MIN 4 HOURS: Go down Via della Fortuna, pass the house of the Faun** (where the mosaic of Alexander lay, though it and the eponymous dancing faun are both in Naples’ museum) and of the Ancient Hunt**; head down Vicolo del Vettii towards the magnificent Casa dei Vettii**, formerly a luxurious home, with well-preserved columns and gardens and lovely frescoes in situ.
East of the Forum is the Lupanar (brothel)**, with unsurprisingly erotic frescoes. Opposite is the house of the Gilded Cupids and, further along, the houses of Caecilius Jucundus, Silver Wedding*, Centenary* (more erotic frescoes), Marcus Lucretius Fronto** (look out for the hunting scenes picked out in marble) and Marcus Obelius Firmus, with the Porta di Nola and necropolis* (with Obelius’ gravestone) to the east.
From the Lupanar, along Via del Teatri is the entertainment district -- the Samnite gymnasium, where Pompeian youths worked out; temples of Isis and Jupiter Meilichios; triangular Forum (with the remains of a Doric colonnade); large theatre** (a classic semicircle accommodating 5,000 -- look for bronze lettering signifying who occupied each seat); smaller theatre** (with amazingly good acoustics -- see how far a whisper travels); gladiators’ barracks/training ground**; and houses of the Ceii* and Menander** (with very well-preserved frescoes in situ). Backtrack and, from the Forum, head northwest down Via Consolare via the houses of Fabius Rufus and Sallust* (one of the oldest in the city, complete with kitchen and bakery with three perfect millstones and oven), through the Porta Ercolano* and necropolis, past the Diomedes Villa to the House of Mysteries** (a cycle of fabulous frescoes of a young woman’s initiation into Dionysiac rites).
FULL DAY: The remainder is more spread out -- near the Mysteries are the houses of the Lyre-player and Ephebe, laundry of Stephanus*, tavern of Asellina, Thermopolium** (Pompeii’s equivalent of a fast-food joint, complete with masonry counter where food was stored and cooked, and mini-tables for consumption) and Stabiane baths** (the tiling and frescoes are in great shape; the changing rooms now house plaster casts of inhabitants who perished when Vesuvius blew).
Further along Via dell’Abbondanza, towards Porta di Sarno, pass Sotericus’ Bakery, the garum (a fish sauce) workshop (most of its frescoes and mosaics now sadly in the museum, leaving it feeling somewhat bare) and house of magical rites, for the houses of Octavius Quartio**, Venus* (with beautiful frescoes of the goddess in a conch shell rising from the waves) and Julia Felix* (all extensive villa properties with columned walkways around gardens with sculptures and columns, and well-preserved and intact interiors).
Finally, the Amphitheatre** -- a definite highlight. Its enormous auditorium apparently seated 20,000 spectators for gladiatorial and animal contests. Nearby is the green expanse of the Large Palaestra*; its swimming pool remains visible. Lastly, by the Porta Nocera/necropolis* (more tombs, fine gravestones and memorial statues) is the Garden of the Fugitives*, where plaster casts of further victims can be seen where the bodies were found.