Pompeii

Not that it's a bad thing, but the ruins and excavations of Pompeii cover a huge area - it was, after all, a thriving Roman port - and, especially if your time is limited, a tour with a fully qualified guide is likely to be the best way to ensure your visit isn't a frustrating one. Your guide will be a local, fully-qualified Pompeii tour professional, guaranteed to give you the level of archaeological and historical detail that a trip to Pompeii merits.

Tours last around three hours and you can pick your preferred start time, from 9.00 AM up until mid-afternoon. Again, your tour group will consist of only you and your party, the guide will just be showing you around, no mixed or large groups, and this is reflected in the price, clearly. Should there be any queues on the day then you'll be skipping those - the included tickets are skip-the-line ones.

So, you'll be personally escorted around the ancient city, visiting such highlights as the Forum, the House of Menander, the Lupanare brothel, the thermal baths and the much-photographed series of plaster casts that poignantly reproduce the frozen-in-time bodies of the many victims. A far from exhaustive list would look like:

• Marina Gate
• The Forum and Forum baths
• Lupanar (brothel)
• Temples of Venus, Jupiter and Apollo
• The House of the Faun
• Bakery
• Teatro Grande
• The Odeon (smaller theatre)
• The Triangular Forum
• The House of Menander
• The House of the Tragic Poet
• The Sarno Baths
• Termopolium Capuano
• Plaster casts

It's a cliché, yes, but a trip to Pompeii is a walk through history, a step-back to an often incredibly well preserved society, a chance to stroll through Roman family homes and municipial buildings, often ornately decorated with frescoes and mosaics.