Photo: Photochrom Print Collection (Public domain)

Premium · Walking Tour

PompeiiBrought Back to Life

Walk the streets of a city frozen in time. GPS-triggered narrations play automatically as you explore — from the Forum to the Villa of the Mysteries.

Hear a sample narration
Already purchased? Continue your tour → ⤓ Download for offline

81 narrations, yours to keep — no subscription, no expiry. Works offline once downloaded, and if it isn’t for you we’ll refund it.

Going somewhere with no signal? Download on wi-fi before you set off — keep the screen open while it saves — then add it to your home screen so you can find it again. It works in airplane mode, with no roaming charges. Show me how to save it →

81 narration points ~4 hours audio Full ancient city
Verified Sources

Where the facts come from

Every claim in this tour traces back to a named source — excavation records, the heritage authority for the site, and the primary texts themselves. Nothing is copied from other guidebooks, and anything we can't source doesn't make the recording.

  1. 1

    Built from the record

    Each stop is built from OpenStreetMap (the field-surveyed mapping database behind Apple Maps), Wikidata (peer-reviewed structured records), the heritage authority below, and the primary historical texts where they exist.

  2. 2

    Checked against the authority

    Cross-referenced against Parco Archeologico di Pompei · Italian Soprintendenza, continuous excavation since 1748.

  3. 3

    Anything unsupported is cut

    Every sentence is checked against those sources before it is recorded. If a claim can't be traced, it doesn't make the audio.

  4. 4

    A person signs it off

    Every tour is reviewed by a person before it goes on sale. Stop selection, the route and anything ambiguous come back to the editor for a decision, and those questions routinely send a stop back for another accuracy pass. Nothing publishes on a machine’s say-so.

Spot anything inaccurate? Email [email protected] — fixed in the next pass.

The Tour

Every street. Every story.

🏛
The Forum & Civic Heart

The political and religious centre of Pompeii. Temples, basilicas, markets, and the public spaces where citizens gathered, traded, and worshipped.

15+ narration points
🏠
The Houses & Private Life

Step inside the homes of Pompeii's wealthy and ordinary citizens. Frescoes, mosaics, gardens, and the details of daily life preserved under volcanic ash.

25+ narration points
🎭
Entertainment & Streets

The amphitheatre, theatres, baths, and taverns. The streets themselves — ruts from carts, stepping stones, election graffiti still on the walls.

20+ narration points
Highlights

Stories buried for 2,000 years

The Alexander Mosaic
House of the Faun · 2nd century BC

Over 1.5 million hand-cut tesserae depict Alexander the Great defeating Darius III at the Battle of Issus. The largest and finest mosaic surviving from the ancient world.

The Frozen Fugitives
Garden of the Fugitives · 79 AD

Thirteen plaster casts of victims caught mid-flight. A family huddled together. A man shielding his face. The ash preserved the exact moment of death.

The Election Slogans
Via dell'Abbondanza · 79 AD

Painted campaign ads still visible on the walls. "Vote for Lollius — he brings good bread." The world's oldest surviving political advertisements.

The Oldest Amphitheatre
Amphitheatre · 70 BC

Built over a century before the Colosseum, this is the oldest surviving stone amphitheatre in the world. It seated 20,000 — nearly the entire population of Pompeii.

The Secret Frescoes
Villa of the Mysteries · 60 BC

Life-size frescoes depicting a mysterious Dionysiac initiation ritual. Scholars have debated their meaning for over a century. The pigments are still vivid.

The Lupanar
Pompeii's Brothel · 1st century AD

The only purpose-built brothel identified in Pompeii, with explicit frescoes above each doorway that may have served as a menu. Stone beds with no mattresses.

How It Works

Walk. Listen. See what they saw.

1
Open the tour

Tap "Start Walking Tour" and allow location access. The map shows all 81 narration points.

2
Walk at your pace

Follow the suggested route or explore freely. GPS tracks your position. Reach a site and the narration plays automatically.

