Can I visit Pompeii without a guide?
Yes. Buy the ticket, take the park's free map and walk its three numbered paths. If you want a voice, the park rents audio guides at all three gates from €9, and runs its own 1.5-hour tours for €8 on top of the ticket. Licensed guides work from the guide points at Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra until 14:00. A guided walk from a tour company is the fourth option, from €29.50 with entry.
By Chiara Vitale · Updated September 20, 2026
- On your own: the park's map, three paths, your ticket
- Audio guide: €9 for one, €14 for two, rented at the gates with ID
- The park's tour: 1.5 hours, €8 plus the ticket, from March 2, 2026
- A tour company: two hours with a guide, from €29.50 with entry
Which way suits you?
On your own What I'd do
Download the park's map before you go, or pick it up at the gate. It marks three paths with blue triangles, squares and circles: Regiones I and II from Piazza Anfiteatro, then VII and VIII with the Forum, then VI with the Vettii and the villa. Follow them in order and you've walked the site once.
Audio guide
Rented at Porta Marina, Piazza Esedra and Piazza Anfiteatro; you leave an ID. €14 for two, €7.50 each for three or more; children €5. The park doesn't publish the languages, so ask at the desk.
The park's own tour
1.5 hours with a park guide, two routes: Civic Pompeii from Porta Marina Superiore, Daily Pompeii from Piazza Anfiteatro. Free under 10. Book on the park's Vivaticket; leftover seats sell at the ticket offices.
A tour company
Two hours with a guide, usually from Porta Marina, often with the ticket in the price. Or a licensed guide at the gate: the Campania Region certifies them, badges on, at the Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra guide points from 9:00 to 14:00.
Park pages "Visitor services", "For independent visitors" and the park's map; the guide PDF for the guide points. Updated September 20, 2026.
How do the audio guides work?
The park's authorised audio guides are rented at all three entrances against your identity document. Prices are the park's, from March 1, 2025. The languages aren't on the park's page; ask before you pay.
Take the map too: the audio guide is a voice, the map is the route. Start on Path 1 from Piazza Anfiteatro or Path 2 from Porta Marina.
Park page "Visitor services". Updated September 20, 2026.
How is a guided tour different from going on your own?
A guide decides the route and the pace: two hours, usually the Forum and the houses around it. You see less ground and more of what you're looking at.
On your own you decide the ground: the Amphitheatre end, the casts in the Large Palaestra, the villa outside the walls. The map gives you the order. What you don't get is someone to ask.
The park's own 1.5-hour tour sits between the two: a park guide, €8, and your ticket runs until closing, so you can walk the rest afterward.
Park pages and map; hours per plan are Chiara's estimate. Updated September 20, 2026.
If you'd rather have a guide
Guided tours of Pompeii, compared →Two hours from the gate with the entry ticket in the price, or a day from Rome that leaves you inside on your own. What to compare: whether the ticket is in the price, where you meet, hours inside.
Pompeii Small Group Tour with an Archaeologist
Pompeii Express Day Trip: High-Speed Train from Rome
Viator listings 23258P113 and 5831P103. Updated September 19, 2026.
People also ask
Is there a free map?
Yes: the park's map with the three paths is a free PDF on its site, and the same map is at the gates. It marks toilets, the ticket offices, the cloakrooms and the bar.
Is there an official app?
The park's pages don't mention one. What it offers is the map, the audio guides at the gates and its own 1.5-hour tours.
Can I hire a guide at the entrance?
Yes. Licensed guides, certified by the Campania Region and wearing badges, work from the guide points at Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra between 9:00 and 14:00. The park doesn't run that service and doesn't publish prices.
Is Pompeii accessible without a guide?
The park's "Pompeii for All" route runs over 3.5 km from Piazza Anfiteatro to the Sanctuary of Venus along the main streets, for wheelchairs and buggies. Access and, for now, exit at Piazza Anfiteatro.
Where do I leave a big bag?
Luggage storage, for a fee, at Porta Marina and Piazza Anfiteatro. Bags over 30 × 30 × 15 cm don't come in.
Are there virtual tours?
Not on the park's own pages. What it publishes is the map and the list of open buildings; the houses are the visit.
Park pages "Visitor services", "Pompeii for all", "For independent visitors"; the guide PDF. Updated September 20, 2026.