site of Herculaneum by public transportation using the Circumvesuviana railway which runs every half –hour (about 15 minutes from Naples and about 50 minutes from Sorrento) and you have to walk about 10 minutes to the archaeological site from the station.

Driving is also possible, by taking the autostrada A3 and exit at the sign for Ercolano Scavi.