Pompeii or Herculaneum with kids??

Originally planning on spending our one day in port in Pompeii. However, I am hearing that there may be more benefits of spending the day at Herculaneum. We are traveling as a family of 4--kids are ages 11 and 8. Both would be very interested in the sites, especially the 11 year old. However, we will be visiting during summer (heat!) and have heard that Herculaneum is less exhausting. Do any experienced travelers think one would be preferable to the other? Thank you in advance for your insight!

Herculaneum probably is less exhausting -- because it is a lot smaller. But you don't get the sense of being in a complete Roman city like you do in Pompeii. In Herculaneum you will just see houses and baths. In Pompeii you see the forum (the center of life in the city) with its market, temples, and open square. You'll also see the amphitheatre (one of the first built in stone in all of Italy; older than the Colosseum), theatre, more complete baths, and all types of houses from modest to a complete villa (on the town outskirts).

If that's not enough, only Pompeii has the body casts of the victims of the eruption.

Thank you! We definitely want to see the body casts! Sounds like they would enjoy Pompeii more, which is what I originally thought.

I also think the kids would get more out of Pompeii. It will be hot in both places. Pompeii has more of a sense of awe about it in my mind. You probably won't go wrong either way. Both are impressive. But I'd cast my vote to Pompeii.

We took our children at young ages to Pompeii and they did fine.

Yes it was hot.

We had a rule though at that age.

No tour greater then four hours and one day we skipped touring.

Touring in the summer can be hard for the adults and even harder for the children.

Key is to think through the amount of touring and balance it with other things.

Keith

I would also favor Pompeii for the complete city experience.

I have to say that Pompeii was one of the biggest surprises of my life. It is absolutely huge. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the reality exceeded it. My kids, ages 7-13, enjoyed it immensely.

Consider getting a guide. We were able to skip the line, and then we learned so much about what we were seeing. Much more than if we'd just walked around looking at old buildings. And because it is so large, the guide was able to help us hit the high spots without a lot of wandering around, which was perfect for the kids.

Go early before the intense heat of the day. Hats, sunscreen and water will help. My friend took a small spray bottle with water. Ingenious!

Agree with the votes for Pompeii. Also agree to take a break from touring with kids but my experience is kids are less impacted by the heat than adults. Hydration is key of course but they are usually resilient in high temperatures that melt adults especially if older or heavier.