info Pompeii and Herculaneum

Lil wrote:
So, would it be possible to do
Herculaneum rather than Pompeii, then
head back to Naples to hit the
Archaeological Museum?

Yes, I've gone 'door to door' (museum to Herculaneum) in under an hour.
Worst case senario: If you just miss the Circumvesuviana Train and just
miss the Metro in Naples figure ~1.5hrs 'door to door'.
You can get the Circumvesuviana schedules @ www.circumvesuviana.com
cllck-on "Orari". There is also a English 'Tourist Information' link but
it doesn't work very well for me.
Timewise Pompeii only adds 38min R/T travel time over Herculaneum.
Regards, Walter



...And Paradise Was Lost...like teardrops in the rain...

On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 13:20:46 GMT, Dan Stephenson
wrote:

Get a Return ("ray-toor-no") ticket
in Italian better say "Andata-e-Ritorno"

It is possible to take the Naples subway trains to a stop
sort-of near the Naples archeological museum
Main Rail, Circumvesuviana and Metropolitana (subway) stations are all
close each other...
for Museo Nazionale subway stops at Piazza Cavour...

I highly recommend taking a taxi from the Naples train station to the
museum, and taking a taxi back. This will save you time, too.
taxis also gets jammed in Naples' traffic --subway is faster...



cheers,

webpecker

Thank you all for your tips on how to actually execute my plan to go
to Pompeii or Herculaneum and see the ancient ruins!

I'll post an abbreviated update after I get back.

Lil

(Poetic Justice) wrote in message ...
Lil wrote:
So, would it be possible to do
Herculaneum rather than Pompeii, then
head back to Naples to hit the
Archaeological Museum?

Yes, I've gone 'door to door' (museum to Herculaneum) in under an hour.
Worst case senario: If you just miss the Circumvesuviana Train and just
miss the Metro in Naples figure ~1.5hrs 'door to door'.
You can get the Circumvesuviana schedules @ www.circumvesuviana.com
cllck-on "Orari". There is also a English 'Tourist Information' link but
it doesn't work very well for me.
Timewise Pompeii only adds 38min R/T travel time over Herculaneum.
Regards, Walter



..And Paradise Was Lost...like teardrops in the rain...

On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 13:00:02 +0100, Thomas Peel
wrote:

One piece of information that struck me deeply was that those grooves
you can see in the doorsteps of the buildings were there to put up
storefront shuttering. Having heard that, I was amazed to realize just
how many shops there were in Pompei, it seems like nearly every building
on some streets. That stonemasonry must have been mass-produced, all
with the same identical system of grooves and rebating, plus they must
have used some clever system to lock the last shutter in place..

The same ingenious system was used in the Markets of Trajan in Rome -
the equivalent of a present-day shopping mall. (The Pompeii eruption
was in 79 A.D. and Trajan died in 117 A.D., so that follows.)

If you look at the grooves above and below the doorway, you can see
that at one end there is a space about 20 cm wide where vertical
boards could be slotted in one by one and slid sideways into the
grooves. The last board was put in place from the outside when the
shop-keeper shut up shop and held in position by a horizontal cross
bar, which would have been fastened with a padlock.

If I'm not mistaken, there is somewhere in the Pompeii site where
wooden boards have been repositioned to show how the system worked.

Margaret Coffin
InfoRoma - The Rome Experts
www.inforoma.it

In article ,
Dan Stephenson wrote:

In article , Lil
wrote:

Dan,

Dan Stephenson wrote in message
.. .

You can check out my photos pages:
Pompeii:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda/Gra...toAlbum60.html

Herculaneum:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda/Gra...toAlbum62.html


The pictures are pretty neat. I think I would like Pompeii better,
but Herculaneum seems better preseerved and might be "easier to
appreciate" than Pompeii. Is Herculaneum as well-organized as
Pompeii? (I think someone here may have mentioned that Pompeii is
better organized.) Do they also have audiophones? It also seems more
compact...

Herculaneum and Pompeii are equally well-organized, with little maps
and numbered markers. Both have audioguides for rent - punch in the
number and hear the audio. Herculaneum is more compact and better
preserved, Pompeii has more to see but it less well preserved. Pompeii
also has a Theatre and an Amphitheatre. Herculaneum feels more like a
coastal resort (which I believe it was).

I have been to both and disagree that H is better preserved -- it is in
a sense -- but there are houses in Pompeii and gardens that are
marvelously well preserved and IMHO more impressive than Herculaneum --
just lots more ruins as well

I am glad I didn't make the decision to just do H -- as Pompeii was a
once in a lifetime marvel and H just wasn't for me. There is usually a
reason why the most popular site is so popular -- on a first trip, it
pays to do the common thing -- and save the out of the way or lesser
spots for later trips



So, would it be possible to do Herculaneum rather than Pompeii, then
head back to Naples to hit the Archaeological Museum? Spend a few
hours there, then head back to Rome after dinner?

That might be possible. Just find out when Herculaneum opens and plan
the train travel to get there just before that time. This is not only
to give you maximum time at the site before leaving, but also helps
avoid the ETGs (Evil Tour Groups), which arrive about an hour after
opening. This effect is probably lessened right now in off-season.

You not only need to know the schedule to arrive in Naples by train
from Rome, but also then take a commuter train from a side-station in
the Naples train station to Herculaneum. This commuter train line is
called Circumvesuviana. I recommend getting to Naples at least an hour
before the Herculaneum site opens. Then, in Naples, ask for
Circumvesuvia: "Dove Circumvesuviana?" (Dove is pronounced "Doh-vay").
You'll get directed downstairs and there are some ticket booths to get
a ticket. Get a Return ("ray-toor-no") ticket for the trip back from
"Ercolano Scavi" - this is the Italian name. I think Scavi means
Excavation. You go down a long hall and swipe your ticket at the far
end. Then find the track ("binario") you need. Note: the track you
need is the same on that goes to Pompeii and Sorrento, so that should
help. Then get on the train when it arrives (maybe 5-15 minutes), and
go to ther Ercolano stop. Get out, and following the signs for 1/2
mile down the street to a big white arch with "Herculaneum" written on
it. That's the entrance gate. Ask a shopkeeper for directions if you
need them. You can then spend several hours in the site.

When you're finished, go back to the Circumvesuviana station, and back
to Naples. It is possible to take the Naples subway trains to a stop
sort-of near the Naples archeological museum, but you then need to
dodge traffic on foot which is a sure means of death in Naples. I
highly recommend taking a taxi from the Naples train station to the
museum, and taking a taxi back. This will save you time, too. Do a
Google search to find opening times - I had two guidebooks with me
when I went, but they conflicted on what days it was open. So MAKE
SURE you check! There is a bag check there if you want to use it.
Highlights in this museum are the Battle of Issus mosaic from Pompeii,
Farnese Bull and a big Hercules.

Thanks.

Sure thing!

By the way, if you get Rick Steve's _Rome_ book (which you might like
anyway for Rome), he has a back section for Naples and other things to
see it in. It also talks about getting to Circumvesuviana.

Lil

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
...

Note: the track you
need is the same on that goes to Pompeii and Sorrento, so that should
help.

Note, however, that Ercolano is reached before the junction at Torre
Annunziata, and so it is also served by trains other than those on the
Sorrento branch.

While I agree with the advice about not trying to see Herculaneum and
Pompeii in a day, it is quite possibe to see Herculaneum and the so-called
Villa of Poppaea at Torre Annunziata in a day.

Alan Harrison