Bus to Sorrento and train to Pompeii is simple and cheap. But you are correct that the bus could be packed in both directions. The train starts from Sorrento, so it will start out with fewer passengers and pick up more at each stop. On the return trip to Sorrento, the train will probably be crowded but become less so after several stops.

My concern with using a driver is that you'd only have two hours in Pompeii. That may be enough for you, especially if temps are high, but we spent an entire day there on our first visit. The place is just fascinating.

You can take some of the buses from Positano to Meta (35 minutes) and then the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii Scavi (20 minutes). That's faster than taking the bus from Positano to Sorrento which takes an hour. On the way back, you might need to take the bus from Sorrento. Check the schedules as not all buses stop at Meta. Page 2 is the departure schedule from Positano Sponda and page one the returns. Last morning bus to Meta seems to leave Positano at either 8:45 or 9:10 (G=daily, F=Mon-Sat).

http://www.sitasudtrasporti.it/public/tpl/campania/5070.pdf

Thank you so much for the information. I will look into schedules and pricing. At that stage of the trip, I think we'll be trying to cut costs somewhat, and knowing the bus/train is easy is a relief!

I took a private driver in 2005 and he was great. His website is www.seesorrento.com We actually went from Rome for a couple hours on our way to Positano and stopped at Pompeii on the way. I think that amount of time did it justice. We also went to Ravello on a day trip the following day. Ravello is very quant and charming but I dont think it is unique enough from Positano to warrant a separate stop there.

Several years ago, we took a boat to Sorrento from Positano, then the train to Pompeii. Much preferred a boat to the crowded bus we took the next day to Amalfi!

Don't seem to be too many services left on that route nowadays...

I imagine that fares on the heavily-subsidised 'Metro del Mare' choked off the Coop Sant'Andrea people - who've long been showing only this:

http://www.coopsantandrea.com/it/servizidilinea/servizi_b.asp?id=19

... and, at present, the Alicost line's noon departure from Positano may be about the best there is...

http://www.alicost.it/content/?id=6

.. leaving otherwise just the bus, or a vehicle of some sort?

Maybe look into having a driver simply take you to the site (or even only as far as Sorrento)... which ought to cost well less than half that 4 x €40 - and then afterwards return by train to Sorrento, either for the SITA bus or maybe the Alicost line's 3PM sailing back to the AC... which ought to be a nicely scenic trip, with its brief stop at Capri along the way?

Peter

FWIW, the Sita bus stop in Sorrento is just outside the train station there. If you take the ferry around the peninsula from Positano to Sorrento, you'll walk uphill through town to the train station.

I like Peter's suggestion of taking bus/train or driver *to* Pompeii and the boat on the return...

Just remember, when you take the Circumvesuviana train, you want the Pompeii-Scavi station, which places you just outside the archeological site. There's another Pompeii station that's in the current town center, a mile or so away from where you want to be.

I have done this a number of times. The bus/train option is very simple, as many have stated, and much less expensive.

Although the SITA bus leaves for Positano from the Circumvesuviana train station, it does not drop you off there when going from Positano to Sorrento. For some reason they make you get off downtown at Piazza Tasso. It is a simple 5 minute walk to the train station from there. This may have changed since the last time we did it last year.

If you opt for the bus/train option catch the bus a the low stop on the east side of Positano to increase your chances of getting a seat. On the trip home get off at the high stop, west side, to enjoy the view and the walk down.

Whether going downhill - as it would be on the way "home" - or up, I'd use:

http://www.unicocampania.it/index.php?lang=en&center=inside&colonna=primopiano&action=dett&id_primopiano=25

However there's little chance of getting off at the wrong station; neither of the other two with "Pompei" in their name are on the Sorrento/Naples line... the orange one that's shown on this map of the town:

http://www.unicocampania.it/files/mappe/pompei.pdf

Peter

I'm planning our honeymoon for the Amalfi Coast (end of April, 2013) right now and came across this post which was extremely helpful for planning a day trip to Pompeii. We always tend to stick with public transportation wherever we go and love it so the bus/train option looks great and straight foward.

I wanted to ask if anyone knows if it's possible to also go to a winery in the area? I saw quite a few organized excursions but they cost around 500 euro and it's a bit out of our price range.

I would like to go early to spend the morning in the ruins and the afternoon at a winery. I saw that Vesuvius Winery is not too far, would it be possible to take a taxi to and from the winery? Or do they only do tours with set tour companies? Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

"I saw that Vesuvius Winery is not too far..." Are you sure that's the name of the winery/vineyard? Where is it exactly? If it is, in fact, located southeast of Mt. Vesuvius, then I'm sure a taxi is possible. Whether it welcomes 'walk-ins' is a question you should direct to the winery.

Where will you be taking this day trip from?

You may not be as blown away by Pompeii as we were, but FWIW we spent an entire day there on our first visit and didn't see everything.

Lastly, here is a list of wineries in the Naples area, and you can follow links to each winery's website and contact info. I have no idea how complete the list is.

http://www.wineweb.com/scripts/search3.cfm/_/Italy/_/Campania/Napoli/

>>>I saw quite a few organized excursions but they cost around 500 euro and it's a bit out of our price range. <<<

Where are you staying on the coast? You should be able to book a wine excursion at the local tourist office much cheaper than 500€.

There is a great little winery in Furore which is a short ride along the coast from Positano http://www.marisacuomo.com/