Dayle

adventure,

Since Pompeii is one of your must sees, I'm not sure you will have the energy to see the museum right after if you do a long visit to the ruins. You might consider visiting the museum in the morning before training to Rome. I did that and it worked well for me. i had traveled from Capri and then spent 4 1/2 hours (my second visit to Pompeii) the previous day.

Museum - the Italian museums and sites have improved since my visit in 2005, but be prepared. Take small denomination bills to pay admission and rent an audio guide if you choose. When I was there, they were unable to take credit cards or make change for all those 50E notes tourists get out of ATMs. I had to use my last cash for admission and was unable to rent an audio guide because I didn't have the exact cash (no change given) to pay for it. Bummer, because the museum displays are all in Italian only! Most of us don't have an Italian vocabulary that includes historical and archeology terms and I would have enjoyed my visit much more with the audioguide.

Your trip is shaping up nicely. I would just make it easy and stay in Naples, or hire a driver to take you to a hotel in Pompeii to solve the luggage issue.
Buon viaggio!

sandralist

You don't have to take the Circumvesuviana train at all. Just take the regular Trenitalia train to Pompei station.

I don't know how early you were planning on getting up that morning, but if you can catch the 9am train leaving Florence, you would only need to make one train switch after that in Naples. If you catch the 10.19 and stay on it until Salerno, then you would also only need to switch once.

I think with all your kids you are better off in Pompei because of traffic in Naples and the fact that the train station area is a lousy place to stay. So book in Pompei in a hotel with a swimming pool. You can leave your bags at the hotel the next morning while you tour the excavation site.

You might need to fill in with taxis from the Pompei station to your hotel. (And ditto back to the train station.) There is a good pizzeria in Pompei called Zi Caterina.

sandralist

I meant to add that if you return to Naples to see the museum on your way to Rome then you can store your luggage there, in the Naples train station. From there, you can decide if you want to take a taxi to the museum, the subway system or walk (about 25 minutes). I would opt for a taxi, but you will probably need two.

adventures6

Thank you for your tips.

Any recommendations for a hotel in Naples?

adventures6

I'm assuming near the train station Napoli Centrale. Also, any recommendations for places to eat around there?

adventures6

Just saw the museum is closed on Tuesdays. I guess I will have to visit late Monday before we visit Pompeii. Is this museum a must?

MonicaRichards

Check the hours of the museum. It might not be open late enough for you to see it in the afternoon.

We did go to the museum, and the better frescoes and mosaics are there. If you really want to see that stuff, then the museum is the way to do it.

jamikins

I wouldn't stay near the train station in Naples, it's not as nice. Sandralist makes a great recommendation in staying in Pompeii.

We enjoyed the museum, we went to Pompeii in 2007 and didn't see the museum until 2013. Only you can decide if it is a must but we enjoyed it.

sandralist

In my earlier post to you I started to recommend to you to skip the museum because of the difficulties of shepherding kids through hectic Naples, then I figured you would play it by ear when you got there and deleted that thought. I say skip it and I am a huge fan of the museum. But I would make having a swim on Monday and lunch on Tuesday your priorities.

sandralist

Also, I am not sure if you understood my first suggestion that you book a hotel in Pompei, or just aren-t interested and would rather stay in Naples. But if you decide to stay in Naples, you should not look in the train station area as it is the worst part of town.

If you are unwilling to look at booking.com for your available dates, I don-t have any better ideas for you about where to stay anywhere in Italy. You are booking so late, most places people would be recommending to you are not going to have any availability for a family of 6. It is wasted motion to be asking individuals on the internet who never travel with 4 kids for last minute recommendations for hotels.

adventures6

I have a hotel booked in Pompeii through booking.com. The only reason I was considering changing that reservation is that I was trying to work out a visit to museum without having to carry our stuff around. Would it be safe to leave our luggage at the Naples train station overnight?

sandralist - sorry I missed your earlier posts when I wrote my comments. Maybe I was writing from an unrefreshed screen. Thanks for the advice.

sandralist

I would think it is as safe as putting it there for a couple of hours. No one ever reports any problems as far as I know. Personally I wouldn't leave electronics or anything valuable. Just your clothes.

