Want to visit Pompeii/Amalfi in a day trip - Possible?

You take a train to Naples and change to the local train to Pompeii. Another option is the Marozzi bus which leaves Rome Tiburtina station at 7 am and arrives Pompeii at 10 am.

We did that trip using a guide/driver from DriverinItaly.com. At Pompeii we hired another licensed guide to show us the city. The day was spectacular, though not inexpensive.

Enjoy your trip.

You can get from Rome to Pompeii fairly easily as above, and if you arrive at Pompeii at 10am, you'll need 4 or 5 hours to see everything. If you cut it short, you'll regret it.

If you leave Pompeii at 2 or 3pm, you'll need a further hour and a half if all the connections work, to get to Positano. This takes you to 4pm ish.It will go dark by 5pm and you'll see very little of the stunning views on the coast road.

If you hire a car, you might just see a little of the road, but you won't be back in Rome until 9 or 10pm at the earliest.

I think Hmmm's suggestion is a good one,trying to do this trip by public transport is difficult and with 2 toddlers in tow I would say near impossible.
The public buses from Sorrento down the Amalfi coast are very small and very very busy with usually standing room only.
I sure you know your own kids but I think the lenth of journey would just be too much for the very young ones.The older ones will love Pompeii,but remember it is a vast site,a small town in fact and some of the more interesting parts are a good walk away from the main forums.

Hi
You need to take the first train to Naples. Go to the lower level- Take the smaller local train " Circumvesuviana" - Not covered under Eurail pass. Buy tickets on the station.

Pompei is about 30 to 40 min.
Sorrento is the last stop which is 1 hour.
Bus from Sorrento to Positano will take 90 min.

But to tell you frankly, these places are to be experienced leisurely in the italian way, rather than zooming past them.
If you stay at Sorrento, Capri Island with its blue grotto is a day trip and another trip to Positano, would be the best.

I would skip pompei for Capri.

Having two 2-year olds in tow makes this trip a bit difficult with public transportation, and I don't recommend trying to do both Pompei and the Amalfi Coast in one day out of Rome. I would choose one or the other. But do you think it makes sense to take the two toddlers to Pompei?

If you do choose Pompei, you could take a Trenitalia IC, ES or AV train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale (80 minutes to 2 hours), then connect to the Circumvesuviana commuter train (follow the signs and arrows to the underground platforms) to Pompei Scavi (40 minutes). The Pompei ticket office is 250 yards from the Pompei Scavi station.

If you choose the Amalfi Coast, you could take a Trenitalia IC or ES train from Roma Termini to Salerno (2.5 to 3 hours; select a train which does direct and does not require a connection in Naples), then connect to the SITA bus directly outside the Salerno station, for a 75-minute bus ride to Amalfi. You could then either proceed by SITA bus to Positano (30 minutes) and Sorrento (100 minutes), or return to Salerno. If you choose to travel to Sorrento, you would then need to take the Circumvesuviana train back to Naples (65 minutes), and then another Trenitalia train back to Rome.

A NOTE ABOUT FARES: Between Roma Termini and Naples, the fastest train (AV) costs double the IC train. In brief, going to Naples, you pay 40 Euros on the AV, 30 Euros on the ES or 20 Euros on the IC per passenger. Travel to Salerno does not cost much more, and there are only direct IC and ES trains to choose from. However, children under 12 travel at HALF FARE, regardless of the category of train selected.

The Circumvesuviana commuter train from Naples to Pompei costs 2.40 Euros per person, each way. From Sorrento to Naples, the Circumvesuviana train costs 3.30 Euros per person, each way.

A 24-hour ticket on the SITA buses along the Amalfi Coast, called the "UNICO COSTIERA" (from Salerno all the way to Sorrento) costs 6 Euros per person. You can takes as many buses as you wish during the 24-hour validity of the ticket, but only along the Amalfi Coast (between Salerno and Sorrento).

This information should help you calculate the costs of the trip using public transportation.

www.ferroviedellostato.it (trains between Rome and Naples/Salerno)

www.vesuviana.it (Circumvesuviana commuter train between Naples/Pompei/Sorrento)

www.sitabus.it (SITA buses along the Amalfi Coast)

http://www.sitabus.it/sitabus/campania/orarioCAMPANIA/QUADROXV.pdf

Any further questions?

You can also save more money on the Trenitalia trains by asking for the "Tariffa Familia" (Family fare, valid for up to 5 persons travelling together), where children between 4 and 12 pay 50% and all others over 12 get a 20% discount. Because there are six of you, the "Tariffa Familia" can be used as follows:

You, your husband and your 16-year old each get a 20% discount

Your 11-year old gets a 50% discount

Your two toddlers travel FREE (because all children under 4 ALWAYS travel FREE, with or without any special tariff).


http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=d50025ef095ba110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

Now, calculate your travel costs using these discounted fares.

Lifeman is right. You cannot realistically do both stops in one day on public transport. Our journey took about 14 hours, and we had summer daylight to assist.

Our 11 year old girls, though curious about much, were underwhelmed with Pompeii(though they were burning with curiosity about the structure their parents saw -a brothel-that our guide wouldn't show them).

Thanks all for your advice and information. We have traveled extensively with all our children and have had very long days in the past. We've used the stroller as their bed away from home. I didn't realize that visiting Pompeii would be all that difficult. I will do a little more research. I expected touring Pompeii would take about 3 hours.
It looks like we'll take the train to Naples and then onto Pompeii.
I'll look into a driver to go to Sorrento. This part may not happen.
However, I have been drawn to Pompeii since I was in highschool and believe the experience is not to be missed since we are so close. Thanks again!

You'll have a big problem in Pompei with the strollers, unless they have HUGE wheels. That's because of the irregular pavement with Roman stones!!! Umbrella-type stollers, which are wonderful for train travel, won't work in Pompei. That means taking the heavy-duty stroller on the train with you!!! At Napoli Centrale, you may have to take the stairs down to the underground level for the Circumvesuviana commuter trains (and back up on the return trip). The escalators may be out of service, and I don't know about elevators. Just so that you're forewarned ..... and prepared!

Put the twins in backpacks instead of strollers for Pompeii?
Our kids LOVED Pompeii - we stayed basically all day. They were 7 and 11 the first time and, 9 and 13 the second time.

Well, I already had an idea about stroller issues and I am right now researching strollers. We have a jogging stroller. It would work great but it's very HEAVY....
I'll keep looking... thanks.

We spent a little over 3 hours at Pompei with three children, albeit a touch older - 16, 14 and 10. It was enough for us. Mind you it was brutally hot. I agree with GAC - a stroller would be very difficult.

Because of the shorter days, I agree with the people who say hire a driver for the day. I guess you could catch the first train from Rome to Naples, then hire a driver from there. We've used Carmine Foggia (seeamalficoast.com) several times and recommended him to friends and everyone thought it was well worth it. I think I only spent about 2 hours in Pompeii with my teens, it was hot, so that was all we could take. Of course you wouldn't see it all, but you would definitely get a taste of what it's all about. Amalfi coast is beautiful, if you get as close as Pompeii, you should really continue on and see it. Beware, although the trains in northern Italy run like clockwork, the trains from Rome south are notoriously late.