pompeii dilemma

[katiekate]

Problem: I really want to go to Pompeii. Originally I was going to start in Milan and then work my way down to Sicily. I've since ditched Sicily in favor of adding Gimmelwald and Berlin. Therein lies the problem. I want to fly to Rome and then travel north. However it seems Pompeii is south of Rome and I've been told its a looooong day trip to take. Any suggestions on how I could work it into my plan? I had my itinerary worked out perfectly with 10 travel days (the five countries w/ten days pass) and now its messed up I guess I'll have to add another travel day... But would it be a considerably better idea to spend the night in Sorrento or Positano for my visit to Pompeii. But then I think I would do my six days in Rome. Train to Sorrento; stay the night. Get up bright and early to go to Pompeii. Then Train from Sorrento to Cinque Terre (Naples-Rome 2hrs; Rome-La Spezia 4hrs). But that would give me a long day of traveling regardless. Maybe I should just do the day trip from Rome? I am flummoxed.

[pointofnoreturn]

I've done a combined daytrip (Mt. Vesuvius/Pompeii) from Rome. It was a long day for sure. We decided to save money by taking the cheap train out of Rome (10.50 euros), meaning to get into Naples at a reasonable time, we left Rome around 6 AM, getting there around 9 and returning to Rome around 9 PM. Worthwhile but if I had a choice to do it again, I'd take the fast train instead.

[madamtrashheap]

Jul 9, 2008 12:25:41 GMT -5 katiekate said:

But then I think I would do my six days in Rome. Train to Sorrento; stay the night. Get up bright and early to go to Pompeii. Then Train from Sorrento to Cinque Terre (Naples-Rome 2hrs; Rome-La Spezia 4hrs). But that would give me a long day of traveling regardless. Maybe I should just do the day trip from Rome? I am flummoxed.

PONR's information on taking the day trip is worth considering as it will fit better into your plans. The note you make about staying in Sorrento o'night is a good one, but only if you plan to spend time in Sorrento/on the Amalfi, otherwise it's much better to go with PONR's suggestion. If you do stay o'night in Sorrento, then go up to Pompei, there's no need to take the train back to Sorrento and then on to Naples to continue north as Sorrento is south of Pompei and Naples is north of Pompei (ie Pompei is in the middle of the two) and the train station for Pompei is just near the archaeological site entrance plus has trains direct to Naples (Circumvesuviana).

[jessus]

Well I'll note again that I'm still at the planning stage of my trip (as in, I've never been yet!), but I'm getting the same Railpass, but I don't plan on using Rome-Pompeii (via Naples) as a travel day, because it's just so cheap! I plan to pay it separate from my pass, because it is worth it to use my travel days on more expensive trips...

[nickolt]

While I havent done Pompei as a daytrip from Rome, I did stop at it for a few hours when I was on a whirlwind school trip to Europe a few years ago. All I have to say is that I think it would be worth the long day everyone says it is. It was amazing, so if you really want to see it, I think you should just accept that youll be tired at the end of the day, but you'll have seen something really incredible. I plan to revisit the site when my boyfriend and I go to Europe for two months next year. Granted, we are doing it as a day trip from Sorrento, so it will be a much easier day for us than you, but I really think you should go and see it, especially cause you seem to have an interest in the site anyways. Besides, when you look back on your trip, youre more likely to remember the awesome place you saw, than how tired you were, or how much your feet hurt right !?! And even if you do remember that, you still did something many many people have never done or seen. Just look at it that way =)