Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples: The Shadow of Vesuvius
Wednesday 5th - Monday 10th November 2025
Cost: £885 per person, inclusive of tuition, airport transfers (only available for the Siragusa Tours nominated flight), visits to Herculaneum, villas Poppaea and Regina, and Naples, and a half-board tariff (4 dinners only, days 2, 3, 4 & 5) in a twin-share room with private facilities. Flights and entrance fees are excluded. Single supplement: £240
This tour will explore the majestic ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii and the surrounding area, which were buried under volcanic ash and pumice from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.
Pompeii and Herculaneum were urban sites, but they were intimately linked to the rural landscape. We will look at the Villa of the Mysteries, just outside the Herculaneum Gate of Pompeii. We will spend a morning looking at contrasting villae, the luxurious Villa Poppaea, Oplontis, a villa maritima, and the Villa Regina, a villa rustica, and its museum, leaving the afternoon free for you to explore the modern town of Pompei. As well as exploring the local shops you might consider the beautiful late-19th-century Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei with its vaulted ceilings covered with opulent artwork.
We will end the tour at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, which houses artefacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The museum also contains many fine examples of Roman sculpture and Roman copies of Greek originals and the ‘Gabinetto Segreto’, Secret Cabinet, the Bourbon Monarchy’s collection of erotic art taken from the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Your guide
Dr Ardle Mac Mahon is a long-standing Associate Lecture in Classical Studies with the Open University. He has a primary degree and research master’s degree in Greek & Roman Civilization from University College Dublin. He gained a PhD in Roman Archaeology from the University of Durham. The topic of his thesis was on the retail establishments (tabernae) of Roman Britain. His research has broadened to include the examination of the shops and workshops of the rest of the Roman empire but with a particular focus on Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Ostia. More broadly, Ardle’s interests are in the social history of the non-elite.
Accommodation
Centrally located Hotel Forum**** in Pompeii. An elegant 4 star hotel just across the road from the entrance into the archaeological site of Pompeii and close to the town centre of Pompei with its attractive squares and cathedral.
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