3
Hear the stories

Each narration connects what you can see to the people who lived, worked, and died here. History as it happened, not textbook summaries.

What You Get

A companion who knows every ruin

📍
GPS-Triggered

Narrations play when you reach each site. No buttons, no track numbers. Walk naturally — the stories find you.

🎤
Studio-Quality Voice

Premium narration that sounds like a documentary. Warm and knowledgeable, not a textbook reading.

📚
Fact-Checked Twice

Every narration is drafted, cross-checked against primary sources, then passed through a second editorial pass that strips unsupported claims. Dates, names, and citations verified.

🗺
Interactive Map

See all narration points on the map. Tap any point to hear it early or replay it later.

🏛
81 Sites

The most comprehensive self-guided audio guide for Pompeii. Major landmarks get deep dives. Smaller ruins get concise, vivid narrations.

Your Own Pace

Spend an hour or a full day. Skip sites, revisit favourites, take breaks. The tour adapts to you.

Common Questions

How it works

It’s not just GPS — what are the ways to trigger a narration?

Three ways, all built in:

  • GPS-triggered (default): walk near a site, the narration starts automatically.
  • Tap any marker on the map: open the map view, tap any of the 81 markers to play that narration on demand — no walking required.
  • Queue controls: pause, skip, replay any narration; the queue auto-advances as you walk.

The map-tap option means you can stand anywhere — even at home before you travel — and play any narration. GPS just makes it hands-free while you’re actually walking the site.

Do I need cell service or data while I’m there?

No. Use the “Download for offline” button before you go, and the entire tour — audio, maps, narration text — works without any data connection. Tap-to-play and the map both work fully offline. GPS itself doesn’t need data; only the download does.

How do I make it work with no signal — and open it again later?

Add the icon first, then download from the icon. On iPhone a guide downloaded in Safari cannot be seen by the home screen icon, so downloading first means downloading the whole thing twice.

  1. Tap Download for offline above. It opens the guide.
  2. Put that page on your home screen — steps below.
  3. Open the guide from the new icon and download it there, on wi-fi. Keep the screen open until it finishes.

Putting it on your home screen — iPhone or iPad (Safari):

  1. Tap the three dots at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Tap Share.
  3. Scroll down the list and tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.

On Android (Chrome): tap the three-dot menu at the top right, tap Add to Home screen (some phones say Install app), then confirm. On Android either order works.

If you opened this link from inside Instagram, Facebook or Gmail, you are in that app’s built-in browser. It cannot add anything to your home screen, and a guide downloaded there is thrown away when the app closes. Open the link in Safari or Chrome first.

What if my phone’s GPS is unreliable?

Two backstops. First, the map shows every site — just tap the marker for the place in front of you. Second, you can manually queue any narration even when GPS is off. The platform never assumes GPS works; it’s the convenience layer, not the gate.

How long is the tour and how much time do I need?

The audio runs ~4 hours audio total, but you walk at your own pace. 81 narration points across the site. Most visitors take 2–4 hours; some spread it over multiple visits. Once you buy it, it’s yours — there’s no expiry and no subscription. Come back next year if you like; the link in your receipt always works.

Can I share with my partner or family?

One purchase covers one device session. Most couples share earbuds and use a single phone — the audio is paced for that. If you want everyone listening on their own device, each person needs their own purchase. We do not gate sharing aggressively; we trust visitors to do the right thing.

What if I never use the tour, or never make it to the site?

Full refund if you never trigger a single narration on-site. Partial refund based on how far you got. See the refund policy for specifics.

A city frozen in 79 AD
81 narration points. Every street, every ruin, every story.
Already purchased? Continue your tour → ⤓ Download for offline
More tours by Traviis

GPS-triggered audio tours for heritage sites worldwide.

The App

Coming to iOS and Android

Offline tours, downloaded narration, the whole library in your pocket. Join the waitlist at traviis.ai.