I posted this before but it seems to have gotten lost; I am new to this so I probably did somethong wrong. I would like some advice on a day trip to Pompeii & Herculenium from Rome in July. There are 4 or 5 of us. First, would we be better off driving or taking the train? I'm not wild about driving in Rome, but I can manage gettting to & from the car rental place. What is the driving like closer to Pompeii? Second, can we see both sites in 1 day? How close they are to each other & how would we travel between them without a car. Third, how much time should we allow at each site. Thank you all for your help.

Simple things first: It is possible to see Ercolanum and much of Pompeii in a single day. As for how much time you should allow for each site, I think two hours might be enough for Ercolanum, whereas 2 days would not be too much for Pompeii. I was only able to spend about 5 hours there.

For 4 or 5 people, you might look into the possibility of hiring a driver, either from Rome itself or from the Naples train station. Sometimes people hire someone who is a guide as well as a driver, in order to more efficiently see the high points of both places.

Also, if you haven't already, consider the heat in July. I think Pompeii is an extraordinary sight, and I encourage you to see it if you think you will never be so close to it again. But come prepared with hats, parasols, bottles of water and even those scarves that cool your neck. There are no trees in Pompeii, there is a lot of stone, and the heat can be intense.

Our itinerary for our last trip to Italy had us in Herculenium for an hour and then a climb to the top of Vesuvius. (We had hired a driver). My husband was disappointed at the short time at Herculenium. We could easily have spent 2 hours and still done Vesuvius (which is an awesome trek).

The next day we took the train (we were staying in Sorrento) to Pompeii and spent 5-6 hours there. Not nearly enough. We are going back to Italy this summer and making another trek to Pompeii to see all the sights we missed the first time. The previous poster is right---two days is probably not too much.

You can definitely do this in one day if you are trying to optimize your time. Take the express train from Rome to Naples - about 2 hours. You can leave at 7am and be in Naples when it's still early morning. From Naples transfer to the commuter train - the Circumvesuviana that runs btwn Naples and Sorrento(there are several station stops in Naples, so be sure you get off at the right one transfer). The commuter train stops at both Herculanium and Pompeii. You do have to be careful in Naples, but I found the locals very helpful in advising on the correct commuter train to catch - and there is a big board that lists the train departure times.

As I recall, Herculaneum is about a 15-20 min ride - Pompeii 20-30 mins. beyond -- so they are close together and it is easy to get to sites from their respective stations. They know this is a tourist site and have planned accordingly.

Pompeii is much larger site, so yes, you should proportion more of your time there -- and there is a lot to see but you should be able to manage it. Pompeii, I believe, is open till 7-8pm.

You should also consider going to the Archaelogical museum in Naples to where most of the artifacts from Pompeii have been moved. It used to be, at least, that during Summer the museum was open very late a night - like 11pm - at least one day a week. You could do dinner in Naples, see the museum if there is a late express back to Rome. The Amalfi Coast is amazingly beautiful and it would be a nice opportunity to get a glimpse.

To maximize your time and be sure that you get the trains you want, be sure to purchase your tickets ahead at Termini station in Rome -- you can use the ticket office, but the bigleteria (ticket) machines are very easy to use and give you schedule and seating information.

I highly recommend using the Rick Steves books to help you through the process of planning any parts of your trip -- he is excellent at giving logistical advice about how things work and exactly what to expect, such as whether combo tickets for the 2 sites are available (I think so) and coordinating days/hours that the sites/museums are open/closed.

Hope this helps, enjoy your trip.

Wow! Thanks. I got all the answers I needed. The heat will be a problem, especially for one of the older members of our party, but it will be the only time she'll be in Italy, so we'll try it.

I promise I'm not trying to be a smartypants here, but trying to help in terms of your finding information. The correct ancient spelling for the town is Herculaneum, and the modern name (the one you'll see on the train station or any other road sign) is Ercolano.

Ercolano is indeed right on the Circumvesuviana line. Once you get off the train it's about a 10-15 min walk downhill through the town. The modern town is a bit icky, but the site is wonderful and definitely worth seeing. It tends to be less touristed than Pompeii.

I think it'd be difficult to see both of these sites in one day as a daytrip from Rome and do them justice, especially in the summer when it will be crowded. I made a visit to Herculaneum when I was staying three nights in Sorrento: I spent one day in Pompeii, another day I went to Herculaneum, and the third day I went to Naples. That worked well, as Sorrento is on the Circumvesuviana rail line.

Thanks for correcting the place name errors, deja vu!