Herculaneum Private Tour with an Archaeologist
5

Herculaneum Private Tour with an Archaeologist

By ELIANA SANDRETTI
Recommended by 97% of travellers
97% of reviewers gave this product a bubble rating of 4 or higher.
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A Private Tour of Herculaneum to visit the archaeological site. There will be no other guides besides me and you are guaranteed to be with an archaeological guide. After the experience, you can stay on the site until closing and continue exploring the beauties with the advice I will give you.
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation

Ages 0-120
Duration: 2h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English, Italian
More


  • Archaeological Guide and assistance during the Tour.
  • Specialized archaeological guide
  • Private Tour
  • Main attractions of Herculaneum
  • Taxes
What's not included
  • Entrance tickets (13 euros per person + 2 euros in commissions if purchased in advance or online)
  • Food and drinks
  • Entry/Admission - Parco Acheologico di Ercolano


Start:
  • Archaeological Park of Herculaneum, Corso Resina, 187, 80056 Ercolano NA, Italy
    Meeting point is near to the ticket office located inside the excavations of Herculaneum. After passing through the entrance arch, walk to the only official ticket office in the excavations. I will wear a red badge and a sign "Eliana Sandretti"
End:This activity ends back at the meeting point.

    • Not wheelchair accessible
    • Pushchair accessible
    • Service animals allowed
    • Near public transportation
    If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 282715P4

    • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
    • Most travellers can participate
    • This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
    • This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

    • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

    If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 282715P4

    From
    â‚ą28,101.41
    per group (up to 10)
    Select date and travellers

    Similar experiences

    Itinerary
    • Corso Resina, 187, 80056 Ercolano NA, Italy
      Meeting point is near to the ticket office located inside the excavations of Herculaneum. After passing through the entrance arch, walk to the only official ticket office in the excavations. I will wear a red badge and a sign "Eliana Sandretti"
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      Pass by
      Casa del Rilievo di Telefo
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    About the operator
    Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
    • ELIANA SANDRETTI
      5.0 of 5 bubbles670
      Pompeii, Campania, Italy
      Joined in September 2020
    • sbB5062DI
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Great Tour of Pompeii
      Luciana was an amazing and knowledgeable tour guide. She tailored the experience to our family’s interests as well as providing all of the highlights plus so much interesting background and information. Would highly recommend !
      Written 12 March 2025
    • Caroline M
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Amazing private tour with Roberto!
      Wonderful tour and our guide was very knowledgeable about all of the history. We learned so much more than if we had gone on our own. He had a great sense of humor and made the tour very fun!
      Written 12 March 2025
    • G3433PVdavida
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Best private guide for Pompeii!
      We read many favorable reviews for Eliana and were excited to meet her. She had a personal matter come up last minute and had her colleague Mariagrazia substitute. She was wonderful and so knowledgeable and energetic. Great work ladies! Folks, you will love meeting either of them. Make sure to lunch on site at the small cafeteria under the lemon trees. Excellent!
      Written 11 March 2025
    • 535family
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      A really excellent way to see Pompeii with an expert guide.
      Maria Grazia was the best guide we could have had, and really enhanced our visit to Pompeii. She is an expert archaeologist and gave us so much insight into life in Pompeii, all told with stories and human interest. Her English is outstanding. We had so many questions about everything and she could answer everything. A wonderful afternoon.
      Written 10 March 2025
    • O863NNcamerond
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Amazing experience with a brilliant guide
      We had a great time our guide Maria was absolutely amazing so knowledgeable and very friendly overall a brilliant experience
      Written 10 March 2025
    • 814anthonyy
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Fantastic tours of Pompei and Herculaneum with Archeologist
      We went on tours with Eliana for both Pompei and Herculaneum and could not recommend her more. She is an absolute delight to have as a guide. She is deeply knowledgeable, friendly and dynamic. She works on one of the biggest excavations in Pompeii and has an absolute passion for her job and explaining the context of the sites to visitors. All questions were welcomed and she always had deep knowledgeable answers. Because of her work she was also able to share insights into upcomming annoucements of new finds and discoveries. Not only that but her restaurant recommendations are awesome as well! We could not more strongly recommend her.
      Written 8 March 2025
    • Frank T
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Fantastic experience
      I cannot express our gratitude for an excellent tour. We had our nine year-old daughter with us. The tour guide was very informative and kept it interesting for both our child and us. Hit all the highlights.
      Written 5 March 2025
    • HurryUp1234
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Private Pompeii tour with expert archaeologist - highly recommended!
      Eliana knows Pompeii like the back of her hand. She created the tour based on what we were keen to see as well as what would engage our children. This was such a special experience. We felt very privileged to be shown around by Eliana who not only gave us such an insight into life at Pompeii and the history of the Roman Empire but was also very patient with the hundreds of questions the children threw at her! We all learnt so much and would recommend this over any group tour. It was the best two hour history lesson. Thank you Eliana - an experience we will never forget!
      Written 19 February 2025
    • Explorer44866919054
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Wonderful tour
      Maria Grazia is fantastic. We really enjoyed it. She took us around to some choice spots we couldn’t have found otherwise and told us the stories behind everything (in lovely English)
      Written 19 February 2025
    • michellebM2724NY
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Wonderful private tour!
      Mariagrazia was amazing and so knowledgeable about everything in Pompeii. I highly recommend her to be your guide. It was also very nice to have our own tour guide. She customized our tour for us, we could go at our own pace and she took time to answer our questions and take us to what we wanted to see. She was wonderful!
      Written 7 February 2025
    • David K
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Morning tour that ended too soon!
      Eliana was incredibly knowledgeable and shared so many interesting insights! Her passion for the site is clear. She also led our group expertly around various villas, knowing when to avoid crowds and how to time entry to each one. To see everything, she recommended visiting for three days. I believe there is plenty to see and do in that time—I wished we had had more than just a morning with her. Excellent tour and one of the highlights of our trip.
      Written 24 January 2025
    • Dollface23
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Best tour ever in Pompeii
      This was one of the best tours we have ever been on. We were two families of four. After reading multiple reviews we knew we wanted Eliana to be our guide in Pompeii. We were lucky to have her leading us. She was so engaging, knowledgeable and interesting. Her stories, history and expertise made the day so memorable! Everyone in the group loved the tour! It was so great to hear about all of Pompeii and about Eliana’s life and training as an archeologist. We were very lucky as it was December 31st and there was no excavation work going on so in addition to all of the sections of Pompeii Elisha showed us (including her first project), we were able to see where she worked in an ongoing project. It was so fascinating! Our tour ending with Eliana giving us great pizza recommendations in Naples. Eliana was an amazing guide and human being. We would highly recommend touring with her!!!
      Written 16 January 2025
    • emmapO4530AF
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Amazing!
      We had Maria guiding our tour and she was amazing! So knowledgeable and answered all our questions with passion about the city. Amazing sites and views, it was great
      Written 13 January 2025
    • J4259EPianc
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Family trip to Naples.
      This was an excellent, well organised tour with a friendly and knowledgeable guide. We felt it was good value for money and we would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of visiting Pompei.
      Written 6 January 2025
    • Michele G
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Great experience
      Excellent experience - guide was knowledgeable and entertaining- kept our teens fascinated. Was generous with her time and found less crowded spots. Would book again!
      Written 6 January 2025
    See all 670 reviews
    These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

    Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

    Popular mentions

    5.0
    5.0 of 5 bubbles35 reviews
    Excellent
    34
    Very good
    0
    Average
    0
    Poor
    0
    Terrible
    1

    Bisonrav
    9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Aug 2023
    We took this as a pair with a private tour of Pompeii, also from Eliana's business. We spread the tours over two days, which I recommend, and were greeted by our guide from Pompeii, Luciana, as we breakfasted in a cafe just outside the gates of the archeological site. It's much smaller than Pompeii, but better preserved, so you can see the carbonised remains of wooden items, upper storeys of the buildings, and beautiful mosaics and decorations.

    Luciana was once again a great guide, patient with my 8 yo son who absolutely loved her and grabbed her hand. She was able to bring the history absolutely to life, and it was if anything a better tour than the superb Pompeii one the previous day. The private tour allowed us to move at our own pace, and we never felt rushed or that we were listening to a prepared script.

