This tour includes an English-speaking driver and Air-conditioned Mercedes at your disposal for 8/9 hours (private - only for you) - A private English-speaking guide at Your disposal for visiting Herculaneum, Naples (sightseeing) and the Archaeological Museum of Naples (private - only for you)
ENTRANCE FEES OF HERCULANEUM RUINS AND THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF NAPLES ARE NOT INCLUDED
This guided tour to Herculaneum ruins, the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (POMPEII MUSEUM) with the sightseeing of city will last approx. 8/9 hours.
You’ll find your English-speaking driver with his car (or Minivan - according to the number of participants in your party) by your cruise ship or accommodation for reaching Herculaneum ruins. Once there, You meet Your archaeological English-speaking guide (private – only for you) for an interesting visit of the ruins (duration 2 hours).
Buried in 79 AD by Mt Vesuvius, the town of Herculaneum, with all its big and small treasures, was submerged by mud erupted by the volcano during the dreadful eruption.
According to the legend, the city was founded by Hercules, the mythical Greek hero, who came to Italy from Spain. Hercules founded a small town between Naples and Pompeii, and gave it the name of Herculaneum. The city was inhabited by Osci, Samnites, Etruscans and Romans, and at the time of Julius Caesar it became a "municipium", that is a municipality not founded by the Romans but part of their “sphere of control”. Thus began a period of prosperity for the city that became a tourist destination for noble men of Rome who had their villas built there. But with the eruption of 79 A.D. Mt Vesuvius destroyed this elegant town investing it with mud. In Herculaneum, furnishings and wooden structures of the houses are better preserved than in Pompeii because of the different effects of the eruption on the two cities. And so, one can consider Herculaneum as a time capsule for the posterity, rich in treasures and news about the life at the time of the Roman Empire.
At the end of the Herculaneum visit, You'll reach Naples by car (or van) with Your English-speaking guide for a sightseeing of Naples.
The city of Naples is very interesting for its monuments of great historical value such as those you can admire in Piazza Plebiscito: the Church of San Francesco di Paola inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, and the Salerno Palace built in the eighteenth century. Other monuments of importance are the Royal Palace (where the National Library is kept), the Umberto’s Arcade and the San Carlo Opera House (the oldest in the world). In Naples one can admire also many castles such as Castelnuovo, Castel dell’Ovo and Castel Sant’Elmo.
Then, You'll have free time (1 hour) to walk around for lunch: a great idea would be to taste the Neapolitan pizza, symbol of the city.
After your free time, Your guide will show you the highlights in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, which is one of the earliest established in Europe and one of the most important in the world for both the quality and the quantity of the masterpieces it keeps. The museum is composed of several sections: The Farnese Collection (consisting of pieces coming from Rome and surroundings); the collection of Pompeii (with findings from the excavations of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, Boscoreale and other archaeological sites in the area); then findings from smaller collections acquired or donated to the museum (such as the Borgia Collection, the Spinelli Collection etc.); worth of visiting are also the Epigraphic and Egyptian collections; and finally some other artefacts from the area of Paestum.
A so vast quantity of archaeological artefacts in one museum has no equal in Italy: over 3000 objects of great value are displayed and hundreds of thousands of them are in the warehouse.
With the transfer to Your cruise or accommodation, this tour ends.
