Day Trip to Pompeii

I have not been to Pompeii yet, but it is on my wish list! I saved some older posts to help me with future plans, and this one might be useful:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/pompeii-fay-trip

Rome to Pompeii seems like a very long slog of a day trip to me, especially given the long train travel day on Sept 5 and an early flight from FCO the following day, Sept 7 (which I assume is your flight home). Another consideration is that it will be quite hot in Pompeii on Sept 6. No shade among the ruins.

All of the above would be a show stopper for me, but perhaps others who have done it have found it feasible. If you search the forum, you'll find other posts about Pompeii that may be helpful.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/pompeii-day-trip-from-rome-2c38f926-9036-480d-95fd-403dd7694e4a

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/pompeii-archaeological-museum-in-1-day-from-rome

We did it and enjoyed it very much. It IS a long day, but if that's what would work for your itinerary, it is definitely doable.

We did a day tour to Pompeii and Sorrento with The Roman Guy (aka The Tour Guy). But you can also take the train yourself and hire your own guide at the scavi, I'm told.

I seem to remember a fast train out of Rome to Naples then the local train from Nap!es to Pompeii you also might get more responses if you post under the Italy part of the forum as this section is for reviews about Italy. Perhaps more people will respond I know there are a couple.of things you should be aware of with you going to Pompeii and I don't want to steer you wrong. it has been three years since we did this. One sure piece of advice is to take plenty of water, sunscreen and some type of hat. There is no shade that I remember and it can be very hot there..

Pompei is both a small city with its own train station and the more famous archeological site. If you want to plan this trip remember that there are TWO Pompei stations. One at the north end of the archeological site which is the one served by the rickety Circumvesuviana train (recommended by Rick from Naples) and the Pompei town station itself that is quite near the opposite end of the site. There is an entrance to the site there too, or you can walk the length of the site outside and then head back through the main entrance and the site itself and exit nearer the main station. Trenitalia trains to Pompei station (with a change in Naples) take about 2 hours. 8am arrives about 10. Have fun but recognize that after a two week trip fatigue will be a real factor. Ostica Antica is a LOT easier and still very scenic.

For less wear and tear, look at going to Ostia Antica. You can be done mid to late afternoon and have a relaxed last dinner before you have to pack to head for home.

Hi Chrissy, I did a Pompeii day trip from Rome last week (part 4 of this post https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-rome) and it was totally doable. There's a faster train and a slower train to Naples, go with the faster one, it isn't expensive. The circumvesuviana schedule can be found online here https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule so you can plan. If you do a Pompeii tour you will need to keep in mind that the circumvesuviana train comes only twice an hour so planning the timing is important. It's a quick walk from the Pompeii archaeological site to the Pompeii town for lunch if you want and then there are two train stations in town you can take back to Naples. Give yourself lots of buffer time to get back to Naples before your train back to Rome as again, the trains are infrequent.

C, thank you very much for your TR on a daytrip to Pompeii. Two small additions:

• While it's great to eat at a real restaurant, in modern Pompeii city, it's important to know that you cannot re-enter Pompeii Scavi with a same-day ticket! Maybe on a same-day runout, you had no desire to go back in!
• Not in conjunction with Pompeii, we had pizza in Naples, but had to wait an hour for our seats in Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo. That's a problem when you are doing a quick out and back trip ...
• It's useful to understand that whether it has a different name or not, the "station" for the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii (or Sorrento) is located DIRECTLY BENEATH the huge Napoli Centrale long-distance train station. An escalator with a long, air conditioned, marble-tile-floored hallway connects the two train companies there. It's not a matter of "finding" another station, really.
• You are right that it's desirable to take the fast (Frecciarossa) train from Rome to Naples, about 1:10 versus 3:00. But if you buy an advance, discounted ticket, it is likely to be NON-changeable, NON-refundable. So do not miss your departure time.

Thank you to all who contributed to my Pompeii day-trip education. We've decided to spend the last two days and nights Ostia. We think the recommendation to visit Ostia Antica on our last day before flying back to the US is an excellent option. It will be much more relaxing with less risk of heat exhaustion and missed trains. We'll save Pompeii for the next Italy trip when we explore Sicily!
I appreciate all of you,
Chrissy

I just got back from Italy and we made a day trip to Pompeii on 3/20. It is definitely doable and pretty easy logistically (I speak no Italian and this was my first trip to Italy), but it is a full day. We took a high speed train to Naples at around 9:30am, then caught the next Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento and hopped off at the Pompeii Scavi station. You buy the Circumvesuviana tickets at the station. It is very much like taking the subway in NYC. It is standing room only, but it only takes 35 minutes or so to get there. You have to get the tickets validated, but I read that they do not really check because the trains are crowded and that seems right based on my experience. The gate reader validated the ticket in Naples and there are machines in the station at Pompeii to do it.

The entrance to the park is right next to the Circumvesuviana station. There are a few crappy places to eat there before you go in and not much else. We took a guided tour for 2 hours. The tour ended just after 4 and my family wanted to head back rather than explore more on our own. We caught a return train to Naples at around 4:30/4:35pm. Because I was trying to build in extra time for issues, our return train did not leave Naples until 8:30. So we ventured into Naples just to the Via dei Tribunali to wander a bit and get pizza. By the time we got back to the station, it was almost time for our train. We took a cab from Termini station to our apartment and were in bed around 10:30.

I think you made the correct decision --- save it for the next trip. AND -- to really get the most out of a Pompeii visit you need to visit the museum in Naples. This is where all the good stuff from Pompeii is on display and you need to see that. Pompeii is a day and a half to two full day visits. Go see Ostia Antica. It is a large park with lots of shade trees. It is an orange and apple comparison but still worth a visit. Much more relaxing.