Pat

I will be staying a week in the Amalfi Coast area during the first week in August. My departure flight is leaving from Naples, and on the day prior to my departure, I was planning on leaving Positano early in the morning, stopping at Pompei on the way to Naples, and then spending the night in Naples, before departing on my flight the next morning. Few quick questions...Does anyone know the best way to get from Positano to Pompei? Do I have time in one day to see Pompei and Herculaneum? Should I skip Pompei or cut short my time in Pompei in order to spend some time in Naples? Finally, any reasonably price hotel or restaurant suggestions in Naples? Thanks for any help.

Bob

I would recommend that you see Pompeii. We were there last summer on a very hot day and still enjoyed it. I do not think you need a full day there unless you are really gung-ho. When I was researching it last year on Fodor's prior to my visit I found all sorts of warnings on stray dogs, bad tour guides, gypsies, etc. We did not find any of that. Just did our tour, enjoyed the area and left. Have never been to Naples so have no comparison to give you on that one.

Paulo

I would think that the best way to get to Pompei is to take a SITA bus from Positano to Sorrento and the Cs train to Pompei. If the SITA site is updated, there appears to be a bus at 7:15am (or 8:50am) arriving at 8:05am (or 9:40am). There are Cs trains leaving for Pompei at 8:26am and 10:07am arriving, respectively, at 8:52am and 10:37am. <BR>In principle, you would have time to visit both sites, Pompei and Ercolano. IMO, though, it doesn't make much sense. If you're indeed interested in archaeology, your priority should be to visit the museum in Naples after Pompei (it might be closed, though, so check!). <BR>Although it may sound as a waste of time, in case the museum is closed in the afternoon after 2pm, I would go directly from Positano to Naples, check in the hotel and get rid of my luggage, visit the museum, take the Cs train to Pompei back and forth and still enjoy the evening in Naples. This way the luggage question would be taken care of as a bonus. If you aren't certain you do indeed want to visit Pompei, don't worry ... there's plenty to see in Naples and then some more (besides the archaeological museum, there's the city centre, the old city - Spacca Napoli, the Certosa di San Martino, the National Gallery in Capodimente, etc). <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>

kam

Paolo's ideas are very good. I would try to visit Ercolano (Herculaneum) also. We found that the two sites were quite different and that there is much more intact in Herculaneum. It doesn't take very long to see it. It's smaller than Pompei. I would set out early from Positano and go directly to hotel in Naples, leaving luggage in hotel. Then either do public transportation or if you don't mind the added expense, hire a car and driver to go to Pompeii and Herculaneum. That way, perhaps you can also fit in the museum where most of the artifacts from Pompei are on display. Enjoy.

Dennis

Did the Positano-Pompeii trip last month. Hired a car and driver in Positano who took us to Pompeii and waited for us. We spent 4 hours at Pompeii and think that is probably about right. We hired a guide but I would not do it again. Better to get your own guide book and stroll through the site at your own pace. You will probably see the highlights and avoid the extra expense. The driver then took us to Naples Airport. We were not staying overnight. Most of the guidebooks suggest the museum in Naples to complement the visit to Pompeii. We didn't have the time but I felt as though we had seen enough anyway. Enjoy!

Jeanie

My recommendation would be to spend as little time as possible in Naples. We loved Pompei and stayed in Sorrento. I would have liked to have seen Herculaneum but we were on a time crunch. However we did regret the time we spent in Naples. In my opinion it is a very dangerous place and not worth the visit. Use it for the train station and spend your time somewhere nicer.