Leaving Your Luggage in the Car when visitng Pompeii etc

I'm pretty sure there is a luggage stow place at the entrance gates. I've never used it, but keep topping up your post. Somebody will come by with more information.

When we visited Pompei, we had stayed on the Amalfi coast the day before and visited on our drive up to Rome. We left our luggage in the car. It's certainly not the nicest area, but we did not encounter any problems. Just be smart - put as much in the trunk as possible as to not make it obvious you have a lot of stuff in your car, cover things up, etc.

If youmust par you car with luggge in it ANYWHERE in europe make sure everything is in the trunk - out of sight - before youget to the parking lot. If possible park with the trunk of the car up against a wall.

We've done a bunch of road tripsin Italy and elsewhere and never had a problem - but then I woudn't leave anythng visible in a car at home either.

And take the time to purchase an Italian newspaper or magazine and leave it prominently displayed in the front seat. Looks less like an inviting tourist rental car!

I think the Italian newspaper idea is a good one. Also the luggage stow place.

My car trunk was robbed in Florence, I think because it had an American Forces licence plate. This occurred during the late sixties.

Luckily, the thief didn't know that my car (a 1963? VW sedan) had two trunks. He got into the rear trunk, but not the front.

Hello jersey, I don't know from personal experience as I have only been to Pompeii when staying in Naples.

But here is a website you might want to look at. Scroll down to the July 26, 2008 post for information regarding luggage storage. Best regards and have a wonderful trip.

http://forum.virtualtourist.com/discussion-433669-1-1-Travel-0-0-Pompeii-discussion.html

Hi jersey,

we all end up having to park our cars with luggage in them somewhere!

the best tip I was ever given was to reverse into the space and park as close to the wall/hedge etc. behind the car as possible, so that the tailgate/lid can't be opened from the rear.

Make sure you've got everything out that you need and have put everything else in, before you do this though!

have a great trip,

regards, ann

Thanks everyone. I guess common sense rules to day but the tips regarding the Italian Newspaper and backing the car near a wall/hedge/car will definitely get some use.

When I visited Pompeii 2 years ago, we parked at one of the restaurants across from the Pompeii site along Via Plinio. Each of those places have a guy standing out front to collect your moeny for parking on their lot. I felt that car is pretty secured, and I never worried about our suitcases inside.

Common sense - use beat up luggage. Don't leave stuff visible. Don't leave touristy stuff laying in the car - no maps, travel guides, etc. I like the local language newspaper.

When you park, park, get out, and walk away. Don't make a big fuss over bringing guide books, cameras, etc. Don't yell back and forth in English.

Most importantly, on any trip, be prepared to walk away from any luggage you might have.

"Passport, Amex, plane ticket. Everything else I can buy." Don't let a pickpocket or thief ruin your vacation; chalk it up as a great story to tell.

Pompeii did have free luggage storage at the entrance although I don't see it listed on their website now (nor the info about their bookstore). You could e-mail and ask if the service is still available.
http://www.pompeiisites.org/index.jsp?idProgetto=5&idLinguaSito=2

Be aware that at often you are required to leave the keys in the car at various parkings near the amalfi coast. We never had a problem with this but you would not want to have anything in the car of course if you have to do that. In Pompeii we were at the parking Plinio and we had to leave the keys (and our car was moved when we got back).

forget the italian newspaper 'trick'. i've also read people here recommending the placing of a half eaten baguette in the car in france. would you recommend to us europeans that we put a cowboy hat on the front seat when visiting america? sorry but this sounds really silly.

also, most tourists in italy are italians so if they are after luggage and see a hire car sticker, why would they care about an italian newspaper? but of course, thieves are far more interested in the laptops of italian businessmen/women when they park the car and have a meal than they are in tourists' white trainers, one-piece bathing costumes, and used pants.

most hire cars here in europe are clearly marked as hire cars (ie with the hire company's sticker on the window), thereby rendering this 'trick' useless.

so don't try so hard to be clever...just don't leave anything visible in the car and don't leave anything in the car that would be a disaster to lose.

There is luggage storage at the ruins, we checked it out in Feb, but may be a little bit of a pain to haul alot of luggage inside and I think it's mostly for the train travellers who have to bring their luggage with them. It could be full. I felt very safe in the town of Pompei. They seem to be very concerned about keeping the tourists happy there, I don't think they would tolerate car breakers there. I think it best to put it in the trunk and lock your car.

For the record, we left the luggage in the trunk of the tour. The parking lots seem pretty secure with tourists about all the time. I think a break in would be more trouble to pull off than it would be worth. And Pompeii was great!