Please be patient, dear Fodorites! I have read all your information about traveling to Pompeii from Rome, and I am still puzzled as to the best way to manage this without breaking the bank or exhausting ourselves before the tour begins. We arrive in Rome at 12:30PM on 4/11, and have to meet our tour (at the Rome FCO airport) Friday morning, 4/13. I have checked into train schedules, Benvenuto limo services, Forum hotel in Pompei. What is the best way to get from FCO to Termini? And does anyone know of a good hotel at the airport? We will have been traveling since Monday, and are trying to save some wear and tear on ourselves. (My husband and I are in our 70s and our grandson is 13.)

My head is spinning with all the information.
Can someone help me sort it all out?

I think the simplest way to get from FCO to the Termini is the train. there's one every thrity minutes.

Thank you,Pausianas.

Hi HAR - Pompeii is easy enough by train from Rome - with a change of train in Naples.

From Napoli Centrale take the Circumvesuviana Sorrento train to POMPEII SCAVI

Journey time is about 2.5 hrs each way, i.e

1hr 45 Rome-Naples, +

30 mins Naples-Pompeii.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Hello,

I will start with the hotel first. There is a hilton at the airport that you will be happy with. They have a direct connection to the airport to make things easier. Also, you can leave your luggage there for your day trips.

The "quickest" way is to take the train from the airport to the termini station. IMO, the "best" way is to hire a private car to take you there. You can have one pick you up at the hotel and drop you at the termini station. You can even have them pick you up at the station after your trip to Pompeii. Let them know when your return ticket on the train gets in and they will be waiting out front with a sign with your name on it.

As for getting to Pompeii, buy a ticket on the highspeed euros star train. You can get these at the train station the day of the trip. You can also check with your hotel to see if they can help you with this. Once you have your ticket, just hop on the train and take the nice, relaxing 2 hour trip. Once the train gets into Naples you will have to change trains. (Do not accept unsolicited help from anyone!! These are con artists trying to steal your stuff). Follow the crowds and signs downstairs to the local commuter train area. On the way, you will see the ticket booth where you buy the commuter ticket (less than 5 euros). Hop on the commuter (comes every half hour) for the 30 minute ride to the site. You want to get off at the pompeii scavi stop. Not the pompeii stop!! From there it is a 3 minute walk up the street to the site.

It is an easy trip to make, but will take a full day to do. There are tours offered at the ticket center that are very good, you might want to consider them.

Hope this helps, Donna

Thank you, Steve and Donna. You have both been very helpful!

I'm a little confused by your post. Are you planning to train to Pompeii and spend the night of 4/11? Train back to Rome 4/12 and spend the night near the airport?

If so, I would take the express train (or a limo service) to Termini from the airport and store my luggage at Termini at the left luggage facility. I would only carry enough to Pompeii for the one night.

I would take either the ES train or the new faster AV train to Naples and then connect to the local Circumvesuviana.

On the way back, pick up your luggage at Termini and head to your hotel near the airport. If your tour is staying in Rome the first night, is it possible to just book the same hotel they are using? I would prefer to do that because your tour guide will likely be there already and will return to the hotel to check everyone in after airport pick up.

Here is our plan: Please feel free to comment.

Our flight arrives in Rome at 12:30PM. We will store our luggage somewhere, get to the Termini by train from the airport, take the high speed train to Naples, change to the Circumsuviana and get off at Pompei, where we will spend the night at the Forum hotel which is a very short distance from the entrance to the ruins. We will tour the ruins in the morning, and hopefully be able to take the bus to the top of Vesuvius to see the crater. We plan to return to Rome that evening and spend the night at the Airport Hilton (4/12) and join our tour at the airport 4/13.

Does this sound feasible? Any suggestions about hiring an English speaking guide for a private tour of Pompeii? Also, any information on the bus to get to the top of Vesuvius?

And if anyone has any restaurant recommendations in Pompei and in the area of the Termini or the airport Hilton for dinner 4/11 and 4/12, we would welcome them.

Please feel free to comment on our itinerary, etc.

Thank you all.

Only comment/suggestion would be to skip the bus ride up and down Vesuvius to make the day less hectic and give yourselves more time in Pompeii. We spent 6 hours in Pompeii and saw most but not all of the excavated town.

Hello HAR, it took me a bit to figure out your schedule but I did!

You have more stamina than I do. You say you will be travelling since Monday which is 4/9 and arriving at FCO in Rome 4/11 which of course is a Wednesday. Are you flying from Australia or NewZealand? Flights from the US would be departing the US on Tuesday 4/10.

There is no way, even with flying from the US (I am on the westcoast) that I would be up to doing this itinerary that you have planned HAR. Especially with than joining up with a tour group on the morning of Friday 4/13. And I am a very good traveller.

If I was flying from Monday and arriving on Wednesday and had to meet a tour group the morning of Friday I would not even think about trying to do any trips outside of Rome. I would get a hotel in Rome and have dinner there that night, walk around in the fresh air and enjoy the sites and sights etc. on Thursday and than probably take a car with driver or a taxi back to FCO on Friday morning to meet the tour group. I would also have a car service pick me up at FCO when I arrived on Wednesday.

I am certain that you so want to show your dear grandson Pompeii but quite frankly I think all of you would be so exhausted by the time you meet up with your tour group on Friday morning your time in Italy will seem ghastly.

And I certainly don't want to come across as negative but since you asked for thoughts I am sharing mine with you.

I also am sending good wishes that you two and your grandson have a beautiful and special time in Italy.

I forgot about the left luggage facility at the airport. Leave your luggage there for 3.5E per day per piece of luggage.
http://www.adr.it/content.asp?L=3&Id...sito%20bagagli

For lunch, there is a decent cafeteria in the Pompeii ruins. For dinner, hop the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento (1.8E and 30 minutes). It's a short downhill block to the main street and turn left. You will come to the main square - Piazza Tasso.From there you can wander the pedestrian only area and find many good restaurants(and shops).

When you get back to Termini in Rome, take the metro (you catch it at Termini) to the Spanish Steps stop. Walk downhill to the pedestrian only area and you will find lots of nice restaurants. Metro back to Termini for the Leonardo express to the airport.