I am visiting Rome again in March, and would really like to visit Pompeii again. Can anyone tell me a (hopefully cheap) way to get there? I was on a tour bus last time I went.

If you can get to Naples, there is a train, the Circumvesuviana line, that takes you right there. It's about a 30-40 minute ride from Naples.

On your own, you can take a train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale and then switch to the local commuter train in the Garibaldi station downstairs, the Circumvesuviana mentioned.

Many companies offer daytrips from Rome to Pompeii, but most include annoying stops at cameo factories and the like. I know there's one tour bus company that is recommended here--
http://www.enjoyrome.com/shuttle_tour/pompeii.html
--that goes directly to Pompeii and only Pompeii, no factories. However, it doesn't run all year, so March might not work.

I have taken both:

1. The train from Rome Termini to Naples, then the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii Scavi, where the station is just steps from the entrance to Pompeii. This was the least expensive option.

2. The Enjoy Rome shuttle referenced above, which differs from the day tours because it is transportation only, with no guide. It is also significantly less expensive than the tours. A relaxing way to get to and from Pompeii, and you get back to Rome in time for supper. However, it might not be running in March. The web site says they run from April to November, although I took the shuttle a few years ago in March.

Hi Joely - The cheapest way is probably Marozzi bus - Fare: € 29 return
(€ 17 one way)

But in March they usually only operate Fri & Sat as a round-trip
(dep. Rome 07.00)

For details see:
http://www.marozzivt.it/

Hope this helps ...

Steve

We visited Pompeii in March 2004 as a day trip from Rome. We took the train from the Termini station in Rome to Naples, and then took the Circumvesuviana train from Naples down to Pompeii, which stops right across the road from the Pompeii site.

If you do this as a day trip, I strongly suggest you take a Eurostar train on the Rome-Naples & back legs. We had rail passes, which did not cover the extra charge to take the Eurostar trains, and instead opted to take Intercity (IC) trains. This turned out to be a big mistake!! Our train from Rome to Naples in the morning was late and we did not arrive at Pompeii until almost 1:00 PM, which only left us 4 hours to visit the site before it closed for the day.

Then on the way back to Rome, we ended up being delayed again, due to construction on the line, and we didn’t make it back to Rome until 11:30 PM.

All of this could have been avoided if we had taken Eurostar trains instead, which run on their own dedicated track at speeds that are generally twice as fast as the IC trains. We wasted precious time by trying to save a nominal amount of money on our transportation.

there are also some direct Rome-Pompeii trains that however go to the main intown Pompeii station (modern Pompeii) but even then it may be much quicker and more convenient than switching to the rather dumpy (IMO) CircumVesuviana train (guys shooting up in the back of my train car once)

I was visiting Pompei a few weeks ago and I found the Circumvesuvia trains that we took from Pompei to Naples and later to Sorrento that evening were newer and much nicer than the other local trains so maybe they have done some updating or switching. They even had the electric reader boards telling what stop they were arriving at. The trains we took from the local Pompei station to and from Naples we had to read the sign on the station out the window, no announcement.