Hi! I will be visiting Italy in a month. It will be my first time so I am need some input on some of my logistical planning.

I would like to stop at Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvious on my way to Positano. Is this doable by car?

Also, how would I go about stopping at and touring Pompeii and Mt V on my own?

Thanks for your help!

Forgot to mention I will be driving from Rome to Positano and if at all possible I would like to squeeze the stop in along the way.

I'm sure it is technically "doable". I am fairly sure i have seen signs to the "Scavi" on the freeway near the offramp to Pompeii, and I seem to remember quite a big car park.

Pompeii is huge, and you would want to give it a morning at the very least. I found the "audio tour" of Pompeii excellent. There are small number plates all over the ruins that can be dialled onto a "walkie Talkie" type handset - the information is very good, and then a further audio menu is given if you want to find out more on a particular aspect of what you are seeing. Alternatively you could use the Circumvesuviana railway later in your trip (Bus from positano to Sorrento ?) and stop at Ercolano for both the Ruins of Herculaneum, and a bus to Vesuvius.

Hi CAA,

It's 3 hr from Rome to Positano. If you get an early start you could squeeze in both.

It would be more reasonable to do one on the way down and the other from Positano.

I think that you have to have a guide for Vesuvius.

Where will you park your car in Positano?

Thank you for your suggestions. I am glad that the audio tour of Pompeii will be good enough since our travel agent was trying to push a $300 private tour of Pompeii.
Also, I like the idea of stopping at one on the way to Positano and the other on the way back.

Is Mt. V worth seeing?
Can it only be done through a tour operator? If so who would you suggest?