This day-long, small-group excursion to Pompei begins in the early morning at Termini Station in Rome, where our group catches a high speed train direct to Naples. We sit in the comfort of first class for the one-hour-twenty-five-minute trip. We meet our docent and car and driver at the Central Station in Naples and head up to the Pompeii archaeological site, another 20-40 minutes, depending on traffic.

 In Pompeii, our scholar will take the group on a 2-3 hour walk through the site, discussing the history of the city and the excavations. We will try to depart the site by 1 pm and transfer to Naples (by car) where we will have lunch in a small, non-touristy restaurant in the city center, followed by a short (one-hour) walking tour/stroll through the center, poking our head into a few churches and discussing the history of the city.

 We finish our tour of Naples with a visit to the extraordinary collection of Roman artifacts in the Archeological Museum of Naples, where we will find a wealth of the pottery, sculpture, and architectural materials taken from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other ancient cities on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius. Many consider the Naples Archaeological Museum to be one of the most important museums in all of Europe; certainly it is an invaluable component to a visit to Pompeii, providing a counterpoint to everything we see there. We will return to Rome by train in the evening.

 Note: The cost of this tour does not include tickets to Pompeii (11 Euros per person) nor tickets to the Archeological Museum of Naples (9 Euros).