I am traveling to Rome in early June with my 13 yr. old daughter. I am thinking we will stay in Rome for 3 nights then go to Positano. My questions are: does it make sense to take the train from Rome to Naples, change to the Circumvesuvia train to Pompeii- can we store our luggage and is it easy to find a good english speaking guide at Pompeii or do I need to book a guide in advance?
Also- should we train back to Naples and hire a driver to our hotel in Positano or can we take a train to Salerno then the ferry to Positano? This seems like a lot of planes, trains and automobiles (haha) and logistics for one day??
OR- should we just blow off Pompeii en route to Positano and go straight to Positano (from Rome), then go to Pompeii the next day as a day trip??
And another thing...I have heard that Herculeneum is actually more interesting than Pompeii??
It seems the more I read the more I get confused, so many great sources of info these days. Thanks for any advice you can give!

I think it depends on how much time you want to spend in Pompeii. It certainly is possible. You can store luggage at the train station in Pompeii. In my experience, there are guides available for hire at the gate.

Can't say whether Herculeneum isis more interesting because I haven't been there, but I think Pompeii is a must see.

I think I would do it enroute to Positano because it's a long trek back to Pompeii and you will have plenty to keep you busy when you get to Positano.

Enjoy your trip!

OK, thanks for your advice Belinda- thinking we will want to stay in Positano as well and not do a day trip unless it is ferry to Capri or someplace nearby. How do you suggest we get from Pompeii to Positano? Should we take the train back to Naples and hire a driver or can we train to Serrano and take the ferry?

There is no luggage at the train station in Pompeii. There is luggage storage at the tour site itself. There are usually guides there, but the quality is highly variable. I would want to arrange a guide, if you think a guide is necessary. I've been there twice, and prefer to use a guide book rather than hire a guide. However, for a 13-year-old a guide might be better.

The trip between Positano and Pompeii is tedious no matter how you do it, but I think the best option would be to continue to Sorrento on the Circumvesuviana after visiting Pompeii, and then to take a bus or ferry to Positano.

As to whether to do it that day or a different day, since Pompeii isn't at all off your route, and you have to go the entire way that day, I'd prefer to visit Pompeii en route, rather than ruin yet another day with the tedious trip.

Be aware that the ferries do not run very late in the day (last ferry from Capri back to Sorrento was about 6 pm) and from Sorrento to Positano there are not that many ferries each day. Also - you wold than have to either haul you luggage uphill to your hotel or find a bus (not sure of schedule) or cab there.

Thanks for all the advice. bvlenci- any suggestions on how to book a guide for Pompeii?
If I get to Sorrento and the ferry isn't running due to time, weather or just bad luck- would it be possible to hire a driver to Positano? I could have the hotel arrange for a driver I suppose.
This is definitely sounding like a tedious day

With luggage, you might want to consider hiring a driver to pick you up at Pompeii and drive you to Positano. It really isn't that much fun to drag luggage onto the Cirumvensia, depending on the hour.

You can hire a guide at the gate to Pompeii. They're licensed to operate there.

Consider taking WWK's advice about hiring a driver to take you from Pompeii to Positano. It's usuall well worth the cost, especially if the driver drops you off right at your hotel.

Thank you for your advice, I will look at all the different options!

I would definitely pre-arrange for a driver to pick you up at Pompeii and take you to Positano. You can either arrange for a specific pick-up time, or a range of times and then you can call them when you are ready to be picked up.

I use Sergio Rianna to drive us from Naples to Positano each year and he is fantastic. His email is [email protected]

We had a guide for Pompeii and he even helped us with our driver. [email protected]. Nello was a great guide and we really enjoyed him and the driver was great. We actually had the driver pick us up from Positano and he took us to Pompeii. The driver waited while we did the tour then took us to the train station. Enjoy Your trip.

Where are you going after Positano? Could you see Pompeii on the way to that destination?

Thank you everyone- have never used this Forum before and have found your advice very helpful I will hire a driver for the transfer from Pompeii to the hotel in Positano....sounds like a long day of travel with a teenager and luggage and this would definitely make the end of the day less stressful! Anyone have any thoughts on Herculeneum?

Huge fan of Herculaneum here. Definitely at least as interesting as Pompeii - much more so IMHO. The eruption affected it completely differently and so there's alot more original stuff still there. Love it.

Do not overlook Capri - it is every bit as wonderful as it's reputation. Positano is lovely, but a bit overdone these days. give Amalfi a thought...

We took the ferry from Positano to Amalfi then the a bus to Ravello. Loved the Villas and the views. We took the Sita bus back to Positano. Capri was beautiful the Jardins de Augustus was beautiful.
Have fun

I actually chose Herculaneum over Pompeii and really enjoyed it. Much more manageable size than Pompeii. There is also left-luggage facility at the entrance to Herculaneum.

Ferry is definitely the way to travel on the AC IMO.

Pompeii was hot in February so I have no idea what it would be like in June. Also the site is very big and we missed a lot of what we wanted to see although we had a guide partly because of the numbers of people especially tours.

I've never been to Herculaneum but from all I've heard, it might well be preferable to Pompeii.

and after a few hours in the sun, I'd definitely go for an air-conditioned taxi transfer to Positano.

BM