baby108

Thanks for the replies to my previous post regarding taking the kids to Rome in Feb. I found a nice deal on Delta airline to fly direct form JFK to Rome in Feb and also a nice centrally located 3 star hotel at 155 Euro for a junior suite for our family so I think I am going for sure the price tag is even better than doing a discounted tour package. Now I have to go and get some more reading material but I have one question for the experts here for now. I want to take the kids to see Mt. Vesuvius and Pompii, is that doable as a day trip from Rome? How about Pisa as a day trip too? Is there a train service we can use ourselves or we have to join a local tour group? I am planning on staying at Hotel Residenza Canali near Piazza Navona which suppose to be pretty close to the train station but I am not sure yet. Sorry to ask the question now without much research yet and I am sure I will ask for more help later. Thanks in advance!

PalQ

Pis, 3.5 hr from Rome by rail is not a practical day trip to me. But Pompeii sure is. It's two hours Rome-Naples, then about 45 minutes by commuter train right to the Scavi Pompeii station right by the entrance to old Pompeii. Pisa however, once you arrive it's still a long slog to the Leaning Tower and a lot wait to get up it. You do have to change in Naples to the Circumvesuviana commuter train that goes to Pompeii Scavi station. At least hourly trains on both links. I'm sure you can get many escorted tours from Rome at about ten times the cost of going on your own. Trains in Italy are dirt cheap.

GAC

1. Rome to Pompei as a daytrip is OK, but its too much to do Mt. Vesuvius as well. One-way travel time by rail is 1 hr. 45 mins. to Naples Centrale, and 35 minutes more for Pompei Scavi by Circumvesuviana commuter rail. Allow at least 4 hours to tour the ruins.

2. Rome to Pisa by train is six hours round trip!

3. Piazza Navona is not exactly within walking distance of the Termini rail station.

ira

Hi baby,

I don't recommend Pompeii or Pisa as a daytrip, especially with kids.

Have you considered Ostia Antica for the historic ruins; Orvieto for the hill town experience?

You can get walking instructions for Pzza Navona to Rome Termini station at www.mappy.com.

baby108

Wow, thanks for the fast replies. If Ostia Antica and Orvieto are much closer, I will difinately look into that as a day trip option. Can I do both of them on the same day by public transportation? Someone else recommanded Pompii to me at another thread but I am more interested to take the kids to see Mt. Vesuvius since the kids love volcano and they had a fun time playing with the special effect with Mt. Vesuvius at MiniEurope in Brussels. We will have 7 days in Rome so can probably do 1-2 day trips.

PalQ

My favorite Rome day trip goes to Hadrian's Villa, one of the finest Roman archaeological sites anywhere. The pleasure palace of Emperoro Hadrian, the ruins, set in a dusty wild environment evoke mystery. Plus you'll learn about Roman depravities such as Hadrian practiced here in his love temples. Short bus ride from Rome, on outskirts of Tivoli, also a great day trip to see the amazing water fountains at the Villa d'Este, built as a lavish country retreat by not-so pious cardinals who lived high off the hog. Can easily combine both. Same bus line, or you can reach Tivoli by rail as well but bus is quicker. Ostia Antica is also a fine, fine site. Orvieto is a fine fine hill town, set on a volcanic plug laced with tunnels your kids may like exploring on tours. Trains take about an hour to Orvieto, ride the funicular up the hill from the station.

PalQ

My favorite Rome day trip goes to Hadrian's Villa, one of the finest Roman archaeological sites anywhere. The pleasure palace of Emperoro Hadrian, the ruins, set in a dusty wild environment evoke mystery. Plus you'll learn about Roman depravities such as Hadrian practiced here in his love temples. Short bus ride from Rome, on outskirts of Tivoli, also a great day trip to see the amazing water fountains at the Villa d'Este, built as a lavish country retreat by not-so pious cardinals who lived high off the hog. Can easily combine both. Same bus line, or you can reach Tivoli by rail as well but bus is quicker. Ostia Antica is also a fine, fine site. Orvieto is a fine fine hill town, set on a volcanic plug laced with tunnels your kids may like exploring on tours. Trains take about an hour to Orvieto, ride the funicular up the hill from the station

PalQ

My favorite Rome day trip goes to Hadrian's Villa, one of the finest Roman archaeological sites anywhere. The pleasure palace of Emperor Hadrian, the ruins, set in a dusty wild environment evoke mystery. Plus you'll learn about Roman depravities such as Hadrian practiced here in his love temples. Short bus ride from Rome, on outskirts of Tivoli, also a great day trip to see the amazing water fountains at the Villa d'Este, built as a lavish country retreat by not-so pious cardinals who lived high off the hog. Can easily combine both. Same bus line, or you can reach Tivoli by rail as well but bus is quicker. Ostia Antica is also a fine, fine site. Orvieto is a fine fine hill town, set on a volcanic plug laced with tunnels your kids may like exploring on tours. Trains take about an hour to Orvieto, ride the funicular up the hill from the station

ssachida

You can't do Orvieto and Ostia Antica in the same day. They are 2 different day trips.
As an alternate to Pompeii or Ostia Antica, I'd recommend Herculaneum. Since the bus to Vesuvius departs from Herculaneum (not Pompeii), it may be possible to combine the 2 if you get an early start. It will, however, be a very tiring day. Remeber that in Feb, Herculaneum closes at 5pm. Not sure about the timing for the buses up Vesuvius though.

