Itinerary
After a 45 minute joumey along the Sorrentine Peninsula to get to Herculaneum,one of the best preserved archaeological sites in the world.
(More information on Herculaneum is provided below)

A professional guide will take you to some of the intriguing buildings to be found on this well preserved site to provide you with a very graphical account of all aspects of life in Herculaneum before, and during, the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 BC.
This will include Decumanus Maximus, the main street through Herculaneum reopened to the public in April 2011, after 20 years.

Your coach will take you back to Sorrento by late morning/early afternoon.

Days available
Wednesday

Pickup points and times
You will be advised of the most convenient pickup point for your accommodation
Approx 08.00 start and 13.00 return depending on the pickup point

Method of payment
After reservations have been confirmed payment can be made by credit card before the visit or in the Sorrento office itself, whichever is the more convenient.
To book a reservation please use our enquiry form or telephone +44 (0) 1446 771220.

Extras paid on site.
Herculaneum entrance fee € 11.00

Additional Notes
Lunch is not included in the price of this excursion
Comfortable walking shoes, sun hat and bottled water is advised

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Background information about the locations visited on this excursion
Here is some factual information about Herculaneum.

Herculaneum
The excavations of Herculaneum give us an ancient and beautiful city founded by the Greeks on the shores of the sea, then falling under the rule of the Sanniti, and finally, in the Roman town of Herculaneum. Already seriously damaged by the earthquake in 62 AD, the city was later destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius (79 AD), which covered it with substantial mass of mud, ash and other materials, penetrating into every opening, solidifying into a hard, compact layer of 15-20 meters. The eruption of Vesuvius happened in two phases: the first was a total duration of 12 hours, with the fall of white and gray pumice and the second period of seven hours consisting of hot clouds of ash. It was this second phase, which affected Herculaneum. The city has come down to us "frozen" by the eruption of 79 AD which allowed the conservation of wooden structures and small objects, better, than has been conserved in Pompeii. Access to the excavations is through an avenue that is currently in the final section, along the former Marine. Recently the mystery of why no bodies were found in that area has now been solved, except for a small number of people, who were in their homes, the majority took refuge in the arches along the marina, where, waiting for salvation from the sea instead they were covered by the lava coming from the slopes of the volcano. The new entrance, under construction, will allow access to these ancient arches and the marina with the skeletons of fugitives, from where, skirting the Suburban Baths and the sacred area, we will arrive at the end of the fifth lower milestone. The latter was part of an urban settlement in orthogonal pattern, with roads parallel to the coastline called “decumani”, and those perpendicular to the first called “cardines”. Decumani and cardines divided the territory of the city into blocks of almost equal size. Herculaneum, which, unlike the nearby Pompeii was a particularly pleasant place for holidays, shows a wide range of private buildings of great historical interest, social and architectural heritage. Since 1982, a scientific support by the National Geographic Society of Washington, in particular studying skeletons, entrusted to Paleopathology Sara Bisel of Smithsonian Institution. Herculaneum, is always a fixed destination for thousands of tourists every year. The excavations of Herculaneum, Pompeii together with those of Oplontis, are included since 1997 in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site.