Hi,
I will be in Rome and Naples in May. I understand it is best to buy tickets on line for particular days for things such as Pompeii or Vatican city Museum.
Does anyone have the links to the websites to do this. I have found some but I don't know if they are legit or not.
For example I was looking at Pompeii and there is a ticket agency tiqets.com not sure if this is the best one to use.
Thanks
Vatican Museums:
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html
Pompeii (although I don't know as pre-purchasing for this one is really necessary):
http://www.pompeiisites.org/index.jsp?idProgetto=2
Colosseum/Forum/Palatine:
https://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm
Galleria Borghese (pre-reservations are mandatory for this one):
http://www.galleriaborghese.it/en/home_en/borghese-gallery-and-museum
Thanks Kathy,
Do you know if there is a bus or train from Sorrento to Pompeii. I've been looking at the schedules and I don,t see a route other than going to Naples first.
Thanks
The train to Pompeii from Sorrento is the Circumvesuviana. Do you have the Rick Steves Italy Guidebook? He explains access and transportation extremely well.
Yes, you go from Rome to Naples on the national railways. The high-speed train takes an hour. Then the local Circumvesuviana connects Naples-Herculaneum-Pompeii-Sorrento (runs every half hour, schedules not reflected on most train schedule sites). (Then from Sorrento onward to the Amalfi Coast is by bus.)
As said above, you want to take the Circumvesuviana train from Sorrento to Pompeii. You want to get off at Pompei Scavi - Villa dei Misteri station, which is right in front of the main entrance to the scavi.
Current schedule both ways is here:
http://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule
Tickets are really cheap and easily purchased at the train station in Sorrento. You can purchase round-trip tickets (you'll get two, one for each way) and do NOT forget to validate them before boarding the trains.
Thanks Kathy,
Do you know if you go south of Sorrento to Paestum do you have to go up to Naples and back down or does a local train go that way?
Ventures, I haven't done Paestum from Sorrento myself but I know it's a time-consuming pain by public transit and not usually recommended from that location. This thread seems to indicate that it's about a three-hour trip from Sorrento each way (Sorrento > bus to Salerno> train or bus to Paestum).
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/train-sorrento-to-paestum-or-pompeii-herculaneum
The couple at the end of this thread did it via Circumvesuviana to Pompeii, taxi to the Trenitalia train station, and train to Paestum, which probably cut a little time but they also said. "It is tricky to get there this way."
Another thread on the subject:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/the-amalfi-peninsula-travel-from-sorrento-to-paestum
Great, Thanks Kathy.
Why are the trains so expensive in Switzerland and so cheap in Italy?
I have had a lot of luck (in Rome/ Sicily/ France/ Ireland/ Scotland/ Spain) using Expedia. I put in the dates and it will show me what activities are available. Buy the voucher (it will either tell you where to meet the guides or there will be hotel pick up) and you are all set.
There's no need to use Expedia for attraction tickets/tours when you can order most of them them directly from the attractions themselves.
