I know it is a cliche to start a review like this, but I really don't normally review sites like this. However, on this occasion I felt I simply had to warn people about the aspects of this park which are completely misleading in most of its advertisement. I was really excited to visit this park with my family , especially for the tomb of archimedes and the Greek theatre but as much as I hate to say with sites that should be as fascinating as these, the management of them left me really disappointed and in some respects a bit angry.

The first issue was getting in. We accidentally came in through the lower gate rather than the clearly intended Upper one, and it was pretty confusing to figure out where to go. Obviously this was not the fault of the park but even having reached the top the queue was unnecessarily slow and confusingly shaped. Then, when we reached the front there were some very strange rules around ids buying tickets which took a while to figure out. Normally I would ignore these as fairly minor issues, but I feel this is a situation of death by a thousand papercuts.

Once in, the first thing on the itinerary - according to the parks own outdated map - was Archimedes' tomb. However this was entirely closed off for unexplained reasons and, based on other reviews here, seems to have been for a while without the park having adjusted its marketing or ticketing for this at all. Carrying on we came to the caverns, one of the more positive parts of the experience, and dionysius' cave was pretty impressive in fairness.

Next we walked to the Greek theatre, which transpired to be by far the most genuinely anger inducing part of the trip. The monument itself is - I assume - genuinely impressive in size and preservation quality; however we were entirely unable to see it. The whole thing has been completely covered by a modern concert venue, which I can only hope is temporary, and is now not only not open to view but even this venue seating is closed of from walking for visitors. There was absolutely no warning this would be the case when buying the relatively expensive tickets and no attempt to adjust price for it. Worse still, some parts appeared - from the distance at which I was forced to stand - to have had concrete paths riven through them, a much more permanent act of essentially cultural vandalism. It seemed to me, that the management of this park has short sightedly cashed in as much as they can on the world heritage sights they have but will do significant damage to these monuments long term. It was this experience which motivated me to review, as the main sight advertised is covered and inaccessible with no warning.

Lastly came the roman temple and amphitheatre, which were much more visible than the Greek theatre (albeit a low bar), although even they had fallen into some level of disrepair having quite a few weeds growing unchecked up through them. We were also only allowed to walk around the edge of the amphitheatre despite clearly having been accessible for walking inside at some point in the past - again, without explanation or warning.

Lastly, as much as I hate to say, the staff were also a bit rude and aggressive at times. I understand they are likely fed up of dealing with confused tourists who don't speak Italian all day in the extreme heat however some of their behaviour was just not okay. The ticket seller at the entrance was blunt and almost shouting at points, and my sister was shouted at twice for her confusion when trying to leave the paid toilets. This aggression is certainly not helped by the unnecessarily confusing signage.

Overall, some really genuinely beautiful sites spoiled by disorganised, incommunicative and, in the case of the Greek theatre, actually quite distasteful management.