Walking the ruins in Pompeii and Herculaneum
While I was in Naples, one of the first things I did was to spend a full day in Pompei and then a full day in Herculaneum. Pompei is huge, and you do really need a day to see it. To be honest, if you like history and like taking your time - I would consider spending two days for Pompeii. A word of advice here - get in early to avoid the long queues of tourists from the cruise ships or coach trips. Also, take your own drinks and snacks with you, as places to eat and drink are limited.
Pompeii is superb, and the scale is vast. Its overwhelming at first as you really don't know where to start. There are three entrances to Pompeii: The west entrance near the train station, the main southern entrance and the eastern entrance. The south entrance is the busiest... As you come through the entrance, don't forget to pick up a free map - as you really do need a map to work out where to start and where to finish.
Herculaneum is around 10km to the north west, and where Pompeii has scale, Herculaneum has beauty and intimacy. In Pompeii there are still lots of originality, but in Herculaneum there are still many buildings with their rooves and their heavily muralled inside walls. And because the coaches don't stop here, its also quieter so you can walk around and not feel rushed. There is also a small museum with some beautiful artifacts.
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