...of tourist groups can be found throughout today's ruins of ancient Pompeii.

The best time to visit Pompeii is past "Peak Season". That was when this image was shot. There are far, far fewer people in the Fall than during the Summer Months. Plus the baking sun and heat are also not quite as brutal. Nevertheless, no matter what the Season, there still remain tons of tourists wanting to see-it-all in just an hour or two. And an incredible number of large tour groups. "Off Season" was busy enough, but IMHO Peak Tourist can be a nightmare for those who don't like being crushed in crowds. I am one.

Because the lighting was better for photography, my friend and I fortunately decided to go in the opposite direction from the unending steam of organized tour groups. Very wise idea!!! Thank you Mother Nature. Pleasantly off the beaten track, we encountered few other people during our 10 hours at Pompeii. Thus,we were able to serenely linger over things that caught our interest; which was almost everything we saw. VBG. If you factor out the crowds, Pompeii is amazing.

Nevertheless, from time to time, we did see the wall-to-wall sea of tour groups in the distance. We also got caught in between the hords while visiting the City's Main Brothel. My goodness!!! Everyone was pushing and shoving, and it was hard to tell which tour group was which. There just were so many! Pushed along by the crowds, we had to go through the Brothel a second time to get even a glimpse of more of what we wanted to see. Being an independent traveler allows you this luxury. However, I wasn't up to braving the crowds a third time to really soak in even more details. We decided to again break away from the main stream attracting the tour groups.