kalex

dear baby108,
my husband and i just returned from Italy. you're going to have a blast! i can only reply to your question concerning Pompeii. The trip is doable in 1 day. the trip by bus for us was approx. 2 hours. good luck!

Steve_James

Hi Walter,

Sorry this is late - I only just noticed your question.
Here's the link I found ...

http://www.uniplan.it/pompei/azienda/azien_11.html#12

... BUT I'm having second thoughts about it's validity now.

The link says the service starts at Pompei and picks up at Ercolano 30 mins later - but I'm not sure that's true any more.

I have a copy of the Ercolano-Vesuvius timetable which I picked up in Sorrento 5 months ago - and that makes no mention of it starting from Pompei.

It lists 6 departures a day, at

08.30
10.30
11.50
12.50
13.50
15.00

I'm not sure if this is valid all year or summer only.

The service operator is 'Trasporti Vesuviani' but I can't find a company website to confirm.

Sorry not to be of more help ...

Steve

SandyMerm

If what you have to work with is a day trip to Pompeii, than you will have a wonderful time and your kids will love it. I am not a big fan of the guides as their information is bit questionable and often outdated. I would use the audioguides & make sure you hit certain highlights. I would head to the suburban baths first (as they are close to the entrance & close early) the other baths are also interesting as is the ampitheater, gladiators barracks, the lupanare, any thermopalae, the fullonicaand any house you can get into, particularly the Villa dei Mysteri and the necorpolis. The official site of the Archaeological superintendant of Pompeii (& the nearby sites of Herculaneum & Oplontis) offers various itinieraries depending on how much time you have so that would help you prepare ahead of time. Oplontis is very close (a couple of stops on the Circumvesuviana & the very lush villa of Popppea, Nero's second wife) if that interests you). The website is http://www.pompeiisites.org/database...f?OpenDatabase

aquadigio

I have some questions. Who can help me out. (I'm trying to visit Mt Vesuvius + short visit Pompei)

a) I take the earliest train Roma 6:45 and arrive in NAPELS 9:30... First question -< where do I take the Mt Vesuvius bus ... do i need to travel further by train ??

b) I'm thinking 9:30 Napels, extra train 10:30 and arrive Mount Vesuvius around NOON 12o clock .... walk about and visit it until 14h30 -->

c) time left .... I need to catch the last train Napels about 20o clock so I would be back in Rome around 22o clock.

Do I have time enough to go from Vesuvius to Pompei and from Pompei back to Napels 14h30 --- 20h00

d) If I leave Pompei at 19o clock I would be back in Napels on time.

Leaves me 14h30 --- 19h00 (travelling from Vesuvius to Pompeii (eg. 1 hour 30 minutes ?? arrive Pompei 16h00 = 3 hours visiting)

I know it is very speeding and stressy, and I have about 1 hour of extra time I think the final train is 21h napels, so I think I can make it ?

ROME 6h - NAPELS 9h - MOUNT VESUVIUS 12h- POMPEI 16h - NAPELS 20h - ROME 22h

Think the calculations are intresting for the people that also want to catch both places in 1 day --->

What I need is :

a1) TRAIN NAPLES -> ????
a2) BUS VESUVIUS

b1) BUS BACK TO TRAIN and travel further to POMPEI ??

somebody can provide links and opinions

aquadigio

ok find something more
a) train Rome - Napoli
b) train Napoli - Ercolano-Scavi
c) bus Scavi - Vesuvius
-----
d) bus Vesuvius --> ERCOLANO
Is there a shortcut ERCOLANO - POMPEI? Or do I need to go back to Napoli for catching train Napoli - Pompei
-----
e) What hour is the last train NAPOLI-ROMA ? 21h00-23h00 or 22h00-00h00 ??
-----

aquadigio

HEY ! I think I found it MOUNT VESUVIUS IS 12 MILES AWAY FROM POMPEI ??? Can we walk along the former ashes ? Follow the old lava stream logic thinking ....

I think If I visit Mount Vesuvius and do the walk AT FOOT To Pompei I gain all the waiting time for connections back and will see a lot more ?!

WALKInG FROM MOUNTAIN -> POMPEI ????

