Ruins of Pompeii

The Thermopolium Still Has Food in the Serving Jars

The Thermopolium of Regio V, fully excavated in 2020, is the most intact ancient fast food counter in the world. A painted menu survives on the front face. In the ceramic serving jars sunk into the stone counter, researchers identified duck, pig, fish, and snails – the last dishes served before the eruption. The counter looks like it is waiting for the next customer. It is 1,946 years overdue.

This is what makes Pompeii unlike any other ancient site: specificity. The 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius buried the city under 4-6 metres of pumice and ash within 24 hours, and that burial preserved not just the structures but the details – the advertisements painted on walls, the grain still in the storerooms, the plaster casts of the bodies in the positions they were found. The site has been excavated since 1748. About two-thirds of the 66 hectares has been uncovered; the remainder is intentionally preserved for better future techniques.

What to Prioritise

The Forum is the civic centre and the place to start: Temple of Jupiter, Basilica (law court), macellum (market), and the broad open space that organised commercial and public life. Walking into the Forum from the main entrance at Porta Marina gives you the full panorama of the city’s scale against Vesuvius in the background.

The plaster casts of victims – made by pouring plaster into the voids left by decomposed bodies in the volcanic ash – are now displayed in the new 2025 permanent exhibition ‘Memories from 79 AD’ in the Antiquarium near Porta Marina, in addition to scattered locations throughout the site. The Garden of the Fugitives remains one of the most affecting: 13 casts in the poses of their final moments, preserved in place.

The House of the Faun is the largest private residence on site: 3,000 square metres with two atria, two peristyle gardens, and mosaic floors of extraordinary quality. The famous Alexander mosaic showing Alexander the Great’s battle against Darius is a copy (the original is in the Naples Archaeological Museum); the context of seeing a copy in its original room is still valuable.

The Villa of the Mysteries, slightly outside the main city walls, has the most significant surviving fresco cycle: near-life-size figures in a room that probably depicts Dionysian initiation rites, in colour preservation that is remarkable given the circumstances.

Tickets and Visiting (2026)

Standard admission is EUR 18 for adults. EU citizens aged 18-25 pay EUR 2; under-18s and the first Sunday of every month are free. Timed entry slots are mandatory from mid-March through mid-October: book at pompeiisites.org. The daily cap is 20,000 visitors. During summer, book weeks ahead.

The site is 66 hectares across nine districts. Allow a full day for a thorough visit. A half-day misses significant sections. Mid-July August peak heat is punishing; come at opening (09:00) or plan afternoon water and shade breaks.

Naples Museum and Herculaneum

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples holds the best finds that cannot be kept on-site: the Alexander mosaic, frescoes from the Villa of the Mysteries, the Secret Room of erotic art (Gabinetto Segreto), surgical instruments, and household objects. Visit before or after Pompeii to see what was removed.

Herculaneum, 12 kilometres west, was destroyed by the same eruption but buried by superheated pyroclastic flows rather than ash, which carbonised rather than vaporised organic material. Wood beams, beds, and food survive at Herculaneum in a way they do not at Pompeii. The site is smaller, less overwhelming, and in many respects better preserved. Both together in one trip is manageable and significantly more rewarding than either alone.

Getting there: Circumvesuviana train from Naples Piazza Garibaldi to Pompei Scavi station takes about 40 minutes.