Im off travelling in September and starting in Italy. Does anyone know the costs to get into places like Herculaneum and Pompeii. Ive been told things like this and the museums are quite expensive.

visited the ruins last summer. didnt remember them being noticeably pricy, although the delicious and outdoor swiss restaurant outside was. Handy for lunch, though.
Naples it must be said, though, whilst having its reputation for choas and crime and not trying to be the stylish capital of anywhere except the Campania region must have one of the most disorganised metro systems in Europe. The map did not show up new extensions to the Circumvesuviana railway while still showing stations on the SEPSA lines which are no longer open. No decent public transport maps are available for anywhere in Naples and the fact that Napoli Mostra station on the SEPSA line is just across the square from Napoli Campi Flegrei FS station is not made obvious by anyone.
I tried to purchase a new rover ticket advertised as UNICOCAMPANIA 3t which should have given me unlimited travel for three days on all 5 operating companies. Very useful indeed. Guess what? It doesnt exist! I spent quite some time trying to convince a number of ticket vendors to sell it to me. a one day ticket does exist but is only valid after 10.00 am. Of course none of these things are obvious because few stations have details and what details do exist are hard to understand because of tiny maps and tiny explanations. The city fathers should give a major kick in the pants to the managers of the metro.Why, oh why are things like this in Italy?

I went to Pompeii and Herculanium last summer and from my experience - be prepared for disappointment.

This is for several reasons but include:

1) The fact that you keep hearing about all the statues and finds but none are actually still there. They are all at Naples or in store.

2) Not meaning to be morbid but all people want to see at Pompeii is the bodies and there are hardly any. Just a few dotted around - not at all what I imagined. They are all in Naples too but no casts are at Pompeii.

3) Because of this all the ruins basically blend into one with no objects it is not that thrilling really. I mean I love archaeology but the site is so big and all the same. Don't get me wrong - some parts like the amphitheatre are amazing. However in my view Herculaneum is much more satisfying as it is much smaller and quieter.

JW

I went in 2000. My friends and I found it amazing, wondering through the streets, seeing signs on the wall for brothels that haven't seen any action for many centuries.. we did see some casts of bodies there. There aren't many, but it doesn't detract from it. Take lunch and water with you, it is a long day, a big place, well worth going.