Paestum

The Paestum archeopark has a museum and a large outdoor area of Greek and Roman ruins. It is 7 euros for admission to both and it is worth dedicating an entire day for exploration. On either side of the museum there are restaurants to suit all pockets, the most upmarket is the Ristorante Nettuno which is in a beautiful setting.

The site was occupied by three different cultures before changes in the landscape led to the area becoming a malaria ridden swamp. The city was then abandoned and was only rediscovered in the 1900's. The first occupiers were Greek sybarite colonists, rumored to be hedonists fond of luxury and wealth. The barbarian tribe known as the Lucanians were next and then finally the Romans who did some serious remodeling of the elegant Greek city.

Paestum is 2 hours drive from Pompeii and it has Greek ruins and 3 Doric temples that are very well preserved: Temple of Neptune, Temple of Hera I and the Temple of Ceres. Besides the temples there are still some houses and cobbled streets, but most surprising is that from the outside they look pretty good without paying for entry. I paid the 4 euros for entry and calmly strolled among the ruins, you can admire the splendor of ancient temples and their impressive height. The best of these ruins is that they are so well known and people were just visiting them.