ParadiseLost

If you have your kid's hearts set on a volcano , I'd do what ssachida recommended. Herculaneum and Mt.Vesuvius, it would be alot easier than Pompeii. The Vesuvius bus leaves from the Circumvesuviana train station and Herculaneum is only 400m away.
I snipped this from directions I've posted in the past. The complete directions walk you thru right from Rome to the different sites in the area. If you want the complete version either search here or email me (put ROME in the 'subject line'). Regards, Walter
<<<To visit Herculaneum (Ercolano CircumVesuviana station is halfway between Naples and Pompeii on the *same* CV train line-The stop will say "Ercolano" (NOT 'Ercolano Miglio d'oro') also some signs will read 'Ercolano-Scavi' on the platform), exit the station (only one-way out) into the *small* parking lot and the *only* street there (45deg to your right), takes you *right* to the Herculaneum entrance after a 5 min downhill walk towards the Bay of Naples. Impossible to get lost or miss you can see the entrance at the end of the street from just outside the parking lot [audioguides available inside the site, not at the ticket booth and sometimes tourguides are outside the entrance.
There is a cafe/snackbar at the site.
BUS TO MT. VESUVIUS: This is the same Circumvesuviana station as in the Herculaneum directions above.
  I've never taken this bus, I have a phobia about mountain roads esp with someone else driving.
  Exit the Ercolano Station into the small parking lot and walk over towards the right corner of the lot.
You will see a small white sign 'riservato bus-BUS VESUVIO' and a yellow outlined parking space for the bus.
I believe it leaves every couple of hours of so and you *do* buy the tickets from the bus driver. The only street out of the parking lot leads straight downhill to the Herculaneum entrance (~400m).
50m down that street is a round-about intersection and 20m after that on the right is the tourist info office (green sign/gold letters 'UFFICIO TURISTICO'.
They will have the bus schedule printed-out on their desk. Plan from there, either wait for the bus or visit Herculaneum and catch it later.   Or if you are pressed for time the taxi drivers outside the station are always pitching this trip as tourists walk by. I assume negotiate and agree on a price.     Also I've heard that the taxi drivers sometimes claim that this bus doesn't run anymore to tourists waiting for the bus.

baby108

Thanks to those who just gave me more day trip ideas and to Walter's detailed direction to Mt.Vesuvius. But form some photo gallaries on the web, Pompii seems to be a more interesting place to visit with a good view of Mt. Vesuvius and the kids might be more interested in the devastating result of a volcano eruption than to actually climbing the volcano. Unless there are more to see on top of Mt.vesuvius, what do you all think?

Steve_James

Baby - Here's the bus timetable:

Departures from Ercolano
08.30 09.30* 10.30 11.50 12.50 13.50 15.00 16.00*

Departures from Vesuvio (1000 m)
09.35 10.35* 11.35 12.55 13.55 14.55 16.30 14.55

* Services marked with an asterisk run only in summer 1/6 to 30/9

Tickets available from the cafe/bar outside Ercolano station.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

ParadiseLost

Hi Steve, Do you have a link for those Vesuvius bus schedules?
I'd like to put in my Rome to Pompeii, Herculaneum, etc daytrip directions.
If not I'll just 'cut & paste' the schedule in your post.

[In case this post comes up in a search later]
The guidebooks also mention buying your tickets nearby at a newstand/cafe-bar which seeing that is public transport they should definitely have tickets. But also when I was looking at the schedules (Mar'04) at the nearby Tourist Office it said that tickets are purchased from the driver. Regards, Walter

ParadiseLost

[I'm positive that this post posted before I went shopping early this morning and now it's gone? Glad I saved it . Plus I have to keep logging in?]
baby: Pompeii is a complete walled city like a mini-Rome, that you can spend all day exploring.
  Herculaneum is like a very large city block of a smaller city that was uncovered beneath the modern city.
  Because of Herculaneum's smaller size plus it is ~20min closer than Pompeii (so 40min r/t is saved). It is easy to combine Herculaneum with other sites like Mt. Vesuvius or the Archaeological Museum in Naples on a daytrip from Rome.
  Because of the size and the recent closing-off of areas you can do Herculaneum's audioguide tour plus alittle exploring in 2hrs at a slow pace.
  In the longer summer hours it is possible to do both sites with 4hrs/Pompeii and 2hrs/Herculaneum.
  But that's a hectic day in the heat.
  I personally think Pompeii is the best choice for a daytrip, it is a World renowned site.
  But if you wanted to be there at ~10am you would have to leave Rome at 0645. And with 2 young kids you're probably talking getting-up at ~5am .
  Probably better to take a later train and just do a Pompeii daytrip IMO. If you do this later train explore the outer sites at Pompeii 1st (like the amphitheater) and work your way back to the main front entrance half. Because in the off-season they start closing-off the outer sections ~3pm so everyone will be nearer the entrances at closing. Regards, Walter

