Day trip from Rome to Pompei

We plan to stay in Sorrento (with a car) and day trip to Pompeii, MtV, capri, amalfi coast drive, etc.
Most people told us not to day trip to pompeii, as its an all day thing (2.5h drive each way). You can look into getting a driver from rome for the trip (about $500 for the day). Others told us to check out the old port town 1/2h train ride from rome (also nice, but its not pompeii).

If I may suggest, you can take the fast train (Alta Velocita) from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale. Then move from the federal train system to the Circumvesuviana(regional system) and get on the train to Sorrento and get off at Pompei Scavi (trip takes apporx. 45 min). There is a train from Rome to Naples 07:25/08:52 - train Alta Velocita 9601. Then you take the Regional to Pompeii. to reach the Vesuvius you must get off at Herculaneum (Ercolano station) which is before pompeii and also carries outstanding ruins. You might want to do both (I suggest Pompeii than Herculaneum). and you can check about doing the visit to the Vesuvius as well, then you can take the last fast train to Rome and call for a soup and room service for a nice night of sleep after the day.
Let me know if you need further help.
Cinthya

Cynthia is exactly correct. Please don't waste your time looking at RailEurope for train schedules because they don't have all of the trains/destinations in their database. Intead you can look at the Italian website www.trenitalia.com for trains from Roma Tremini to Naples. The Circumvesuviana train (Naples to Pompeii Scavi) is not listed on the trenitalia website because it's a local commuter train.

So it takes 45min to get from Rome to Pompeii?

Thanks Cinthya! One more question...

We are going to be using a Eurail Global Pass while we're there. Do you know if this pass covers the regional train sytem as well as the federal train system?

Your Eurail pass will take you to Naples, but not to Pompeii. The Circumvesuviana line through Pompeii is privately-owned, so you'll have to purchase your tickets in Naples. Depending on how much you'll be travelling, you also might want to check point to point tickets between destinations, certainly for Italy, since it is one of the least efficient places to get value out of a Eurail Pass. The Italian national rail website to check schedules and prices is at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

David, take a look at the Trenitalia site Tim posted and you'll have the answer of how long it takes to get from Rome to Naples. As Cinthya posted, you then change trains to the regional system to go to Pompeii.

Circumvesuviana tickets are very very cheap.

Cinthya's message says it takes 1.5 hrs to get from Rome to Naples, then another 45 minutes from Naples to Pompeii, not allowing for wait time for the trains.

OK, I feel better now.
So it would still be a 12 hour day just to spend 2-3 hours at Pompeii. I like the idea of "NOT" making this a day trip even more now. We plan to see other things like capri, etc. thats why a day trip is out for us. I still dont think you will have time to see pompeii and Mt.V and enjoy them.

You could just go and see Pompeii and not go to Vesuvius. We did a day trip by bus once to Pompeii and it was fine. However, this time we are going to do the trip on our own so we can spend more time in Pompeii. However, to do Pompeii and the Mt. may be a little much. I do recommend going to Pompeii. It is amazing. You won't believe what they have uncovered and where there is still to uncover.