There are four of us hoping to visit Italy either in May or late September. We would wish to visit Pompei but have no idea where to stay. We have limited budgets and would welcome advice regarding hotels, or self-catering accommodation. I have heard that Italy is very expensive for everything but don't know if this is true.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Pompeii is on a local train line between Sorrento and Naples, so staying several days in either would allow you to see that locale plus Pompeii. Is some other area of Italy of interest -- Rome, perhaps, or the Amalfi coast? How long would you spend in Italy? Perhaps some reading about Italy (this website's section for "destinations" is a start) would enable you to narrow your questions a bit -- you'll get good advice on this forum if you do some background work and ask more specific questions.

How much is your limited budget?

Also, how many days will you be there? Do you have cities/towns in mind besides? There are several bus trips from Rome to Pompeii if you want Rome as a base.

In Italy - as in every other country - it is possible to travel at different price points. Id on;t find Italy expensive - but I'm from New York. I would certainly expect it to be considerably more expensive than a small town.

What price range are you looking at for hotels? How much time do you have in Italy overall?

One or two prices, etc etc...

Single journey tickets on the trains of the local Circumvesuviana railway:

Naples - Sorrento €3.40
Naples - Pompei €2.40
Sorrento - Pompei €1.90

For details, and some handy PDF maps, see..
http://www.unicocampania.it/index.php?lang=en

Pompei entrance ticket - €11, no readmission

.... or €20 for one that's valid for a single visit to each of the five connected sites, over 3 consecutive days

http://www.pompeiviva.it/pv/en/offer...tadivisita.htm

If you'll be visiting several of the sites in this area, there's also the Campania Artecard...
http://www.artecard.it

Some of the places around here that you might want to see...
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/tele

Peter

PS - if coming down from Rome, this may be of interest..
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-a-budget.cfm

DH and I were staying in Sorrento when we went to Pompeii via train.