Most Pompeii visits are built around the eruption of 79 AD. This one is built around the ordinary days before it: buying hot food, doing the laundry, going to the baths, shopping at the market. Every description below comes from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii: its website, its list of open buildings, and its easy-read guide "Museo per tutti" (April 2024), made with the park's staff.
1. Ordinary life, not spectacle
The park's own page on the streets of Pompeii sets the tone. It describes Via dell'Abbondanza as a street where "people often stopped" and that "was always full of activity". It calls the thermopolia "a kind of fast-food restaurant", where people could eat a simple meal at the counter or sit in a back room. Seen this way, a few buildings tell you more than a long march past dozens.
2. Choose by access first, story second
Start from what you can comfortably reach. The park's accessible itinerary and its limits are covered in our separate guide, Pompeii for All: plan around the accessible route. In short, it starts at the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance. The easy-read guide's Path 1 also starts there, at the Amphitheatre, and runs past the Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus and the Fullery of Stephanus. It ends at the Piazza Esedra exit, which the guide suggests if you are tired. Path 2 continues to the Stabian Baths, the Forum and the Basilica.
The easy-read guide is a visiting aid, not an access statement. It does not say that each building is step-free. Before you commit to a stop, ask the park's infopoint (+39 081 8575 347) whether it is on the accessible route.
3. What the park says about each stop
| Theme | Stop | What park sources say | Open list, 15 Oct to 15 Mar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eating out | Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus, on Via dell'Abbondanza | A brick counter with round holes where jars of food were kept hot; a painted shrine with Mercury, protector of traders, and Bacchus; gold coins found in one jar | Visible from outside |
| Work | Fullery of Stephanus | A large house turned into a laundry: the old rainwater basin became a washing tub and the roof was used to dry cloth; Stephanus's name is written on a wall by the entrance | 9:15 to 16:20, last entry 16:00 |
| Home | House of Venus in the Shell | A garden with columns, and a painting of Venus lying in a shell with two cupids | 9:15 to 16:20, last entry 16:00 |
| Bathing | Stabian Baths, men's section | Cold, warm and hot rooms, a round cold room with a star-painted dome, and a smaller, undecorated women's section | 9:15 to 16:20, last entry 16:00 |
| Shopping and civic life | Forum and Macellum | The guide says a weekly market was held in the Forum; beside the Temple of Jupiter, the Macellum was the market for meat and fish | 9:00 to 17:00 |
The streets are a stop in their own right. The easy-read guide notes that the paving is the real ancient street and that the tall stepping stones worked as pedestrian crossings. It points out the inscriptions painted or scratched on walls along the way. The park's streets page adds a travertine fountain, dedicated to Concordia and Abundance, just before the Forum entrance. In the Basilica, one visitor complained that the wall had not collapsed "under the weight of such silliness".
Physical demands to check: the guide warns that the stone streets can be slippery, advises spring or autumn and a bottle of water, and the stepping-stone crossings are raised above the road. The guide says there are many ancient fountains with drinking water, a bar behind the Forum, and a rest point at the Casina dell'Aquila. It notes that some toilets are reached by steps. Hours change with the season: check the open-buildings page on the day.
4. Keep to what the evidence says
Pompeii invites storytelling, and much of what visitors hear is invented. The park's own wording is careful, and it is worth keeping that care. The coins in Vetutius Placidus's counter are, as the guide puts it, money the archaeologists think he earned on the day of the eruption. The skeleton with a bag of gold coins found near the fullery's entrance is one the archaeologists "thought" was Stephanus. The House of the Orchard's owners are unknown. No names, conversations or last words are recorded here beyond what the park gives.
5. A guide, or a short list of your own?
| Guided visit | Self-guided short list | |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Context and questions answered on the spot | Your pace, your stops, easy to stop early |
| Ask or check | Which entrance, how long on foot, whether the guide separates evidence from legend | The open-buildings list for the day, and where the exits are |
| Best for | A first visit, or a strong interest in one theme | A shorter visit, or anyone who wants rest stops on their own terms |
For reading a tour description's walking demands, see walking, steps and standing.
6. A shorter route, and an evidence note
- Enter at Piazza Anfiteatro.
- See the Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus from the street.
- Visit the Fullery of Stephanus.
- Stop at the House of Venus in the Shell if it is open.
- Leave by Piazza Esedra, the exit the guide suggests at the end of Path 1.
If you have energy left, Path 2 adds the baths and the Forum, and the Porta Marina exit. Evidence note: building descriptions come from the park's easy-read guide (April 2024) and its streets page. Opening times come from the park's open-buildings page for 15 October to 15 March, read on 26 October 2026. Check before you go. For the port and transfers, see the Naples port guide and the Naples ferry hub.