Pompeii help
 

I am planning a trip to Pompeii in late June. Does anyone have any good hotel recommendations? I am looking for a quality hotel with all the extras. Or, is there a better place to stay in a city near by. Thanks for any help you can offer.

I personally would not stay in Pompeii. The one strip of hotels and restaurants is pretty low budget tourist class. My first choice would be Sorrento, lots of upscale hotels,with easy train transport to Pompeii. Naples is also a possibility.

I agree with Patrick. Unless there is some important reason for staying there, you're better off in Sorrento.

Lyn, <BR> <BR>I would not recommend staying in Pompeii either. Pick a town on the coast, Sorrento, Positano, or my personal favorite Ravello. You can find quality hotels in any of these towns by just doing a search, or check out: www.venere.it <BR> <BR>While Pompeii, is a must for any traveler to that part of Italy, it is a one day affair. There really is no need to stay in Pompeii. If you can not see all of it in one day, come back again. It is a short distance from Sorrento and within 30 - 45 mins. from Maiori, Ravello, etc. Good luck! <BR> <BR>Carey

Really? only 45 min to Ravello? We are thinking we will pick up my sister at the airport in Rome (expect her plane to get in around 9AM) and head for Amalfi. Since she's probably going to be ready for a small amount of excitement, stopping off to visit Pompeii might just fit in. We were expecting we'd have to stay somewhere nearby then head to the coast, but it sounds like we may have just found ourselves another night on the coast...is this do-able?

Dear Diane, IMO Pompeii is not really doable after picking up your sister in Rome. Pompeii is an all day (several days, honestly) thing. And you have to figure, assuming your sister's plane arrives on time, theres customs, luggage, and driving around Rome which is intenstly challenging. You might get to Amalfi by the late afternoon trust me, I would put money on your sister wanting a bed and bath, (unless she's arriving from and inner-EU flight) Pompeii was far and away one of the most impressive places I've been after 10 visits to Europe, an hour or two just could not do it justice.

It is true that Pompei is a bit ramshackle due to inappropriate building codes. But, there are some acceptable places to stay if Pompei is more convenient for you. We stayed at a very lovely agritourismo just on the edge of city called Viva Natura. It is family run place with smallish but super clean rooms serve with toast and coffee for breakfast. There is a lovely outdoor pool, as well. All for the great cost of $25 per person. Franco is the owner and it is located a via ponte Izzo 49 80045 Pompei phone 018 861 56 62. We were told the Hotel Europea (I think) just off the center square is nice too, but more pricely. The cathedral in town is very interesting, and the trip up to the bell tower has a great view overlooking the city and the ruins. It isn't a qulaity hotel with all the extras, but it was a super slice of life in Pompei and a great value. Nearby, ate great pizza at the Bougainvilla Pizza. Both are on the way to Sorrento.

Maybe we're wimps, but we found that driving from Sorrento to Pompeii was a little much. Although, on the map, it doesn't appear that far..you have to drive through a dozen crazy little towns with small winding roads for what seems like many, many miles. It was exhausting...although beautiful. We had just driven from Assisi to Sorrento the night before and were a little fried. We ended up hooking up with Golden tours. Not exactly what we had intended but we preferred not to drive. It turned out to be pretty good. <BR>

ANother vote for Sorrento or Naples, a city that is working hard to improve its tourist image. There are some lovely old grand hotels in Naples and some wonderful restaurants as well. From Naples you can take the A1 first to Ercolano (the ancient ruins of Herculaneum, actually better preserved than Pompeii) and then to Pompeii. Most of the artifacts from Pompeii are in the National Museum in Naples so that is worth a look. After a day in the Naple/Pompeii area you can depart for Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast, both of which require slower driving and more traffic since they are out on a peninsula south of Naples. Probably the top hotel in Naples is the Albergo Vesuvio with all amenities including a roof garden and views of the gulf of Naples. There are more. I think you'll be surprised. And, for those who want to reach Ravello more quickly from Pompeii, stay on the A1 down to Vietri and then backtrack to Ravello. If you look at a map, it's the area around Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi that has the most rugged driving and the most traffic. A beautiful part of the world--enjoy.

In Pompei we stayed at the Forum Hotel. It is a nice hotel with helpful staff. It was recommended by John Garacio (sp?) in one of his videos. Marilyn

Hi Lyn <BR> <BR>I agree with all the posts here. You really don't want to stay in Pompeii, when you've got Naples and Sorrento to choose from. Personally, for convenience sake, I think that Naples is closest, so it may be best to stay there for a couple of days. Then when you're done with Pompeii and Naples, you can continue on to Sorrento, which is really nice, and then go on to Amalfi, Ravello, etc.

Naples, is definately the most accessable to pompeii and ercolano. But I really don't think that it is inconcievable to be on a coastal town, spend the day in Pompeii and head back to the coast before dark. When we went to pompeii, we had to be in Naples by 9:00 am. to go the American Consulates office, we had a little lunch, left about 12:00 pm. Arrived in Pompeii at 12:30, we stayed in Pompeii until 4:30 pm, and by taking A1 to Salerno, and back tracking to Maiori we were able to make it back to our hotel and at dinner by 6:00 pm. It really is doable, if you don't drive the coast, and stay on A1 to Salerno.

Thanks for the reality check, Thyra! I think we may just head for Sperlonga-Gaeta from the airport so that we'll find a nice and interesting place for her to recover from the flight, and from which we can head for -- probably Villa Poppaea in Torre Annunziata -- on our way to Amalfi the next day.

Pompeii is a wonderful place but I wouldnt stay there. It is an easy train from Rome or Naples and you could stay in either Rome or go to Naples from Pompeii and ferry to Sorrento and stay there. You can easily do Pompeii in 3 hours or less.

I disagree with the previous poster in her comment that you can "easily do Pompeii in 3 hours or less." Three hours is the bare, bare minimum amount of time you should spend in Pompeii to truly appreciate it.

I have to add some info. On first sight, Pompeii looks ramshackle, routy, and lends itself to a rather unsafe feeling. However, after spending two days there (visiting friends, as well as sites), Pompeii is an interesting slice of "real " Italy. The people are friendly, and interested in meeting people from other countries. Most tourist don't venture more than a block from the ruins. The cathedral is a national shrine, and a walk through it and to the top of the bell tower is quite fascinating. The square is often a lively place in the early evening. Now,it isn't place to spend a lot of time in, but an overnight can give you a different perspective on living in Italy. Of course, Sorrento is beautiful and well worth the trip. Naples is still a bit rough. Although there are some lovely sites to visit in Naples, it still has a reputation of quite a bit of street crime (stealing, not violent).

Six years ago my husband and I stayed in Sorrento for 5 days and used it as a base for touring to Amalfi, Positano, Capri and Pompeii. It was only an hour (or less) train ride from the center of Sorrento. It was similar to taking a local train ride from any major city here in the states. We didn't need reservations--just hopped on the train. The cost was very low and we were able to walk to the station from our hotel in the center of town and when we arrived at the Pompeii station the entrance was just a short walk. We never drove while in Italy but rather used every form of transportation available to Italians. We found transportation to be cheap, reasonable and safe. Sorrento has many beautiful hotels and is quite central to the Amalfi coast and Pompeii. We also took a bus ride to Amalfi from Sorrento(which was a trip in itself!).In fact, we hopped on a 3-hour cruise back to Sorrento for the return trip (cost about $10 USA$ each). Using many forms of transportation opens you up to some great experiences. <BR> <BR>As one of the previous respondents said, I think you need a full day to enjoy Pompeii. <BR>