Day trip to Pompeii from Rome

My experience is that Pompeii is too far from Rome for an enjoyable daytrip. Also, once you get to Pompeii you are very very close to Sorrento (15 minutes by train) and the beautiful blue ocean with jagged cliffs and elaborate hotels perched on them. If you are going to Pompeii do yourself a favor and stay in Sorrento for the night (2 or 3 if possible) and visit Pompeii from there.

After you've figured out the huge number of hours it will take you to get to Pompeii and back from Rome, may I suggest you consider a day trip to Ostia Antica as an alternative? Depending on the ages of your kids, they might actually enjoy Ostia more. It's almost as large as Pompeii and they can run free among the labyrinths of ruins everywhere. Plus it's nowhere near as crowded as Pompeii. But then again, it doesn't have the tragic romance of Pompeii's destruction.

We have just returned from Italy and loved Ostia Antica and found it more intriging than Pompeii. Only takes an hour to get to and metro/train ticket is 1.10 euro. We spend about 3 hours there on our own and once I figured out the map I was OK.

Carroll,

Check with you hotel, they maybe able to recommend a tour company. Also check expedia.com. The tour company we took is now out of business. It is definately a day trip. We left around 8am and arrived back at 7pm. Sometimes lunch is included. I felt is was worth the trip.

A day trip to Pompeii definitely makes for a long day, but its certainly do-able. Figure something like an 8am - 8pm day. If you're really concerned about time, you can skip a stop-off in Naples and head directly back to Rome.

With a family of five, it will be worth your while to research the train times before you go. There's a direct train from Rome to Naples, but it was something like 36 Euro per person, per way - that's a lot for 5 people! There's also the slower, regional trains that were less than half the cost - you just have to plan appropriately for the time.

See these posts for more info:

http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/18318/day-trips-to-pompeii.html

http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/17561/guided-tour-of-pompei.html

Pompeii is great by yourself, but incredible with a guide like Gaetano.

Good luck!

Bryan

Husband and I took a train from Rome down to Pompeii and back. Seeing Pompeii plus the travel time took a whole day, but we felt it was well worth it.
The train trip itself was a lot of fun, visiting with the locals, etc.

Do some research on Ostia Antica. I think this would be a better option. Round-trip tickets to Pompeii for a family of 5 is going to cost over 150 euro and that's not including the cost of a guide. A bus tour from Rome will be over 100 euro per person. Ostia Antica is only 2 euro per person round-trip and you will be there in under an hour.