Pompeii or Ostia Antica? We can only see one. Which do you recommend and why? Thank you!!!! :-)?

Question

Pompeii or Ostia Antica? We can only see one. Which do you recommend and why? Thank you!!!! :-)?

Answer 1

Pompei... is great, unique, it was the coolest city 2000 years ago and you can see it now too... you can find great fresco and Villa dei Misteri is the best one!!!! great...i heard that Bill Gates built an house on this villa(but I'm not sure...)

Answer 2

Pompeii definitely. It is the clearest source we have of the Roman civilization and is thrilling to see in person. Ostia is also excellent but nothing compared to the scale of Pompeii.

Answer 3

It depends on what you want to see.  Pompeii is iconic, one of the neatest places you can visit.  You will see houses and statues and mosaics and wallpaintings that you will see in books and travel documentaries forever.  However, a lot of items (statues, mosaics, etc) have been moved from Pompeii to the archaeological museum in Naples.  If you want to see a typical, working class city, go to Ostia.  A great theatre, lots of homes, temples, etc.  The one difference is less wall paintings in Ostia.  But, there are less crowds at Ostia and less guards, so if you have children with you, I think Ostia is a better option (lots of old ruins to climb around and on...).  It doesn't have the "wow" factor of Pompeii, but it is a great Roman town.

Answer 4

Pompei is surely better, but you have to expext to see a provincial art and architecture. Ostia was nearer to Rome, but it is not well conserved as Pompei.

Answer 5

It depends on where you will be in Italy.  If your hotel is in Rome, Ostia will be easier to get to.  It is about 30 minutes outside of Rome.  Pompeii is about 3 hours from Rome by train.

Pompeii is better preserved than Ostia since it was buried for centuries, but you get to see a Roman city at either site.  

Enjoy your trip.

Answer 6

I'm Italian! Pompei, no doubts!

Answer 7

I have been to both and Pompeii is hands down the winner. Ostia is a nice seaside town with some ruins of the ancient port, but Pmpeii is a perfected preserved ancient city form Rome 2000 years ago because the molten ash preserved the structures. And then there's that great view of the volcano, Vesuvious.