I don't think anything can quite prepare you for visiting Pompeii. The site is so large that it's overwhelming at first and it's hard to know where to go and what to see. After a couple of hours of exploring, it all starts to make a bit more sense and you get a sense of how the the urban design is laid out.

I guess it's like every time you arrive in a new city - it takes a little while to get your bearings.

Pompeii is the kind of place where a guide or an organised tour would actually be really useful. I didn't have one and I regretted it by the end. But, having said that, there was also something really nice about being able to wander and explore such a vast site by myself.

If you're thinking of visiting yourself, I've put together a map of Pompeii with highlights based on what I discovered when I spent the day there. I hope it is useful to some people.