But I am unclear as to why you would put your luggage in the station overnight, no matter whether you stay in Naples or stay in Pompei. Even if you wanted to stow your luggage in the station so you could get to the museum, you could pick up it up again before 8pm (when the luggage room closes). Also, I don't know if each member of your family has a bag, but it is about 5 euros or so per bag for the first hours, and then something like 1 euro per hour after that. I don't see the point of leaving your bags there overnight if you have a hotel room in either Pompei or Naples.

For what it is worth, the museum itself accepts bags in its cloak room. You might call them and ask.

039.081.4422149

or you can try an e-mail but I wouldn't count on a swift response. Better to call.

http://cir.campania.beniculturali.it...e/contact-info

sandralist

Here is some recent commentary on storing bags at the museum itself. Apparently it can be done (read the entire threads)

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...les-museum.cfm

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...r/645002669001

cheryl_b

so, what's your current tentative itinerary?

dugi_otok

I am not sure what you have reserved. But we stayed here, a couple of miles from Siena. The hotel is inexpensive and is next to a fantastic public pool which is included in the room price.You need a car.

http://www.mulinodiquercegrossa.it/sito/

adventures6

Thank you for your link. For this trip we decided that getting a car was too expensive, since we need a minivan. Our itinerary is: 2 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Lucca, 1 night in Pompei and 3 nights in Rome.

We will be stopping in Florence for an afternoon on our way to Lucca from Venice. We are considering spending more time in Florence on our way to Naples, but we'll have to see how things are going at that point. We chose Lucca to get away from the crowds for a bit. We figure we will bike ride and hang out at the community pool along with a trip to Pisa by bus or train. We chose to spend one night in Pompei hoping to beat the heat and the crowds at the ruins. We won't be visiting the museum in Naples because it is closed on Tuesdays. I'm still working out the details but at least we have the accomodations booked. Thanks to everyone who has shared their insight with me. I still have a long way to go in the planning of transportation and tickets but at least we have a place to sleep!

sandralist

Buon viaggio! There is a bus to between Lucca and Florence that you might want to check out, also you can take buses up in to the hills for some hikes

http://www.frommers.com/destinations....XPg641MN.dpbs

Man in Seat 61 is a great way for understanding the Italian train system

annhig

good news adventures. your itinerary looks fine with a good balance of staying put and moving around.

for your afternoon in Florence, I would strongly suggest that once you have deposited your luggage at the left luggage at the station, you get a cab up to San Miniato above florence in Oltarno and then walking back to the station. That way you will be able to enjoy some of the best views of Florence without having to walk up there, and then you can stroll gently through Florence back to the station.

San Miniato has wonderful mosaics and would be well worth spending 30 minutes or so, and on the way back into the centre, there is a nice cafe selling gelato which I'm sure will interest the children.

sandralist

I know children who don't like ice cream and don't like gelato. Even Italian children! And I know kids who are interested in art, architecture and history! But taking a cab up to San Miniato al Monte is nice. Just dont try to battle your way across the Ponte Vecchio in the middle of the tourist season to get across the Arno. Use a different bridge.

annhig

you do take things literally, don't you Sandralist? perhaps you'd have been happy if i'd said that the gelateria MIGHT interest the children.

and where did you get the idea that I [or anyone else] had suggested that these children aren't interested in art, architecture and history? But however interested they are, they aren't going to get that much of it in the space of an afternoon in Florence, unless they absorb it from the stones of the buildings by a process of osmosis.

still, I suppose i should be flattered by your graciously agreeing that getting a cab up to San Miniato is a good idea. and i will return the compliment by agreeing with you that trying to fight one's way across the Ponte Vecchio would not be the best way to cross the Arno.