A few years ago I used the directions of Paradise Lost and went from Termini in Rome to Pompeii. I was by myself and I remember walking through the Naples train station with his printed directions held out in front of me the entire time. The directions were perfect. I took the earliest rain and arrived 15 minutes before the posted opening time, but they decided to open 15 minutes early that day. As I headed in with the other visitors, the tour leaders were waving their flags and everyone was grouping up. I had been warned that it would be impossible to visit Pompeii in the summer without enduring large crowds. I decided to go on a Sunday hoping that would eliminate the church going crowd. While the tours started giving a background speech to their groups, I immediately started walking the opposite direction. It was peaceful, quiet and fantastic. I was there from opening until 4:00 and loved every minute of it. The entire day, I rarely had to endure crowds. I have photo after photo of just Pompeii. I am going back this summer, thanks to a teacher grant from the Eli Lilly foundation, and my adult daughter is going with me. I wouldn't do it any other way than on the train and I am over 60. This time I hope to see Herculaneum. Is there a current post by Paradise Lost that has all of the changes listed so I can once again follow his directions step by step!!

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My husband and I just returned from Naples and used these instructions to get from the Central Train Station in Naples to Pompeii and Herculaneum. The directions were great. The only thing that I would add is that there is a lot of construction occuring on the inside of the train station. I am not sure that the ticket office is in the same place as was described above. To buy tickets, follow the signs for the Circumvesuviana train - just before you go through the turnstyles to descend to the bins where the trains leave from, there is a ticket office. Make sure you pay attention to which bin the train is leaving from. The first time we took the train it left from Bin 3. The second time it was posted as leaving from Bin 3 but seconds before the train arrived, it was switched to Bin 2. Not a big deal because you just have to turn around to reach Bin 2 but if you weren't paying attention...who knows where you would end up! Make sure you keep your stamped tickets handy. They checked the tickets on the train on the way to Pompeii and when we returned to Naples that evening they were checking the tickets as you left the turnstyles (after getting off the train and going up the stairs).

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