A quarter the size of Pompeii and far better preserved: wooden beams, staircases, upper floors and doorways still in place. The best ruin for anyone short of time or heat tolerance.
Pompeii was buried under ash; Herculaneum was sealed by a deep flow of volcanic material that set hard. Carbonised wood, food and furniture survived: beams, shutters, staircases, even a baby's cradle.
The town was a wealthy seaside resort, and its houses show it. Look for the upper floors still standing, the mosaics of the baths and the painted rooms of the House of the Deer.
At the old shoreline, the boat sheds are where some 300 people were found in the 1980s, waiting for rescue from the sea.
Entry is €16, and the site is closed on Wednesdays. It is a ten-minute downhill walk from Ercolano Scavi station, and the Vesuvius shuttles leave from the same town.
Two to three hours, then on to Vesuvius.
Look down over the whole town, 20 metres below today's Ercolano.
Walk streets lined with balconies, wooden lintels and shop counters.
The changing rooms, with shelves and a sea-creature floor mosaic.
Painted rooms and a garden terrace that once looked out to sea.
Finish at the arched sheds where the town's last residents sheltered.
Circumvesuviana from Napoli Garibaldi to Ercolano Scavi, about 20 minutes, then straight down the hill.
Buy at the gate or online; queues are rarely long.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
