Sorrento
1 hour
Pompeii
2 hours
Lunch time
1 hour
Herculaneum
1.5 hours
the feet of Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum is known throughout the world for the remains of its Roman city buried, together with Pompeii, under the pumice & ashes provoked by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Herculaneum was originally discovered when a well was being dug in the 18th Century at a depth of 50 – 60 feet below the surface. Initially a series of shafts and tunnels were dug to strip the site of any saleable valuables by robbers. However, between 1749 to 1765 Herculaneum was explored on a more scientific basis for the Bourbon Kings of Naples and the Two Sicilies. A basic plan of the town was mapped out and much of the portable remains removed but eventually these tunnels collapsed and were closed down. The modern towns of Resina and Portici grew up over the site and knowledge of where the entrances to the tunnels were was lost to the scientific community.
Famous worldwide, the excavations of Pompeii is the only archaeological site in the world, along with that of Herculaneum, capable of returning visitors to a Roman town, In 79 AD, an era from which the Vesuvius erupted causing devastation to the surrounding area. Pompeii owes its exceptional state of preservation the way in which it was buried, Tonnes of ash & pumice had covered over 6 meters of Pompeii but preserving it the same time, The same pyroclastic materials, united around invested bodies, have kept the mark, allowing archaeologists to find short but atrocious fears.
“Among vineyards, olive-trees, gardens of oranges and lemons, orchards, heaped-up rocks, green gorges in the hills, and by the bases of snow-covered heights, and through small towns with handsome dark-haired women at the doors – and pass delicious summer villas – to Sorrento where the poet Tasso drew his inspiration from the beauty surrounding him” Charles Dickens, 1845 Is the birth place of the poet Torquato Tasso and the main square was named after him where I will stop so you can have time to enjoy the historical area which is full of quaint cobbled lanes and a church on every corner and a fantastic mix of designer and souvenir shops.
price varies by group size
