Pompeii (and Athens): Hired Guide vs Podcast

[sandhills1972]

I know Rick Steve's has many podcasts you can download. In general are they equivalent to hiring an actual guide? We're particularly trying to decide this for Pompeii (and Athens; I realize Athens isn't an Italian port) -- whether we should spend the extra money to pay a "real" guide, or if we will learn just as much from the podcasts.

 

Is Rick Steve's Pompeii podcast as good as or better than the audio tour you can rent at Pompeii?

[junebug2011]

I am also debating these two options, particularly for Pompeii. There are 4 of us traveling together and aren't sure if a guide is worth it. Anyone with insight? Thanks in advance!!

[cruisemom42]

The Rick Steves' podcasts are meant to be used in their entirety. For Pompeii, he chooses a specific route through the ruins and you have to follow his itinerary.

 

The Pompeii audioguide is more complete. You can choose where you want to stop and listen (you select the appropriate number) and where you want to simply look for a minute and move on. It covers more.

 

I'm not as familiar with the Athens options. I find Rick to be a little light on history in general though. He gives great step-by-step directions on how to get somewhere but I actually prefer to rely on a guidebook that gives more details once I get to the site. For me, a good guidebook of this type is as good as a guide; however, some people prefer having someone talk to them rather than stopping to read. (I actually like the latter.)

 

It also depends on your interest level. I've heard a couple of people say that they got a guided tour at the Acropolis but found it to be TOO detailed. (That I cannot imagine for me, but not everyone has my interest in history.)

 

You've got to weigh what you think is best for you. For example:

 

Casual interest in Pompeii --> Rick Steves podcast or guidebook

 

Do it yourselfer but with more interest --> Pick up Pompeii map, detailed free brochure, and audioguide at the entrance and take your time exploring the site

 

Interested in site but have little background in history, likes to ask questions --> consider a guided tour

[chipmaster]

Guide versus podcast / book all comes down to information versus experience.

 

Between a few books and a good poodcast you can get almost all the history and details.

 

When I've had a good guide that has both the raw facts/history and trivia and than can answer your questions or just spin a story is part of the real reason sometimes to see the sights in person and what makes it so memorable. Of course I've had some guides that were less than above average and than wonder why I spent the money...

 

If you are tight on money than you get the facts and 90% of the stuff from that, but experience / interaction only you can decide how much that is worth to you. I am one that have enjoyed the experience of people even the average ones who aren't so good at the question/answer and trivia.

[Keith1010]

You will get more from a guide particularly as you have questions.

 

If it was me I would use a guide in Pompeii for your first vista.

 

Keith

[Cornishpastyman1]

I am also debating these two options, particularly for Pompeii. There are 4 of us traveling together and aren't sure if a guide is worth it. Anyone with insight? Thanks in advance!!

Cruisemom42 sums it up perfectly. I was part of a family party of 6 with varying degrees of interest in Pompeii, and knew that I could only have just over 2 hours there, so rather than hire a guide that we couldn't make full use of (frustrating for both the guide and me) I used Rick Steves' podcast and took the others round. This more or less shows where Rick 'guides' you

 

His podcast is light and breezy and the children in our party enjoyed listening to it ahead of the visit. But had I been alone I would undoubtedly have used a guide and also this great 'template' from Cruisemom http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1609893&highlight=pompeii and spent at least half a day there.

 

And it was a similar story at Athens where we did this

 

If time and money are an issue you can do a very decent job on your own at both places I'd say, but to really drill down you can't beat a good guide.

 

All the best, Tony

[texancruzer]

I agree with Keith. We have been to Pompeii twice now and used the same wonderful guide both times.

 

There are a few reasons......

 

1 The site is massive..... and so much of it looks alike. It would be hard to know what building was used for what.

2 Time constraints - only 2 hrs give or take means that you need to use your time wisely and not backtrack. On your own it is hard to know how to hit all the good spots in a limited timeframe

3 Can't ask a podcast or audio phone a question when you have one (I had a million !)

4 Instead of just getting cut and dry dates/names/etc.... our guide gave us interesting tidbits and stories. She told us how the people lived in the city which truly brought it alive for us

 

Those are my thoughts on Pompeii.....

 

For Athens we did it on our own both times we have been there. Very different experience than Pompeii.

[ducklite]

We had a guide at Pompeii and I'm glad we did, it's HUGE and the guide pointed out a lot of things that Rick Steves misses or glosses over.

 

We also had a guide in Rome at the ruins who was AMAZING and we wouldn't have gotten 25% out of what we did otherwise.

 

The Acopolis was a kerfuffle for us due to the elections, so we had a limited time and no guide. Next time we'll absolutely hire a guide and I'm sure walk away with a lot more understanding of what we actually were lokoing at than we did.

 

If you have a decent amount of time, hire a guide. If you've only got an hour or two, use a guidebook--except in Pompeii, there you really kind of need a guide.

[cruisemom42]

I agree with Keith. We have been to Pompeii twice now and used the same wonderful guide both times.