    So very highly recommended. It's not the cheapest tour, but it's the best way of seeing the site.
    Written 27 August 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    travelhappytraveler
    Los Angeles, CA143 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Jun 2022
    Eliana made our visit extraordinary. Look no further. She is accommodating, kind, and knowledgeable! It is a private tour so you can ask as many questions as you like and she answers expertly and honestly. She cleared up a lot of misconceptions we had about ancient Rome vs it’s southern cities. We noticed she started to tailor the experience to our interest as she sees what you are responding to most. Eliana also knows everyone at both sites since she is actively working as an archeologist there…the staff knew her and seemed to be giving her preferential treatment like jumping lines (or maybe that was my wheelchair) and getting access to sites. We found her to be great at communicating with us in advance and on the day. We arrived and met a huge storm came in…she offered to let us rebook at no cost, but luckily it cleared up by the time we sorted out an alternate time and we were able to carry on safely. Such a memorable experience. We highly recommend her. So lucky to have found her. Eliana is one of the best guides we have ever booked.
    Written 26 June 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Anita CK
    Dublin, Ireland25 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Aug 2021
    We did the Pompeii tour with Eliana and were so impressed with her that we booked the Ercolano tour that afternoon. Her passion for the subject is incredibly admirable, she inspires interest in the archaeological sites. . She is knowledgeable and well able to answer questions in great detail. She was warm, friendly and engaging. After the tour she spent time recommending places to eat and other ideas for the rest of our trip. An absolutely brilliant tour guide, one of the best I've experienced, cannot recommend her services highly enough.
    Written 13 August 2021
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    JonahMH
    London, UK84 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    We visited Herculaneum with Eliana after a fantastic morning spent with her in Pompei. This site is very different but her passion and expert knowledge brought it to life and then some! To understand how an archaeologist works and how dangerous some of the work is to enable the world to discover life as it was nearly 2000 years ago is incredible…….and Eliana still works at these sites to this day, exposing more of this ancient world for us. This personal insight made it all the more special and my wife and I will never forget our day in Herculaneum and Pompei and we’re honoured to have spent it with Eliana. She even gave us tips and recommendations for our visit a couple of days later to Naples which were invaluable for navigating this chaotic and vibrant city, making our Pompei and Herculaneum trip even more meaningful! Invest in booking Eliana - absolutely 100% recommend!
    Written 21 May 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Rajiv R
    Dallas, TX5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Dec 2021
    Throughly enjoyed the tour of the Herculaneum with Eliana. She answered all questions and pointed out a lot of incredible detail that made the Herculaneum come alive. In addition , she helped arrange a tour of the Amalfi coast.
    Written 8 January 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Rudy
    Alkmaar, The Netherlands9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    I intended to go on a small group tour, but could not find any available on this date, thankfully Eliana was available today! To echo the other reviews on this site, being an archeaologist, she's very knowledgeable about Herculaneum and the events around the eruption of Vesuvius. We went through all the buildings and villas and she had answers to all my questions. I happily recommend Eliana as a tour guide for this amazing site.
    Written 29 March 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Robert H
    Calgary, Canada4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Apr 2023
    Francesco did a fantastic job showing us around Herculaneum and truly helping us to understand what life was like for the ancient Romans. He was very knowledgeable and also good about acknowledging when he didn't know the answer to a question. Our only disappointment with the tour is that we couldn't have kept him all day!
    Written 29 April 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    ContessaValhalla
    Valhalla, NY55 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Oct 2022 • Friends
    Our guide made our visit come alive. She not only knew all the history of this buried city but described in detail the everyday life of the people of the times.
    Written 11 October 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    C. Grachek
    17 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Jul 2021 • Friends
    Eliana spends a lot of time explaining the way the people lived, what their activities were, how the city worked and how the citzens perished when Vesuvius erupted.
    Written 23 July 2021
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Sara N
    4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Jun 2024 • Family
    Our tour of Herculaneum was wonderful. Mariagrazia was an incredible guide and my whole family was very happy. She was so knowledgable and enthusiastic, and really brought Herculanuem alive for us. Thank you!
    Written 25 June 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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    *Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

    Herculaneum Private Tour with an Archaeologist provided by ELIANA SANDRETTI

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