That is a terribly full day. I suggest that you not rent a car and take the train to Naples, switch to the circumvesuviana to Pompeii, spend several hours there, return to Naples for the museum and pizza. Sorrento is a fine place to stay if you are visiting the Amalfi Coast but is not, IMO, a destination for a "few hours". You will use a lot of the day just getting to your various destinations, finding parking, etc. Enjoy Pompeii and the museum. The pizza in Naples is great.

I agree with mamcalice: Loved Pompeii and I really enjoyed Naples. The food is Naples is great. Sorrento is absolutely breath taking and certainly deserves moe than a few hours.

You don't want to drive in Naples. If you rent a car, you will have to factor in tolls, gas, parking in Rome, parking in Naples, etc.

You should be able to book discount tickets on Trenitalia. Try your dates and see if mini fares pop-up. Select round trip for Rome/Naples. I entered a random date in March with an early AV train (22€ mini fare) and a late ES train (14€ mini fare). There weren't any late AV trains.

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=c79686605528a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

Good advice above.

Of the treasures removed from Pompei, almost all the best - bar those looted and hidden in private collections, or off on exhibition elsewhere - are in that museum, and much of what you'll see whilst at the site itself are reproductions...

One example.. http://www.pompeiviva.it/pv/en/mosaicoalessandro.htm

For some idea of the wonderful things they've got there, you might try these...
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/nap_archaeol

(Hopefully the site will be fixed, and you won't get the "The database server is rebooting and will be back in about 10 minutes" message that I'm seeing!)

Or here...
http://museoarcheologiconazionale.campaniabeniculturali.it/thematic-paths

Not everything is likely to be available on any given day, however the only galleries still closed for work at present are the one housing the contents of Pompei's Temple of Isis, and another with Campania's collection of Egyptian artefacts (of which there are better to be seen in the Vatican, if you've time whilst in Rome!).

...............................

But can we just check what you think you've seen offered for trains - I wonder if you asked for those going to Pompei?
If you did, then that was the wrong question - as the "Pompei" station that those would go to is off in the town centre, and not the one next to the archaeological site...

Here's what you should have seen for the early morning weekday selection... do none of those work for you?

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/132357095/original

Personally - and we live within sight of the place - I'd not bother with having a few hours in Sorrento, and particularly not that early in the season, but once people get these ideas in their heads.....

... although you might try offering him his choice of this lot, in Naples, instead...
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/mainlynaples

Peter

PS - for the train journey's second stage - getting from Naples to Pompei Scavi, see....
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/through-naples-to-sorrento-or-pompei.cfm

kybourbon - I put in our travel date and I didn't realise that after selecting trains in both directions, the fares can be cheaper than first displayed. I can't buy these online because my credit card is Australian. Are these fares available a few days in advance by going to Termini? In that case we will certainly take the train (as we'd planned before finding the fares too high).

A_Brit_In_Ischia - Unfortunately the Vatican museum will be closed on our weekend in Rome. It is open on our day of arrival so I will try to catch an early train in.

The discount available with the Mini fares tends to tail off as the travel day approaches - here's one I prepared earlier, for going in the other direction tomorrow, and there's now only a tiny saving on the base fare...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/132355859

Indeed, at €9 it's perhaps so small as to not be worth risking the offer's main penalty - that of the ticket being worthless if you simply miss the train?

Better maybe, if you can, to catch one of the ICs, at 07:08 or 07:39, which cost only 20 Euro or so to begin with?

Peter

PS - I know it's not Egyptian, but just in case you don't make it to the Vatican....
For something you'll rarely see elsewhere, you might be interested in the Villa Giulia's collection of Etruscan stuff - the scant remains of a people who were displaced by the Romans, after providing several of the city's first kings..

No photography allowed inside, so I can't offer anything better than this reconstructed temple, in the grounds...
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/64451175

and the Wiki entry..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Etruscan_Museum

Your profile says you are in Germany now?

I would have to agree with everyone above. I was just there in November and I did the morning train from Rome to Naples and then to Pompeii and spent about 6 1/2 hours there alone and then went and checked in at the hotel I had in Naples for the night and then walked to the Archaeology Museum (a short walk) after that. Now, I am quite the ancient Rome fan and that's why I spent so much time in Pompeii and I still didn't get to see everything the place had to offer either. The museum was great but they did have a lot of things off at an exhibition so I didn't get to see all of the things they had to offer. So, with all of that, it was a FULL day to say the least.....I would recommend doing Sorrento by itself or even Pompeii by itself and then the next day doing the museum and Sorrento. Hope that helps and you'll LOVE Pompeii too......

kybourbon - Yes I live temporarily in Germany. I have the best internship ever but the pay isn't great, hence the budget trip. At the end I have to go all the way back home to Australia so I want to see as much as I can on my trip.

rywith22 - We only have four nights in Rome, so three full days plus whatever we can make of the day we arrive. One day is to see the city, one for the Vatican (and more of the city) and the last day for Pompeii.

I will tell my friend I want to go by train and just do Pompeii and the museum like our original plan. He ended up texting me again saying that he really wanted to rent a car (which would not be affordable unless all three of us went together) but now that I know about the mini-preis deal I want to try my luck with my credit cards on the Trenitalia site.

Also I will be in Italy for about a week before this trip so I can get the tickets as soon as I arrive, if I can't get them online. Is the availability online the same as in-person? It seems like it should be except I've read a few posts elsewhere about the Italian train system being rather sneaky with pricing.

Here are the Trenitalia agents in Germany, if the online purchase doesn't work. If one is near you, perhaps you can get the mini fares there.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=8a7ae1f8279ca110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

Sarah,

Be aware that you need cash and exact change at the Archeologial Museum. They cannot give change. Also, most of the exhiits are labeled in Italian only, if at all. You should definitely get an audioguide to make the most of your visit.

I found the mezzanine level (with all the mosaics) the most interesting!