The Pompeii Site Map: Three Gates and Four Routes
Sixty-six hectares, three entrances at two ends of the site, and a street grid that has been addressed the same way since 1858. Which gate you walk in through decides most of what you see, and almost nobody is told that before they arrive. The walking tours pompeii italy on this list all start at the same one.
Sixty-six hectares, forty-nine of them dug
Pompeii is not a ruin you walk round in an hour. The walled city covers 66 hectares and about 49 of those have been dug. That is two-thirds of a Roman town, on a lava plateau above the Sarno plain. The wall around it runs over 3,200 metres, with twelve towers and seven gates.
What that means underfoot: a standard two-hour walk covers roughly two kilometres. It reaches perhaps a tenth of the streets. Travellers say the same thing again and again — the site is far bigger than the tour. The ones who enjoyed it most stayed on afterwards.
The three entrances, and which one suits your day
| Entrance | Where | Reach it from | Best if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porta Marina | Via Villa dei Misteri | Pompei Villa dei Misteri station, 2 min | You want the Forum first. Almost every guided tour meets here. |
| Piazza Esedra | Piazza Porta Marina Inferiore | Same station, same walk | Your booking says so — it is the gate beside Porta Marina, not a different end. |
| Piazza Anfiteatro | Piazza Immacolata | Pompei Santuario, or Pompei with the Link bus | You want the Amphitheatre, the big houses of Regio II, or the step-free route. |
The two ends are about twenty-five minutes apart on foot outside the walls. Inside them it takes longer, because inside you stop. If you are meeting a guide, go to the gate named on your booking.
Regiones and insulae: how Pompeii is addressed
In 1858 Giuseppe Fiorelli divided the city into nine regiones, or districts, and each of those into insulae, or blocks. Every building has carried that address ever since. When a guide says the new work is in Regio V, that is what they mean.
Learn it. It is the only navigation system the site has. There were no street signs in antiquity, the modern ones are small, and the numbering is painted on the walls at the corners.
The park's four published routes
The Archaeological Park publishes its own suggested itineraries with full building lists, which is the most useful planning document about Pompeii and one almost nobody reads:
| Route | Time | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Path 1 | 2 hours | Marina Gate | Piazza Esedra |
| Path 1, longer version | 3 hours | Marina Gate | Villa of the Mysteries |
| Path 2 | 3 hours | Piazza Esedra | Piazza Esedra |
| Path 3 | 5 hours | Marina Gate | Piazza Anfiteatro |
| Path 4 | 7 hours | Piazza Anfiteatro | Piazza Anfiteatro |
Path 1 is the two-hour route, and it is essentially what every standard guided tour walks: the Suburban Baths, the Antiquarium, the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Forum granary, the Temple of Jupiter, the Forum Baths, the House of the Tragic Poet, the House of the Faun, the Macellum, the Basilica and out at Piazza Esedra.
Path 2 is the three-hour loop from Piazza Esedra and it goes the other way first, through the Quadriporticus and the theatres, the House of the Menander, Via dell'Abbondanza, the Stabian Baths and the Lupanar, then up to the House of the Faun and the House of the Vettii before coming back to the Forum.
Path 3 is the five-hour crossing, and it is the shortest one that reaches the Amphitheatre, the Large Palaestra, the House of Octavius Quartio and the Praedia of Giulia Felice at the far end.
Path 4 is seven hours in and out of Piazza Anfiteatro and takes in the Garden of the Fugitives and the Nocera Gate necropolis as well.
Where the named houses actually are
- Regio VI — the House of the Faun, the House of the Vettii, the House of the Tragic Poet, the House of the Small Fountain. The richest concentration of private houses, five minutes north of the Forum.
- Regio VII — the Forum, the Temple of Jupiter, the Macellum, the Forum Baths, the Stabian Baths, the Lupanar. The civic core, straight ahead from Porta Marina.
- Regio VIII — the Basilica, the Triangular Forum, the Large Theatre, the Odeon, the Temple of Isis. South of the Forum, easy to add to a two-hour walk.
- Regio I — the House of the Menander, the House of the Cryptoporticus, the Fullery of Stephanus, the Garden of the Fugitives. Along Via dell'Abbondanza towards the far end.
- Regio II — the Amphitheatre, the Large Palaestra, the House of Octavius Quartio, the Praedia of Giulia Felice. The far end, by Piazza Anfiteatro.
- Outside the walls — the Villa of the Mysteries, beyond the Herculaneum Gate, on a dearer ticket.
Underfoot: basalt, ruts and stepping stones
The streets are basalt slabs. Kerbs stand a foot or more above the roadway, cart ruts are worn deep into the stone, and stepping stones cross the carriageway so people could avoid what was effectively an open drain. Travellers mention the surface more often than anything except the heat.
Closed-toe shoes with a grip solve it; smooth soles and wheeled cases do not. Bags over 30 × 30 × 15 cm go to left luggage anyway. If mobility is a factor, the Pompeii for All route from Piazza Anfiteatro runs over 3.5 km on a graded surface. The park is honest about its limits — some ramps exceed 8%, and there are sudden drops under 5 cm — but it is a real route, and buggies use it.
Which train reaches which gate is on getting to Pompeii; what each building on these routes actually is sits on the houses and public buildings page; and tickets and hours on the visiting page. Fares are compared on Pompeii Italy Tours.
Sources
The three entrances, the four suggested routes with their building lists, the accessible route and its stated limits, and the site coordinates are published by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Areas and wall measurements are from A Guide to the Pompeii Excavations. Prices and hours change — check before you travel.