improbus

I don't know why people would recommend going all the way to Naples to see Herculaneum and not go the extra 1/2 hour to Pompeii. Both are excellent sites. Oplontis is nice, too, but you could never cover the area in one day.

Tivoli is an excellent day trip. take the bus there, visit the Villa D'Este, take the bus down the mountain to Hadrian's Villa, and then bus it back to Rome.

Ostia Antica is an excellent day trip. It's not Pompeii, but different. We did most of Ostia in one afternoon. It's a good way to get a feel for what ancient Rome was like, that you can't get in Rome itself.

You can get to Ostia on the train from the Piramide Metro station. it's a 10 minute walk from the Ostia station to the site. Highlights of Ostia include: the theatre, the many mosaics in the square of the guilds, the underground Mithraeum with its (copy) statue of Mithras slaying the bull, the mosaics of the Baths of Neptune, the insulae (apartment blocks), the graveyard, the tavern, the (ancient) public toilets in the baths near the forum.

And as far as I've ever heard, Hadrian didn't practise a lot of Roman depravities in kinky love temples at his villa. That's probably some tour guide's embellishment to make the ruins more interesting and get a bigger tip.

Tiberius was the fellow who got the reputation for depravity on the island of Capri.

Travelnut

Here are some sites about Herculaneum to help you compare:

http://www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-011.html
http://www.amherst.edu/~classics/class36/usefulres.html
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/P/pompeii/
http://www.kampanien.biz/herculaneum.htm

This site offers info on -both- Pompeii and Herculaneum:
http://www2.pompeiisites.org

Melissajoy

Baby, Pompeii is quite large actually...you need about 4 hours to see Pompeii...therefore it's not a convenient day-trip from Rome. For Vesuvius, your car or bus can only go as far as the parking lot. From there you can't see anything. You then have to walk up to the top of Vesuvius and down to the parking lot again, a total walk of 1 hour.

What we did was make a day-trip out of the whole thing, starting in Rome and sleeping in Sorrento. We got a driver to pick us up at our Rome hotel (plus our luggage), take us to see Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, and drop us off at our Sorrento hotel. We didn't arrive in Sorrento hotel until dinner-time, around 8:00 pm. The total day-trip took about 9 hours. We got a late start because the original driver I had booked myself didn't show up and the hotel had to find us a new driver. We didn't have enough time in Pompeii either...we only ended up with about 2 hours to see Pompeii, which definitely wasn't long enough. Pompeii is large and it takes time to wander about with your map and try to find the main sites.

I do know that if you really want to see Pompeii you can take the trains to Sorrento and stay over-night, and then from Sorrento you can ride the circumvesuviana train to Pompeii, which is a convenient train ride...I think it's less than an hour on the train from Sorrento to Pompeii.

My advice is that Pompeii is only going to be worth the trouble if you have at least 4 hours to spend there. They do sell some pizzas right outside of Pompeii so if you get hungry there's lunch...

I wish we had hired a private licensed guide for Pompeii, and that we'd had 4 hours instead of only 2. I missed all the important sites at Pompeii, and my teens only saw some of them because they literally ran about with their map trying to make it in time!

Nikki

The reply I typed last night did not enter, but it appears when I type another response. I am typing this in the hope that the previous one will appear above it. If it does, please ignore this convoluted explanation.

Nikki

Message: I have gone to Pompeii twice as a day trip from Rome- once with my husband and high school aged daughter and once with my college aged daughter. Everybody thought the day trip was worthwhile. After two hours, my husband and daughter were tired and ready to leave. I agree that you can't see the whole site in two hours, but you can see plenty and have a really good time. We got a late start from Rome, and after taking the train we had to spend an hour dealing with my husband's pickpocketed wallet before we toured Pompeii; otherwise we would have had more time available. If you are only going to Pompeii, and not to Vesuvius also, you can schedule several hours in Pompeii and still be back in Rome for dinner.

baby108

Thank you so very much for all the posts. I think since we will be in Rome in Feb, with the short day light hours, we will just do a day trip to Pompeii and possiable one more to Hadrian's villa/Villa d'Este. With the 2 kids, it won't be possiable for us to leave Rome very early. I think just Pompeii will be a more realistic plan. Thanks to all and I really appreciate all the inputs.