 

There are a few reasons......

 

1 The site is massive..... and so much of it looks alike. It would be hard to know what building was used for what.

2 Time constraints - only 2 hrs give or take means that you need to use your time wisely and not backtrack. On your own it is hard to know how to hit all the good spots in a limited timeframe

3 Can't ask a podcast or audio phone a question when you have one (I had a million !)

4 Instead of just getting cut and dry dates/names/etc.... our guide gave us interesting tidbits and stories. She told us how the people lived in the city which truly brought it alive for us

 

Those are my thoughts on Pompeii.....

 

For Athens we did it on our own both times we have been there. Very different experience than Pompeii.

 

I'm not arguing that there are good reasons to have a guide, especially if you have questions, as I said....

 

But it is also possible to get a good idea of how people lived by reading some of the very good books available on Pompeii before visiting. A couple that I can recommend are:

 

Pompeii (Robert Harris, fiction) -- A "detective story" set in the last few days before the eruption of Vesuvius -- very well researched and accurate, and lots of detail on how people lived, plus a great read.

 

Pompeii (Mary Beard, nonfiction) -- Although it's nonfiction, Beard is a lively writer and she debunks a lot of things that people "think" they know about Pompeii.

 

Also, if you are visiting Pompeii on a weekend, there is one house in particular (House of Julius Polybius) that is only open on Saturday and Sunday for one tour each day; it has sort of a room by room audio/sound/light show that focuses on the people who lived there. More info on how to visit this house is in the post I made on getting the most out of Pompeii (cited by Cornishpastyman, above).

[junebug2011]

Thanks, everyone! We only have 2 hours in Pompeii, so we want to make sure we see everything without back tracking like texancruiser said. And, knowing my cruise mates, I doubt much pre-cruise reading/preparation will be happening, so that might just seal the deal for getting a guide!!

[cruise kitty]

We used the RS audio tour for pompeii, the one draw back was that certain areas were closed when we were there (a large area was roped off & closed) which left us a bit flummoxed as to how/where to go to get to the next part of the tour, luckily, someone nearby us was having the same problem & we helped one another find the next site. I don't think you can compare having a private guide to using one of his podcasts, they are great & free & we've used pretty much all of them for greece & italy, but if you want personalized in depth history, hire a reputable private guide, if you just want to sight see & be on your own, the pod casts are great... combined with a good guide book they work for us.

[sbt518]

If you are going to take the train to Pompeii not as part of a tour where do you get a guide?

 

Or do you have to hire a tour so that they provide a guide?

[cruisemom42]

If you are going to take the train to Pompeii not as part of a tour where do you get a guide?

 

Or do you have to hire a tour so that they provide a guide?

 

You can hire a guide at the main entrance to the site. They will be happy to provide a tour just for you (and your group) or alternatively will sometimes get a small group together to split the cost. The going rate for a 2-hour tour is about 100-120 euros; this is fixed -- in other words there is no "per person" price, but rather a "per tour" price.

[Zukini]

We used the Rick Steves podcasts for a number of sites during our trip in 2011, including Ostia Antica, the Colosseum, the Foro Romano, and the Acropolis in Athens (among others). While they were ok, we found them a little slowly paced.

 

A bigger problem, especially for larger sites like Ostia, the Forum, and the Acropolis, was that if you wandered off of his specific route to see something that caught your attention, we found it to be difficult to get "back on track". In the future, we'll probably elect to rent one of the "play by numbers" audio guides that are available at the many sites.

 

I agree with some of the other posters...if your time is very limited, a live tour guide can help maximize your time at the sites.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

We did a ship tour of Pompeii and we ditched her and arranged to meet back at the bus. I personally don't like moving at a snail's pace through hot ruins in a huddle. Once we broke free we went at our pace and really enjoyed our time there. In fact, had we not had time constraints I could have spent another hour there- even in oppressive heat.

 

If you want to DIY- buy the guidebook (10 Euros) across from the cameo store. This one shows you before and after pictures and I really got an idea of how it had originally looked. Where you buy the tickets you can get an audio guide headset. That would be the way to go.

[texancruzer]

We did a ship tour of Pompeii and we ditched her and arranged to meet back at the bus. I personally don't like moving at a snail's pace through hot ruins in a huddle.

 

Agreed with a ships tour you have a BUNCH of people and have to wait for the slowest of the slow........

 

I think this thread is mostly referring to hiring a private guide or at least one that is formed at the gate (usually just 10 people)

 

We had a private guide and I guarantee we did not move at a snails pace !!! We have used this guide twice now and the second time she made sure to show us all new stuff even tho the other couple we were traveling with had not been to Pompeii before. We covered a lot in 2+ hours. I have used audio tours before and for some sites they work .... but here there is so much and it tends to start looking the same. And to top it off our guide was constantly showing us buildings and telling us what they were and how they were used and these were not marked (to coincide with audio tour) Point is - with a guide you can ask questions too..... I drove her crazy with mine I'm sure ;)