We chose to visit Herculaneum on our own as we expected it to be relatively simple to navigate. It wasn’t.

After leaving the ship, we walked to the metro to connect with the train station. The first ticket kiosk offered Ercoleno tickets so we purchased them but then couldn’t find the train. We asked at a travel office and discovered that we had bought metro tickets to central Herculaneum, not train tickets to the ruins. The agent sold us round-trip train tickets and ruins visitation tickets. She advised us to get on the Sorrento train but ask if it stopped at Ercoleno.

Easier said than done. We asked and got conflicting information. Finally a train arrived and we boarded. We quickly realized it wasn’t stopping anywhere; soon we blew right through the Ercoleno Scavi (ruins) stop. Finally we made a stop and we got off. The train agent sold us tickets heading back to Naples, and it thankfully made stops.

Now our time was a bit limited so we did not get a guide or an audio guide. Without much commentary, the art must speak for itself. Herculaneum was destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Excavation is still under way. Herculaneum is a smaller area than Pompeii, but was generally wealthier.