Pompeii--or Pompei as the Italians spell it--was our daytrip today. It was something we were both looking forward to and had planned to do when we first thought about this part of our trip in early 2024. Pompeii is about 30 km (18 mi) from Salerno. You can drive it in under half an hour, but we took the train which took about 45 minutes. I didn't mind, because I was fascinated by the mountain towns the train stopped at. We bought our ticket at Salerno station and just a heads up: if the schedule board says Track 2TR, that is not the same as Track 2 (TR means trunk line). I found that out the hard way when we were waiting and then realized we missed the train we were supposed to take. Also lost about an hour's time too.
Some other tips--the place is huge. Start as early as you can and be prepared to walk on uneven Roman streets. If taking the train, don't pay a taxi to take you there. It's walkable, though you have to run a gauntlet of travel shops trying to sell you stuff. The map they wanted to sell me was free at the site. We didn't buy our tickets in advance, but we're here in the off season. That may be something you want to do at other times.
We started walking from the station to the site. It was well signed, so there's no worries about getting lost.
A 9/11 memorial we saw on the way.
Soon we made it to the site. Some photos:
First thing we saw: Pompeii Arena
Fe in the arena entrance
Here we are in the arena. I'm imagining the cheers.
Workers carefully cleaning (it looked like to me).
Fe on a typical street, Vesuvius in the background.
Some Roman engraving
Ruins
Inside the courtyard of a Pompeii house.
Artwork in the same house. The map called it the House of Venus in the Shell.
Streets of Pompeii
House and Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus. We'd call it a fast food place.
We worked out way up to an elevated section of the site.
View of the ruins. Like I said, the place is huge.
Fe and I at a cafe at the top of the hill. The modern Pompeii is in the background.
One of the victims. It was behind some plexiglass (which explains the glare). Pompeii Palaestra (Sports Field)
When you think of Pompeii, you think of the volcano and the ruins but there's much more to the town than that. We bought round-trip tickets from Salerno and we've found that as long as you validate them correctly--and you don't choose reserved seats--they don't hold you to a fixed timeframe. So we walked around the town a bit. We did eat lunch at a touristy place (I try to avoid places where they stand outside to draw you in), but we were hungry--even hangry--the food was good, and the price wasn't too out of line. Plus I got an espresso there which makes everything better.
Scratching behind the souvenir store cat's ear.
Pompeii Cathedral
Inside the cathedral
Cathedral dome
Piazza Bartolo Longo (from the street art). The basilica faces onto this.
Monument to Bartolo Longo in the piazza
Fe and the train station across the roundabout
Train station sign. Don't know why English added the second "i".
After all that walking, it was nice to sit back and relax on the train back to Salerno. These are the times I'm glad I didn't rent a car. I don't use this term very often, but Pompeii is a must-see. It was sad to see how the people there suddenly had their world ripped away, but it also showed me how much we have in common with them. We saw a lot but I know we missed some things. If you go try to get there earlier in the morning--and make sure you go to the right platform!
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