Comments on: Visiting Pompeii in Italy

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:41:35 +0000

Here are some thoughts:

* I think your itinerary is a bit aggressive for only 11 days. I would encourage you to look up how long it takes to get from place to place on the train before you commit to that schedule. You can do it all, but it won’t be as relaxing as you might want for a honeymoon.

* There seems to always be work going on at Pompeii, and I’ve no idea what will be open or closed there by May. You can usually check the official website which lists major closings.

* There are no trains on the Amalfi coast at all. You’d need to take a bus to Sorrento, and then a train from there to Pompeii. Your other alternative would be to hire a private tour guide in Amalfi (there are a few) who would drive you over the mountains to Pompeii.

* Given your itinerary, I’d say you’re better off sticking to using trains for your trip. Driving in/out of those busy tourist cities is a real headache.

A couple links that may help you:
http://www.italylogue.com/destinations/the-amalfi-coast.html
http://www.italylogue.com/planning-a-trip/how-to-create-the-perfect-italy-itinerary.html

By: Eric & Jennifer

Eric & Jennifer — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:41:44 +0000

Hi there, we are a married couple from shanghai, planning our honeymoon for 2 years now, and we decided to visit Italy in early May this year. We have 11 days and initially our plan will be visiting Rome Florence Venice Pompeii & Amalfi. This will be our first ever visit to Italy. Would be most appreciated if anyone out there can give us some advice and useful info. for our reference:
Would it be more convenient and time saving (in getting from destination to destination) to hire a car for travel between cities in Italy?
Is Pompeii under any renovation at the moment in which might not be the best time for visiting in May?
Is there any train that we can take to travel from Amalfi to Pompeii (we plan to stay in Amalfi and travel to Pompeii for visit)?
Will appreciate any of your kind advice.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:22:41 +0000

For a 3-day visit to Naples, I’d suggest staying in the historic center and taking one day trip to Pompeii/Herculaneum, and one day trip to Sorrento – the remaining day can be spent in Naples visiting the archaeological museum, the “underground Naples” tour, and just enjoying the city itself.

Here’s my article about the Campania Artecard, the region’s discount card:
http://www.italylogue.com/planning-a-trip/naples-at-a-discount-campania-artecard.html

Here are some hotels in the historic center of Naples:
http://www.italylogue.com/accommodation/hotels-in-naples-historic-center.html

And here’s my article about the top 10 things to do in Naples:
http://www.italylogue.com/featured-articles/top-10-things-to-do-in-naples.html

By: Sheri

Sheri — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:18:17 +0000

We are a family of 4 adults traveling to Naples/Sorrento to visit Pompeii. We will be there March 20th until the 23rd of March, a short trip. We will definitely be seeing Pompeii and all its related archaeological sites. We also want to see the Underground Markets in Naples. We need suggestions of what else we can see on such a short trip. Can you help with which travel card we would need and when and where we should purchase them? We also do not have a hotel so if you could suggest one (a 4 star if possible) it would be appreciated. We want to use the trains and not a car or tours. If you could email me as soon as possible I would appreciate it as we leave in less than a month!
Sheri

By: Anil Iyer

Anil Iyer — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 15:06:58 +0000

Just a word of advice for anyone with children visiting the ruins at Pompeii. Firstly definitely take them; they will love it! Secondly if you are from the UK or anywhere else in the EU take all your passports as you will need to demonstrate EU citizenship of the children to qualify for child discounts; otherwise you could end up paying the full adult fee for them.

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 09:31:40 +0000

thanks for your advice Jessica. I’ll stick to the two main ones I really want to see Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:52:02 +0000

Hi, Mary:

Without even looking up travel times, I would suggest that it’s not possible to see all of those things in 12 hours. But if you’d like to do more research, your best bet would be to start looking up train times on the Trenitalia website. Once you start piecing together how much time it takes to get from station to station, and adding the amount of time to get from stations to the sites you want to see, and then the amount of time you want to explore those sights – and remember, this is Italy, so things often take longer than they should – you’re looking at a lot of time spent in transit between your three chosen destinations, completely leaving any time to explore each place out of the equation.

If your cruise line offers private tours, and those three places are really on your must-see list, that might be a good reason to go with one of those tours (assuming there’s a tour that includes all three). My guess is even the cruise line will offer two but probably not all three of those places in one day.

Ciao,
Jessica

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:37:32 +0000

Hi Jessica,
We are going to Salerno in August as part of a cruise. We will be there from 7am to 7pm. Do you think its possible to do Mt Vesuvius, Pompeii and Amalfi in this time. We are hoping to use public transport from Salerno and I’m having difficulty finding good directions from the Port. Could you please advise me the best way to get to these areas from Salerno. Many thanks for your time.
regards
Mary

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:44:19 +0000

One of my favorite guide companies in Italy is Context Travel – they run day trips to Pompeii from Naples, I know that. What I don’t know is whether they have tours that are especially good for kids. You should be able to contact them and find out, however:

http://contexttravel.com/home/

I also met with a guide in Naples – a woman who was born & raised in the city. She runs guided tours of Naples & the surrounding area, & she’s a mom (her kids are college age now). Again, there are unknowns here – I’m not sure whether she runs Pompeii tours, or whether she does tours that are particularly kid-oriented. But she might know of someone locally, if she’s not the right person:

http://www.italylogue.com/featured-articles/a-passionate-naples-tour-guide-marina-de-martino.html

By: Johanne Coker

Johanne Coker — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:22:29 +0000

Hi Jessica

We are going to be visiting Pompeii with three young boys in the middle of August and in order to get the most out of the trip before the heat and history overwhelm them, have been advised to book a guide before hand. The only trouble is, no one seems to know how to find a reputable guide, especially one who will be able to catch the children’s attention (they are one 7 and two 9 year olds). Can you help?