Hello all!
I'm looking for any advice on taking a day trip from Rome to Pompeii.? Modes of transport and prices would be greatly appreciated!
I will only have a few days devoted to this portion of my trip and am not sure if this is worth the time and effort but would really love to see the site if possible. Thanks in advance!

peculiar name, but who am i to comment?

about pompeii...3 hours away from termini to napoli centrale.around 25€ return. then another local train to pompeii (circumvesuviana train) in a smaller station 200m from centrale. 3€ return. this is half an hour trip takes you by vesuvius.if you start at 8am you will have 3-4hrs to tour pompeii before it gets dark.if you are interested in pompeii it will be worth it.

We went to Pompeii with a private guide and driver in October of 2003. While not being particularly economical, we really maximized our time and felt that we really saw Pompeii. We went with Liz, a guide from Scala Reale, and shared expenses with another gentleman. (Liz found the gentleman to share with us- I think that kind of thing happens frequently and really helps with the price.) I think our half of the fee was @350-$400 dollars. We were gone a full twelve hours and stopped at another excavation site on the way. We were in a very nice stretch Mercedes. Liz was extremely knowledgable; brought along books and pictures and prepped us on the way. We figured we would probably only have one opportunity to visit Pompeii, so it was our splurge of the trip.

I priced out that tour with Scala Reale for my family of four in June and it looked like it was going to be over $1000. Too rich for my blood. But it does sound really great.

It is SO worth the effort, but the time you need there does depend on how interested you are in ancient Roman history. Six hours wasn't enough for me, but three is surely plenty for some. You may also want to visit the museum in Naples either before or after your visit to Pompeii to see some of the original extremely cool stuff that used to be at Pompeii.

Steve - If you want to do it as a day-trip from Rome there are several options:

There are several companies which run bus tours from Rome to Pompei
- Vastours, Appianline, Carrani, Greenline, American Express ...

VASTOURS (Tour 13)
www.romeguide.it/vastours/

CARRANI (Tour 13)
http://www.italyguide.com/TURISMO/ca...italiabis.html

APPIAN (Tour 14)
http://www.italyguide.com/TURISMO/ap...ur_italia.html

GREENLINE (Tour15)
(excludes Sorrento)
www.romeguide.it/greenline/greenline_eng.htm


They usually include a cameo factory visit and lunch en route, - you don't get to Pompei till after lunch.
Some also include a short 30 mins. stop in Sorrento before returning to Rome.

A common problem with these tours is that they don't allow enough time at Pompei (- usually only about 2 hours).
It's all a bit rushed IMO, and not cheap - most charge approx. €100]

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Alternatively you can do it rather more cheaply by public transport.

TRAIN

- If you go by TRAIN, with an early start you can be at Pompei by 10.00 or soon after.
Take the train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale, then the Circumvesuviana Sorrento train to POMPEI SCAVI.
[At Napoli Centrale, follow the signs downstairs for the 'Circumvesuviana']

For timetables see:
www.trenitalia.it (Rome-Naples trains)
www.massalubrense.it/circum.htm (Circumvesuviana)

You could also visit Sorrento after Pompei - it's only 30 mins by train.

BUS

- There are SHUTTLE BUSES from Rome in high season run by MAROZZI (approx. €29) and by ENJOY ROME (€45-55)
www.marozzivt.it/HomePage.htm
www.enjoyrome.com/shuttle_tour/pompeii.html

The MAROZZI Rome-Pompei-Sorrento shuttle service runs in summer, leaving Rome at 07.00(- deps. from outside Tiburtina station), arriving Pompei about 10.00.

The return Marozzi bus leaves Sorrento approx. 18.00 and Pompei approx. 18.45, arriving Rome about 21.30.

The ENJOY ROME Pompei shuttle returns to Rome earlier - for details see the above link.

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Hope this helps ...

Steve

We did this day trip last September. There were 4 of us and we split the cost of a private driver with a van (about $100 each) and we also hired a private guide in Pompeii for 3 hours (about another $30 each)......for us too - this was our big splurge of our trip to Rome. It was a perfect amount of time - we left Rome about 9 am - stopped for 1/2 hour at the Cameo factory and went on to Pompeii. We had plenty of time to wander to see everything and ask a ton of questions. We ate lunch there outside the main gate. We felt it was VERY worth the money and made for relaxing day. The trips with the bus companies are not ALL that much cheaper - -and alot of them stop at Naples for the mueum - thus cutting short the time in Pompeii. Whatever you decide to do - make sure you DO make it to Pompeii - it is truly amazing and should not be missed!

In my opinion, you're really missing the whole picture if you go to Pompeii without also seeing the National Archaeolgical Museum in Naples,which houses the amazing relics found in Pompeii,including the erotic frescoes,sculpture,etc.

I took the Context Rome daytrip, and it was great.The price wasn't cheap,but it was a great way to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time with no stress or hassles.The price included our eurostar tickets,a private driver to and from Naples/Pompeii,and the wonderful Marialaura,an art historian for the day. We also had a short walking tour of the old city section of Naples and time for some Neopolitan pizza in a place so tiny and special,I never would have found it.

We had driven into ROme and kept the car over night for a day trip to Pompeii. It was an easy drive to Pompeii. Once we arrived we looked for a private guide but there weren't any at the time, so we decided to buy the book/map and wing it. As we entered there was a group tour. The guide was a bit pushy but convincing and we joined his tour (it was very inexpensive and no charge for our kids at the time). We really enjoyed the tour, and the guide (Luigi) and of course Pompeii. We then returned out car at termini stattion whcih was pretty easy access from the highway.

The Marozzi bus in not a tour. It's just a summer bus service between Rome and Sorrento that makes a pickup and dropoff at Pompeii. It doesn't stop at any cameo factories or other places. You don't have to book round trip. You could take the 7 am bus to Pompeii and stay as long as you like and catch a train back. For some reason the link Steve gave isn't working so here is another with the timetable.
http://www.alfonsoamare.it/english/marozzi.htm

My advice is to skip Pompei and visit Herculanium instead. Fewer tourists and much more dug up. More to see.

Thank you all sooo much for the good response!
Still weighing out the options here...
I'm only traveling w/ one friend and we cannot afford a private tour... Renting a car, a bus line w/ no stops or an early start on the train looks like our best options.
Right now I'm really leaning toward renting the car. This will be our second trip to Europe and we have wanted to squeeze a drive in somewhere. It didn't work out last year and this may be the perfect day trip for it.