MyPompeii: what the official app does, and the alternatives

MyPompeii is the free official app of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. It is worth installing for what it does well — official information tied to your ticket — and worth not relying on alone. Here is what it offers, the problems visitors keep reporting, how to avoid them, and what to carry as a backup.

What MyPompeii does

• A map of points of interest with descriptions, opening hours and photos, plus park services.
• Suggested visit routes and current exhibitions.
• Audio guides for adults and for children, unlocked by signing in with your ticket.
• Your ticket’s QR codes kept in the app.
• Content in Italian Sign Language.

Without a ticket you can still browse the points of interest. The audio needs the ticket: scan its QR code or barcode, or type in the order number.

What visitors complain about

The App Store reviews are mostly negative and repeat the same points. Read them as reports from other visitors, not as a verdict — the app is updated regularly and some issues may be fixed by the time you go.

• The map needs a data connection, and inside the excavations there is almost none.
• Audio stops when the screen locks, so the phone has to stay awake.
• Constant GPS drains the battery over a visit that lasts several hours.
• Reaching the audio guides takes too many steps, and typing the order number is fiddly.
• Some places with audio numbers on site have no matching entry in the app.

How to make it work

• Install it, sign in with your ticket and download every audio track at the hotel, on Wi-Fi.
• Take a screenshot of the park map, or pick up the paper plan at the entrance.
• Set the screen to stay on longer, and bring a power bank.
• Test one track in airplane mode before you leave the hotel.

Alternatives

The rented audioguide at the Porta Marina, Piazza Esedra or Piazza Anfiteatro entrance — €9 for an adult, €5 for a child since March 2025 — needs no phone and no preparation. Rick Steves Audio Europe has a free English walk through the main sights; it works offline but has no map of where you are. A licensed live guide answers questions and keeps a group together.

Tessera is the alternative built for the problem the reviews describe: the audio, the photos and the plan of the city all download before you go, the plan shows where you are with no signal, and the stories keep playing with the screen off. It covers 73 places in eight languages, with three timed routes. It does not replace your ticket, and it does not do what MyPompeii does with it.

Updated 2026-10-28