Herculaneum (Italian: Ercolano) is a small town close to Naples, easily reachable via Circumvesuviana (Ercolano Scavi stop for the historical site).

The ancient Roman site, after which the new city has been named, has been destroyed in the 79AD eruption of Vesuvius, the same one which destroyed the near-by Pompeii. Just like Pompeii, Herculaneum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And unlike Pompeii, it is much better preserved but also much smaller.

How to get to :

Circumvesuviana offers probably the easiest way to get here. Just go to the Main Train Station in Naples, follow the signs to Garibaldi Station, buy a ticket and then go to the platform. Find “Binari Sorrento” (Platform / Line Sorrento) and hop on the first train. It takes about 25 min to get to the city.

As of 2017, a one-way single ticket costs 2.70 EUR and is valid for 120 minutes.

Ercolano Scavi is the stop. Get off, cross on the other site, walk down the main street (down the street) for about 10 min and you’ll see a huge entrance. Go in and then walk to the entrance to the site itself, where the ticketing booth is as well.

There are also buses which connect Naples to Ercolano. And of course, you can drive.

Entrance fee and visiting hours

The entrance fee is 11 euros / adult.

The site is open daily except on Jan 1, May 1 and Dec 25.

Opening hours:*
April to October: 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
November to March: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The ticket office closes 90 min before the site does.

You can pick a free map and a free printed guide at the entrance. Audio guides cost and you need to leave an ID to get an audio guide. We only got the free map and printed guide in Italian (there weren’t any in English. sigh).

General info on visiting

• wear good walking shoes; ideally for uneven surfaces. I am not saying hiking boots , just something similar
• wear comfortable clothes, as well. Opt for earthy colors as you are most likely going to stop and sit on whatever is available
• don’t forget your water bottle and also a bandana and shades, for the summer months
• if it’s rainy, opt for a waterproof jacket rather than an umbrella; an ps: a plastic bag is very good to protect your DSLR.
• get that free printed book; if you speak / understand Italian it’s great , otherwise try to find one in a language you understand (aside from English, those tend to be scarce). You’d want to know what you are looking it

What to see

The site is small compared to Pompeii. There are still parts of the ancient city which haven’t been unearthed because they are under the new city. However, the city is much better preserved than its neighbor. And that’s because the layer of volcanic ash was slimmer here, not causing the rooftops to collapse. Plus, the pyroclasic flows came in “waves” , thus helping preserve the city even better.

The first building to be discovered in 1709 was the Theater. It is still not completely unearthed, but a model of it can be found in the lobby , after the ticketing booth.

Personally, I was stunned by the ancient beach. Close to the ancient beach were some grottoes where the women and children hid, while the men stayed on the beach. The bones of those who hid in the grottoes are still preserved and still left where they were found. Seeing those makes your hair stay up on the spine.

Many houses and baths are very well preserved; part of the frescoes can still be seen, complete with their vivid colors.

*opening hours updated as of Aug 2016

Read more about Italy:
>>Train Travel in Italy
>>Circumvesuviana
>>Peschici
>>Alberobello
>>Visiting Pompeii
>>FREE things to in Rome

Note: the article was written in 2014 and has been updated in August 2017.