We will be taking the following trips by train
Sept 8 Venice to Rome
Sept 12 Rome to Cinque Terre
Sept 14 Cinque Terre to Nice.
We are also considering a day trip by train to Pompeii, but it seems like a VERY long day.
I am looking for advice on how to arrange our train travel. (When we get to Nice are renting a car for the remainder of our trip in France)

Day trip from where to Pompeii? Rome I guess. Yes, that is a long day trip. Especially since you have very little time to begin with.

Point to point tickets will likely be easier and less expensive. You can check www.trenitalia.com for train prices, frequency and duration(choose a close date if your trip is far off). I guess each of the five towns has its own train station?

Have you ever heard of Ostia Antica. It is close to Roma.
http://www.ostia-antica.org/

If traveling first class and want full flexibility I think the Italy Railpass could be cheaper over all - 2nd class probably not - my decades of Italian train travel exhort me to advise for the average traveler on the trip of a lifetime to fork out extra and go first class - lots more relaxed (2nd class ain't a cattle car but there are 25% more seats in same space - seats are typically much fuller and there is less room to easily store luggage - in general not on each and every train. In first class I nearly always have empty seats nearby to put my bags on instead of fend for room in bursting overhead luggage racks often in 2nd class, etc.

Great sources of info on Italian trains - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id12.html. Note that Mini fares often touted on Fodor's as the only way to go have severe restrictions and often cannot be changed nor refunded so if going that route note those restrictions and if the normal fare is not much higher take the regular full fare because these are flexible tickets that can be changed to another train if you should decide that on the spur of the moment or even if you miss your train I believe.

Start with vjp...'s link and check out how long it takes to actually execute your itinerary. Then ask yourself if you really want to do this or not.

As my mother often says "we saw everything, sort of, for a short period of time".

Thanks for your repies...I'm beginning to think that goi9ng from Rome to Pompeii would be too much of an ordeal as some of you have suggested. I am checking in to Ostia Antica...sound more doable!

Rome to Pompeii IS an ordeal. Ostia Antica is a half-hour trip on public transportation from central Rome - MUCH more sensible.

Rome to Pompeii only takes about an hour and a half. You can take the high speed train to Naples then go downstairs to the commuter train to the ruins. It's actually an easy trip to make but you'll want to spend the entire day at the ruins if you go. There are a few high speed trains an hour and the commuter train comes every 15 minutes.

If you are short on time then Ostia Antica is a good solution but it's completely different that what you'll see in Pompeii. It's about a half hour outside of Rome and will cost 2 euros or so to get there.

Donna

It would be over two hours each way I think Rome to Pompeii - that CircumVesuviana commuter train from Naples is so so slow and stops at every little town - may take 45 minutes in itself - figure in time changing trains - but still I agree Pompeii is worth it and on the high-speed train you can relax in comfort - go for it - when will you be back in the area next - perhaps never so go for it!

Note that in train schedules I referenced on www.bahn.de German Railways web site that has schedules for all European trains it lists about 2 hours - even less a tad than 2 for trains from Rome Termini to Pompeii - but I think these are for Trenitalia trains that serve the modern day city of Pompeii and not right to the Pompeii ruins as does the CircumVesuviana trains that stop right out front at the Pompeii-Scavi station - the Pompeii town station is not that far away I think but over a mile and thus not as convenient.

Rome to Pompeii IS an ordeal.>

2 hours each way IMO is not an ordeal and the chance to see one of the world's most famous and awesome sights IMO makes it worth it - Ostia Antica however is in many ways just as awesome but much less famous - if you really want to see Pompeii go for it - the trains are straight forward and take you right to the entrance at the Pompeii-Scavi station on the CircumVesuviana line - if you just want to see a vast ruined old Roman city head to Ostia Antica, ancient Rome's ancient port.