Day trip to Pompeii from Rome

It is a long day. Can your mother take a long day with a long walk. Take the train to Naples and change to the Circumvesuviann -- essentially a commuter train between Naples and Sorreto. Get off at Pompeii. The train stops right at the entrance. Pay your admission fees and hire a guide at the entrance. Should be several available, spent some time with them to make sure you understand their English. They will offer you a 2, 3, 4 hours tours and tailored to your interest. We thought the price was reasonable. Pompeii is open with no shade so it can be hot and it is spread out with rough walking surfaces.. There is a small snack shop/restrooms inside. Reverse trip back to Rome.

It would be a long, long day. If this is a bucket list item, try to make it as easy as possible. I would suggest a car to meet you in Naples, wait and bring you back. There might be some economies in bundling that with a guide. We found Pompeii hot, unshaded and with uneven terrain. It might be better in October. If you have limited time and stamina, definitely get a guide. The place is a maze. My sister, who is a trooper and not 82, gave up in the middle of it. In all our travels, I've never seen her do that before then.

Pompeii is an entire city on a hill built with large stones. It's not easy walking. Maybe Herculaneum might be easier?
If it's a must-do, then I definitely would hire a driver you could get a round trip from Sorrento with a guide for about $200.

When they say it's a long day, the ride from Rome to Naples alone is 150 miles. The trains are fast, but there again it's just a long way down there for a day trip.

We did a day trip with The Roman Guy. They picked us up in a van. (We paid extra to be picked up right at our accommodation.) There were 5 of us plus the driver, in total (in November). We met with a guide at Pompeii, arranged by The Roman Guy, who was excellent--he lives in the area, and both his father and uncle were guides at Pompeii, too.

It was a long day, but a good one, and not too strenuous, and there were rest stops on the way to and from.

Pompeii is an incredible site but it is exhausting to try and do it from Rome in a day. Early morning wake up to get breakfast, get to Termini station. Train to Naples takes about one and a half hours. Wait for train to Pompeii; it is supposed to run every20 mins or so, but is known to be irregular; once waited nearly an hour at Pompeii for train to Sorrento in the heat of an afternoon. Be aware that pickpockets ride the train looking for unwary travellers. The Station is close to the site. Then repeat for journey back to Rome. Pompeii has minimal visitor facilities and lacks many places to sit down. You need to carry plenty of water and it’s not a bad idea to grab some food as a picnic.

I liked Herculaneum a lot. It is a much smaller site as much of it remains buried under the modern town. Rather than being buried in ash, it was overtaken by a pyroclastic flow with tragic results for some of the population. There are some stunning in situ mosaics and frescos, early complete buildings.

A lot of people on the forum recommend guide Gaetano Manfredi, check Rick’s Italy or Rome guide books for contact info.

If you think this will all be a bit too much, consider visiting Ostia Antica just outside Rome. Again, a complete Roman city that used to be the port for Rome until the river silted up. Complete, 2 and 3 story buildings, a theatre, temples, trees(!), and level ground for walking on. It’s a short train ride from Rome and Rick’s Rome guide has excellent instructions on how to get there and a tour of the site.

If you were to try and do this, I'd definitely go with a "fast train" train for Rome to Napoli Centrale and back - abt, 70 minutes each way - and a driver from Napoli Centrale to Pompeii and back. That would shave a chunk of time it would otherwise take if going the entire distance by road; far more time sitting in a vehicle than exploring the excavation.

You could also take the Circumvesuviana commuter train from Naples to Pompeii, as previously mentioned. The station for that train, Garibaldi, is connected to Centrale. It's a cheap, battered thing but gets the job done. Mind your valuables - as you should on ANY sort of public transit or tourist-magnet location - and you'd be fine.

But if you've not been to Rome before, there is plenty and more there to keep you occupied for 3.5 days without leaving the city at all. If you are planning to hit the most-visited attractions there (Vatican Museums/St Peter's. Colosseum/Palatine/Forum) you both may find yourself wanting some less strenuous activities during the rest of your time, as just those attractions require a lot of wear on one's feet. As already suggested, Ostia Antica would be a good choice if wishing to see a scavi as it's much closer to Rome than Pompeii and wouldn't eat as much time.

I guess I'm looking at the collective impact of your total plan versus sightseeing JUST Pompeii, if that makes sense?

If it's a must-do, then I definitely would hire a driver you could get
a round trip from Sorrento with a guide for about $200.

Um, our OP would be coming from Rome and not Sorrento? They'd have to backtrack to Pompeii to do it this way: time lost in what would be a long day to begin with.

Other ideas?

...consider visiting Ostia Antica just outside Rome. Again, a complete Roman city that used to be the port for Rome until the river silted up. Complete, 2 and 3 story buildings, a theatre, temples, trees(!), and level ground for walking on. It’s a short train ride from Rome and Rick’s Rome guide has excellent instructions on how to get there and a tour of the site

As already suggested, Ostia Antica would be a good choice if wishing to see a scavi as it's much closer to Rome than Pompeii and wouldn't eat as much time.

I am joining those suggesting Ostia.

The one thing you have in your favor is the time of year. Pompeii won't be the broiler it is in the summer.

If you do choose to do the day trip to Pompeii, the day following should be an 'unstructured' day.

I think you and your trouper mom would do well to hire a private guide. In April 2022, our private guide was excellent at navigating through the crowds and uneven surfaces. At several places, the guides of larger groups would let us cut ahead of their groups. Plus, you can go at your own pace. We were very happy with Askos.

https://www.askostours.com/

Four nights in Rome is only 3 full days, and a trip to Pompeii will take the WHOLE day and maybe leave you and Mom exhausted the next day. I’ll add another vote for Ostia Antica. The ruins are very impressive: beautiful mosaics, an amphitheater, a forum area, houses and shops. And can be done in a half day from Rome, leaving time for another activity in the afternoon/evening.

I would suggest that you read Sarah Murdoch’s blog on a day trip to Pompeii from Rome. Sarah was / is a guide for Rick. Here is the link to her blog post: https://www.adventureswithsarah.net/blog/travel-tutorial-day-trip-rome-to-pompeii?rq=Pompei.

We did it in two days because you need to visit the museum in Naples that holds many of the actual artifacts.

One day can be to Naples and back can be strenuous.