Day trip Rome to Pompeii

Because of its huge size, most visitors to Pompeii need 3-4 hours to complete their visit. Every Sunday, there is a new high-speed train route that goes from Rome to Pompeii in 1:47. It is Trenitalia Train #9693 which departs Rome at 8:53 am and arrives at Pompei train station at 10:40am. Trenitalia train # 9568 returns to Rome at 8:55 pm after departing Pompei at 6:40pm . This is faster than the usual high-speed train ride that requires 70 train minutes going to Naples, then changing to the local commuter trains of the Circumvesuviano line ( which have no AC and no reserved seats). This adds about 50 minutes to the journey. It also takes time to change trains in Naples, making the total around 2.5 hours to get from Rome to Pompeii.
While most casual visitors spend an average of 2-3 hours at Pompeii, the more keenly interested spend 3-4 hours inside the archaeological park. If you take a tour from Rome that uses a bus to get to Pompeii, they usually only spend 90 minutes at the archaeological site and this means you will not have the time to meaningfully see it after traveling so far to do so and carving out an entire day for it.

This is sounding interesting! Is tha train easily accessible to the àncient Pompeii site?
I am assuming there is a returning express Sunday train to Rome too?

Use the search, Pompeii Day Trips, function on this site and you will find dozen of hours of discussion on this subject. Pompeii is not well suited for a day trip. It can be done but it is a long day doing it. Pompeii, itself, is massive with no trees, no shade so it can be hot and very tiring. And you can easily spend six, eight hours just scratching the surface. There are guides available at the entrance. Employ one as they are important to getting a good overview if your time is tight.

Second, and this is almost as critical, all the "good stuff" has been moved and displayed at the national museum in Naples. And it is easy to spend a half day or more just viewing the exhibits. To fully understand and appreciate the Pompeii story you really need to visit the museum.

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

Don't forget how blisteringly hot and sunny it is in June, and how crowded the area is.

Hi Manager, Yes-- All included, a ticket on the the new train route departs Rome Termini station and arrives at the Pompei train station, from where a 5-10 minute shuttle takes you to the Pompeii ruins. In the afternoon, the shuttle returns you to the Express train returning to Rome Termini. You can buy your tickets to the archaeological park right on the train and watch a movie previewing Pompeii.

Kenko, I'm curious, does a ticket on the new express train guarantee one a seat? This comes from someone having had to stand on the gritty Crcumvesuviana train after being hot and on her feet all day at Pompeii. One looks forward to sitting on a train, and that doesn't always happen on regional trains in Italy. What classification is the new service?
Thanks and safe travels .

Hi Pat, Yes, the new Express train is a Trenitalia Frecciarosa 1000 and essentially is a dedicated train for travelers going to see the Pompeii archaeological park that includes an assigned seat with the ticket. For €2 more, you can choose your own seat. There is a new Pompeii train station being built for these Express trains right at the archaeological park which is due to be completed in 2024. Trenitalia will be adding trains once the new train station is completed. Until then, the shuttle will get visitors to the park entrance.
Trenitalia has the tickets for the Pompeii Express train priced around €29 each way, but has discounted tickets for as low as €18 each way.
With more than 20 million visitors traveling to Pompeii every year, there finally is an inexpensive direct route for millions to visit without needing to remember the word “Circumvesuviano.”
Happy New Year!🎊
www.Trenitalia.it

Hi...are there any recommended tours that meet the direct train from Rome at Pompeii and allow one to visit Pompeii and other sites and then connect back to the return direct train from Pompeii to Rome. The time interval between the return direct trains to Rome from Pompeii is very long (7+ hours) - so are there any tours that best utilise this available time.

Visiting Rome in September, and we'd like to do a day trip to Pompeii. I understand it is a long day. We will probably do it on a Wednesday or Thursday. Any chance the new train to Pompeii from Rome will be running during the week by then? If we need to book in advance, where do we do that? Do we need to book the tour of Pompeii in advance? Where?

I would take that new high speed train, put bags in lockers and tour Pompeii then proceed another 30 minutes to Sorrento, eat some good food, and spend the night.,

I look at things differently. Sorrento seems more a place people go to make day trips to other places than a place with important sights of its own, so I wouldn't want to pay the elevated hotel rates in Sorrento just to spend the night there and return to Rome the next morning.