back in time travel
The Forum of Pompeii today with the remains of the Temple of Jupiter and Mount Vesuvius in the background

Campania · Italy · Bay of Naples

Pompeii.
The city under the ash.

On 24 August or in October of the year 79 AD, a Roman city vanished under ash and pumice. Today Pompeii is the most visited archaeological site in Italy. Here is everything for your trip: the time journey across the Forum, tickets and opening hours, our own map of the ruins and a tour through a house.

Start the time journey Tickets & admission
79CE
Eruption of Vesuvius, 79 ADUNESCO World Heritage since 1997
Real photo · the Forum today
One day that preserved everything.

The ash of Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii and preserved it at the same time: streets, houses, wall paintings and everyday objects survived under metres of pumice. The site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Source: UNESCO

Four ways into Pompeii

Experience, plan,
find your way

01AI vision79 ADThe eruptionFrom market day through the ash to the ruins: the time journey across the Forum.Start the journey 02Checked 25 Sep 20262026Tickets & admissionPrices, opening hours, Express or Pompeii+, getting there from Naples.Plan your visit 03Own plan20 sitesThe mapThe ruins with highlights, three routes and entrances.Open the map 04Real photoA houseHouse of the Tragic PoetAcross the threshold, into the atrium, through to the garden: reading a Roman house.Start the tour

Pompeii in brief

Pompeii in brief

Where is Pompeii?

On the Bay of Naples in Campania, about 25 kilometres south-east of Naples at the foot of Vesuvius. The tickets page explains how to get there.

When was Pompeii destroyed?

In 79 AD, during the eruption of Vesuvius. The time journey shows what the Forum looked like before and what happened afterwards.

What can you see today?

The Archaeological Park with the Forum, baths, theatres, houses and streets. Our map organises 20 highlights on three routes.

How long do you need?

Two to four hours for the highlights, a full day for the whole city. The map has routes for both.

Looking beyond Pompeii

At the same
time, elsewhere.

As everyday Roman life unfolded in Pompeii, other urban worlds were developing elsewhere. Drag the marker and discover five selected places.

Pompeii100 BC – 79 AD
  • 100 BC – 79 AD A city still inhabited
Acropolis600 BC – 1000 AD
  • 600 BC – 481 BC Before the Parthenon
  • 480 BC – 448 BC After the Persian destruction
  • 447 BC – 433 BC A monument takes shape
  • 432 BC – 399 AD The Classical ensemble
  • 400 AD – 1000 AD New uses, the same rock
Ephesus300 BC – 800 AD
  • 300 BC – 1 BC A Hellenistic framework
  • 1 AD – 149 AD Roman living spaces
  • 150 AD – 269 AD The age of the library
  • 270 AD – 800 AD A building changes its role
Teotihuacán1 AD – 700 AD
  • 1 AD – 149 AD The city grows
  • 150 AD – 249 AD An axis for the city
  • 250 AD – 599 AD Life between the monuments
  • 600 AD – 700 AD A centre in transition
Tikal600 BC – 950 AD
  • 600 BC – 199 AD Before the great temples
  • 200 AD – 694 AD A Classic Maya city
  • 695 AD – 733 AD After the victory over Calakmul
  • 734 AD – 799 AD Monument and memory
  • 800 AD – 950 AD An urban world in transition

The bands show editorial windows from our five stories, not complete settlement histories. Window boundaries organise the narrative; not every change can be dated to a single year. Photographs show the surviving condition, not the selected year. Present-day coastlines provide orientation.

From your screen to the Forum

Experience Pompeii yourself

The Archaeological Park is open daily and tickets are sold online by the operator. Guided tours help you see the connections in this sprawling city.

Admission directly from the parkCurrent ticket types and hours on the official website, with a link to the official sales channel.Guided tours on GetYourGuideCompare Pompeii offers. Check the language, group size, whether admission is included and which houses are actually visited.

Affiliate link: we may receive a commission when you book through GetYourGuide. The historical interpretation remains independent.

Sources and context

This overview relies on the site operator and UNESCO; each subpage cites its sources alongside the content.

  1. UNESCO: Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata
  2. Parco Archeologico di Pompei: opening hours and tickets
Images and usage rights

Forum of Pompeii today: photo Gary Todd, 2019, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Eruption: AI vision (artistic licence), not a scientific reconstruction. Atrium: MatthiasKabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Map: own plan based on OpenStreetMap data (ODbL).

View from the Pnyx towards the Acropolis of Athens and the Parthenon, photographed on 20 May 2020. George E. Koronaios / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and converted to WebP; no cropping or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.

The façade of the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey, photographed on 8 April 2015. Carole Raddato / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and converted to WebP; no cropping or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.

Temple I at the Great Plaza of Tikal, Guatemala. Photograph taken on 26 June 2015. Kaldari / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0. Resized to a maximum edge of 1600 pixels and compressed as WebP; no crop or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.

View across the Avenue of the Dead at Teotihuacan: the Pyramid of the Sun stands to the right, with the Pyramid of the Moon at the far end of the axis. Photograph taken on 27 December 2017. Ralibreros112 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized to a maximum edge of 1600 pixels and compressed as WebP; no crop or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.

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