Or would you start in POMPEI and walk to mountain (think with opening hours it's logic)

a) napels 9h
b) arrive Mountain around 12o clock
c) visiting up to 14o clock and starting to walk to pompei

arrive in pompei by evening 14h-19h
======================================
= 5 hours time, to walk from mountain to railway Pompeii and catch the beauty around the path ?? any thoughts
=====================================

take train back to Napels 19h-20h

and then back to rome 20h-22h

Postal

I don't know if driving is an option for you, but we drove from Rome to Pompeii in less than two hours. Also drove partway up Vesuvius afterward.

nnolen

aquadigio,
i don't think walking from mount vesuvius to pompei is really an option. As far as I know, there aren't any trails, etc. to get from one place to the other.

I'd take the bus back down to Ercolano, get back on the Circumvesuviana train and go straight to Pompei. You do NOT have to go back to Naples. It's about a 20ish minute ride between Ercolano and Pompei.

Logistically, however, I think you are going to find it a bit difficult to do both things in a day trip. I personally would focus all my energy on Pompei and really take my time and enjoy it.

aquadigio

Thank you for the valuable information. I'll keep you updated afterwards how and what I did. Can be intresting for the other visitors.

Anyway will do some more research that I don't get lost

tcreath

I've done both Pompeii and Ostia Antica as day trips from Rome. I thought both were great. Pompeii is about 3 hours from Rome but if you leave early and return late, you should have more than adequate time to see the ruins. They are more than worth the hastle. However, having just done Ostia last week, it is something you should definitely consider. While it isn't as famous as Pompeii, the site is very large and not as touristed as Pompeii. While I personally thought Pompeii was a little bit better than Ostia (plus you get glimpses at the beautiful coast while on the circumvesuviana), Ostia is still great and less than 1/2 hour from Rome. We did it in the morning (it opens at 9:00 am) and made it back to Rome for a midafternoon lunch. Both are great but if you are short on time or are hesitant about the long ride down to Pompeii, Ostia would be a great and perfect substitution.

I do have one suggestion if you are going to Ostia: We transfered to the Rome Piramide station to get to Ostia, and while there we decided to walk outside the station to the street and saw the piramide. Just past the piramide is the old city wall. If you walk up to it, there is a small museum within the city wall that is free. While everything was in Italian, it was still really interesting and I highly recommend it. We were the only ones in the museum, and from reading the guest book I don't think a lot of foreigners visit so its kind of off the beaten path, which makes it even more interesting in my opinion.

Cassandra

Found this info very helpful (just to reinforce the idea that these posts aren't just for the original poster).

Is there any reason to think that going on a Sat. or Sun. will mean more crowds or less crowds or we may find something closed?

aquadigio

yeah thanks dude but I'm limited to 2 times 24 hours LOL so it must be
24hours Roma+Vatican
24hours Vesuvius+Pompei

(other intresting point/visit seems the worldfamous Blue Grot in Capri (you need to take boat to reach it)
logic thinking yes more people in weekends, but not that it will make such a big difference.

thought i have read that a lot of museums are open on sunday and some (vatican?) even free on sundays... you should check this one.

anyway for the train travellers :
1st train Rome 4:57 -> 6:30 Formia
Formia 6:37 -> 7:52! Napoli

last train back :
Napoli 21u46 -> 00u42 Rome

Will sure do the Vesuvius in am and visit Pompei in pm. (no problem if you don't have children)

*** Btw is there a lot of nightlife in Roma Capital ? Or is it dangerous at night? Think about wandering around an entire night to take the most of the short trip.. .. *** I also read there is a 24/24h shopping centre in the gare termini, can sb confirm this...

I did own research and found out that Napoli is rather maffia and dangerous city, thatz the reason I take the earliest train (instead of taking the last train and spending night in Napoli)

[btw about the daytrip for the ORIGINAL POSTER ---> I take the SLOW TRAIN = 3 hours instead of the ES (eurostar) = 2 hours) It costs only 10 EURO instead of 22 euro (single trip one person)

2 persons 2 trips = 4 x 11 instead of 4 x 22 (that can already count imo)

for me the slow train is better, since I will try to use the train to catch some sleep instead of sleeping the entire night (is foolish to be back at 1o clock and get up at 5o clock)

*** the trip to Pisa is 6 hours by train

about the trains, just buy the tickets at the same day, just before you leave, no panic dude, I didn't book anything just my flight. All trains seems no problem. Be careful in Napels is my opinion

aquadigio

so my question was : is Rome dangerous to spend an entire night to VIEW (not visit) some ruines at night and stuff...

can i suddenly find myself in a lugguber (dangerous) neighbourhood.