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Traveling by car from Montepulciano to Pompei

Traveling by car from Montepulciano to Pompei

Old Jun 18th, 2014, 03:27 PM
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Traveling by car from Montepulciano to Pompei

I am just wondering if it would be advisable to drive from Montepulciano to Pompei to return a car a Piazza 29 Marzo Pompei? I don't know how bad the traffic would be or how many toll roads along the way. We will be traveling on A1. We want to visit the Pompei runis. The other option would be to drive the car back to Florence and take a train to Naples and then another train to Pompei. We would have luggage with us that we can store at Pompei while seeing the ruins, but I am just not sure how far the car rental place is from the ruins. Does anyone know? Or do you have any thoughts on which idea would be best?
Thanks so much.
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Old Jun 18th, 2014, 03:43 PM
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What is your destination?

There are other options to return the car along the route, but it will be a rushed day to drive that far, return the car, and see much of Pompeii.
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Old Jun 18th, 2014, 07:08 PM
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Our final destination will be Sorrento, so that may not be an option to return somewhere else along the route. We will plan to leave very early in the morning such as 5:00 or 6:00. I heard Pompeii is open until 7:00pm. Yes I am sure it will be a rushed and long day. Thanks for that input.
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Old Jun 18th, 2014, 09:14 PM
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Dump the car in Tuscany. Take train to Rome and the train to Naples, then take the local circumvesuvia(sp) to Sorrento. will be a long day. Go to Pompei as a day trip from Sorrento on the circumvesuvia(sp). easy.
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Old Jun 18th, 2014, 09:17 PM
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See if you can drop off car in Orvieto. from there easy to get to Rome on train.
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Old Jun 19th, 2014, 01:53 AM
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If you are leaving at 6am or earlier, you don't have many options for finding a rental car office open in Tuscany or Orvieto (in Umbria). Piazza Marzo 29 is the Pompei railway station, so you will have no trouble getting a taxi to take you to the entrance of the ruins with your luggage. You can put your luggage there while you tour the ruins.

But if you are willing to leave later in the day, I suggest you drop off the car whenever the Chiusi rental offices open and takes trains from there to see Pompei enroute to Sorrento.
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Old Jun 19th, 2014, 04:01 AM
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If you intend to leave Montepulciano as early as you say, if you go direct to Pompeii in the car, it's a 245 mile drive but mostly on the autostrada for around 230 of those miles. My preference would be to drive and save all the carrying of the luggage on and off trains etc. and just to put it all in the car and go.

You should get to Pompeii by about 11am at the latest, allowing for a coffee and comfort stop on the way and could then go to the ruins for a leisurely afternoon. After your tour, why not drive down to Sorrento and turn in the car at the office there? It's less than 20 miles and should take well under an hour.

If you don't mind the driving, it's a lot less hassle and will probably take less time too, allowing for waiting and changing trains, getting to stations etc. Sorrento is a largish town and will probably have a rental office for the company you are using. Maybe there's a drop off charge, so you should factor that in, but I still would drive rather than use trains.
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Old Jun 19th, 2014, 05:19 AM
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Yes, you can drop in Sorrento, and that would be a good option if you can get there by 1800, or drop the next day.

I will change my tune---with an early start you can do this.
You should be at Pompeii by 11:00---spemd 4 hours counting lunch---and still get to Sorrento by 17:00. Good luck !
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Old Jun 19th, 2014, 01:51 PM
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Thank you so much everyone. These ideas help a lot. I will run these by the other travelers and see which is the best option. I really appreciate all of your input.
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Old Jun 19th, 2014, 03:27 PM
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I have absolutely no idea whether leaving luggage in an unattended car at Pompei is perfectly safe or whether there is a risk. I honestly do not know one way or another. Possibly there is a way to find out by asking here or on Tripadvisor or Slow Travel. Absent lots of reassurances it is never a problem and the parking lots are guarded, I would probably take my luggage and store at the Pompei ticket office if I decided to drive all the way and ultimately drop off the car in Sorrento. That might be an excess of caution. Maybe you can nail down an answer somewhere.
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Old Jun 19th, 2014, 11:36 PM
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We've left our bags in the car on a couple of occasions at Pompeii, without any problem. I can't say that it is perfectly safe as I'm sure that the odd problem arises, but if it's covered or in a trunk it should be OK.

Otherwise, just put it into the luggage lockers during your visit.
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Old Jun 20th, 2014, 10:08 AM
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Great ideas on the luggage storage at Pompeii. I think we decided to return the car in Sorrento. Seems the easiest for us.
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