dina4

Is it more worthwhile to go to Pompei first, and then visit the museum, or vice-versa?

Also, what's the best way to get to Pompei from Naples without a car?

Steve_James

Hi Dina - The best way to Pompeii is Circumvesuviana train from Napoli Centrale (Piazza Garibaldi) to Pompeii Scavi.

Follow 'Circumvesuviana' signs downstairs from Napoli Centrale station.
(The train you want is the Sorrento train).

Trains run approx every half hour.
Journey time is about 35 mins.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

ira

Hi D,

Some people recommend one way, some the other.

dina4

Steve, that info is VERY helpful. thank you!

Ira, while i have you, is there a boat/ferry dock in Praiano by Le Syrene? and how is the little beach there?

so you guys think it doesn't really matter if you do the musuem first or Pompeii?

thanks!

TexasAggie

We did the museum first and it helped make Pompei come alive for us. If you don't do it that way, I suggest going straight to the Villa of Mysteries (Villa de Misteri) at Pompei. It is at the far end of Pompei and it is incredibly well preserved. Seeing it first will help you envision what the other more ruined structures would have looked like.

AnnMarie_C

Given the museum's schedule, closed on Tuesdays, we had to go there before visiting Pompeii. If we had it to do all over again this would be our preference. As TexasAggie suggests, doing so helped us to better envision the city as it once was.

kja

I think there are arguments for either order of seeing the museum and sites. I saw the museum after I visited Pompeii and Ercolana, and was glad to be able to visualize the beautiful things I saw in the places I had visited the day before. I also went to the Villa dei Misteri last on my visit to Pompeii, and was glad to have saved it for the end - it was the capstone of my experience there! To facilitate visualizing what Pompeii was like, I stopped at some of the other better preserved buildings earlier in my day there. My best guess is that one can have wonderful experiences with Pompeii and the Museum in any order! Hope that helps.

ira

Hi D,

>....is there a boat/ferry dock in Praiano by Le Syrene? and how is the little beach there?

It's Lesirene.

You take the Orange bus from Praiano to the Positano docks.

The little beach is a pleasant little, pebbly beach. It is a long way down. It is even longer coming up.

>...so you guys think it doesn't really matter if you do the musuem first or Pompeii?<

I do.

dina4

Aggie and AnnMarie,
Thanks for the advice. I think we'll try to see the museum first. I think we might also stay in Naples for a night, despite what many critics might say.

Kja, it's nice to know either way would really be okay. Sounds like you had a great experience.

Thanks, Ira, for the details about Lesirene. I hear the buses are a bit crowded in the summer. Was that ever a problem for you? Do they run often? We will be travelling in late June. We've never been to the Amalfi Coast, and I keep imagining SWARMS of people everywhere.

pineisl

Is it feasible to see the museum and pompei both in the same day? We will be making this a day trip from Rome and do not mind if the day is a long one. Anyone know how late the fast train back to Rome runs.
Thanks

jjkbrook

I loved Pompeii - the museum (saw it after) has some good things but there are copies of most of them still on site in Pompeii - the stuff in situ is much more thrilling. The Farnese hercules and Venus (which have nothing to do with Pompeii) and the battle mosaic from the Villa of the Faun are the only no miss items - The Camodimonte Museum in Naples is infinitely more worth visiting than the archeological museum - some wonderful paintings up there.

Dont know why some guidebooks make such a point about this.

for last poster - if youre coming from Rome Id say forget about the Naples museum - focus on Pompeii and Vesuvius. - if you have time to kill in Naples, have a wander down through Spaccanopoli, have a pizza or pastry. The archeological museum (Palazzo Massimo) in Rome has a better collection of classical art.

AnnMarie_C

Hi dina,

We spent three nights in Naples and it wasn't enough. Wish we had planned more time there--we enjoyed our stay and hope to return "one of these days".

The museum offers a large collection of mosaics unlike anything we had ever seen before. The detail and colors are so impressive that even from a short distance the pictures look like a painting. It's an impressive museum, we spent the better part of a day there.

Enjoy a great trip!

dina4

Annmarie, thanks for the encouragement regarding staying in Naples. People seem to have such strong opinions of either loving it or hating it!

ira

Hi P,

>Is it feasible to see the museum and pompei both in the same day?

It is not something that I would suggest.

Train schedules are at www.trenitalia.com