Image credits: Inghams
Janice Fuscoe discovers how selling Pompeii can help your Italy bookings explode
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If you need any confirmation that clients are interested in a volcano that erupted almost 2,000 years ago, then the extraordinarily popular ‘Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum’ exhibition at the British Museum last year is ample testament.
Halfway through its six-month run the sold-out exhibition had already hit its original target of 250,000 visitors.
Although the beautifully curated show gave visitors a flavour of Pompeii, a visit to the excavated site is the ultimate experience for clients with an interest in history.
“Pompeii is a fascinating place to visit as it gives a unique glimpse into an ancient world,” says Rosanna Pearce, Cox & Kings agency sales executive. “Everything is so well preserved and by walking among the houses you are transported back in time.” Within easy reach of Naples and Sorrento, a visit to Pompeii fits easily into wider Italian itineraries.
VOLCAN-ITALY
With the brooding Vesuvius as a backdrop, there is scarcely a more dramatic landscape in Italy than that of Pompeii, not least because the eruption that sent a mushroom cloud of gas and super-hot rock 12 miles into the sky buried the entire city and all its inhabitants. Visitors can wander along Roman streets, visit the forum and public bathhouses, admire beautiful frescoes that decorated the villas of the wealthy and be moved by unnerving plaster casts of the victims.
Pre-book a tour for clients, or an excellent audio guide at the site makes it easy enough to explore unaccompanied. It’s worth recommending the Villa dei Misteri as it’s a particularly well-preserved villa with spectacular frescoes, but this is 25 minutes’ walk away from the main site, so clients will need to allow extra time.
When Vesuvius blew its top, the mountain was almost 2,000 metres high. The force of the eruption reduced this to around 1,289 metres, and now visitors can walk around the crater getting spectacular views of the Gulf of Naples. Attraction World offers a Pompeii and Vesuvius day trip from Naples for £94.
Another major, and no less impressive, archaeological site is nearby Herculaneum. On the same day in AD 79, this seaside town was buried to a depth of 20 metres by the same eruption. Items from the site at the British Museum included a loaf of bread with the mark of the baker, a child’s cradle and clothing, which were all preserved by carbonisation. These can now be found on display at the world class Archaeological Museum in Naples, along with examples of extraordinary workmanship, such as mosaic floors, sculptures and paintings and exquisite jewellery.
EASY LAVA
Access to Pompeii is easy; visitors can fly direct to Naples from Gatwick (British Airways), Stansted, Bristol and Liverpool (easyJet) and Birmingham, Manchester and East Midlands (Thomson). The archaeological sites are all linked to both Naples and Sorrento via the Circumvesuviana train line that departs from the main station in Naples and stops at Torre Annunziata where you find the Villa Poppaea, Herculaneum and Pompeii and finishes at Sorrento.
Clients could stay in Naples or Sorrento; both make excellent short-break destinations that can easily be stretched out to a week or more if visitors want to explore the Amalfi Coast and even take a boat over to the islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida.
Naples has accommodation to suit all budgets, from luxury hotels with superb spas, such as Grand Hotel Parker’s, brochured by operators including Kirker and Sardatur, to budget options too; Superbreak features hotels with prices from £43 per person.
Pretty seaside town Sorrento also offers good value and comfortable accommodation. Slap-bang in the centre of town is the reasonably-priced Antiche Mura, a refurbished 19th-century villa with a pool. A favourite with Citalia customers is the Imperial Hotel Tramontano, which has impressive views of the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius.
Families who want to combine sightseeing with sunshine could choose a hotel such as Hilton Sorrento Palace, a four-star with interconnecting rooms, six pools, a kids’ club and a playground, or opt to head a little further away to Eurocamp’s Baia Domizia parc, on the coast north of Naples. It’s 62 miles from Pompeii, but sits on a sandy beach and offers a pool complex, watersports, facilities for tennis, football and basketball and an open air cinema. A week in April in a two-bedroom mobile home starts from £244.
GO WITH THE FLOW
Naples and Sorrento are jumping-off points for the islands of Capri, Procida and Ischia, all of which should be considered for longer visits. Capri is still rather glamorous and offers good shopping; Ischia has some wonderful spas thanks to its thermal waters, and Procida is a pretty and peaceful little island where many of its inhabitants still make their living from fishing. Ferries and high-speed hydrofoils service all the islands regularly during the summer until the end of September.
The iconic Amalfi Coast, known as the ‘road of a thousand bends’, is a must-see for the longer stayer. Clients can either drive the route, or enjoy a day floating around the coast, stopping off in a quiet bay for lunch, a swim and a sunbathe.
