Day Trips from Rome to Pompeii and Capri

Why do you need to repeat Rome for 5 additional nights? Although I wouldn't do it, it sounds like you're committed to the first 5 in Rome and the 3 in Venice. By then, the kids(and maybe you guys) will be wore out by museums and churches and canals.

Go to Sorrento and the Amalfi coast and let the kids bust loose! Swimming! Hiking! Scary bus rides along the coast! Don't know their ages, but wear them out outside and take the train back to Rome the day before you fly home.

A day trip from Roma to Pompeii is doable, but a day trip to Capri is not. If you went to Amalfi for several days you could add the Capri trip.

Why are you staying in Roma twice? You could, just as easy, visit in Florence as another destination. Also, you could add a few days to Roma for the day trips and still see Florence or the Amalfi, as the previous poster suggested. It makes more sense to use a train for sequential trips to avoid long ones that are time consuming. For example, you could stop at Florence after leaving Venice. Then you could go to the Amalfi, which would be a shorter train ride.

Another strategy you could have used is flying open jaws. This means fly into Venice and home from Roma. This is an efficient plan that elimates back tracking.

Buon viaggio,

RB

Just to add one more voice to the chorus, you are severely shortchanging yourself in Italy if you spend 10 of your 13 nights in Rome. Maybe you should rethink your entire itinerary if it's not too late. With 13 nights, you could easily see Rome, Venice, Florence, and/or the Amalfi peninsula. And RB is right, a day trip from Rome to Capri is not feasible.

Of course you didn't say how many kids you have and how old they are, and I know that could make a big difference..

We're just back for the 4/30 Venice, Florence, Rome tour (with 12 extra nights further south.

Taking the "easy way out," we left Rome on Carrani Tours for a trip to Pompeii ( 115 Euros each) with an en-route 45 minutes walk-about in Naples, a lunch before arrival in Pompeii and two-hour guided tour of the ruins.

Skipping the return trip, we took a short taxi ride to the Hotel Diana for three fantastic days in
modern Pompeii. The location was ideal for walking to the Theater entrance to the ruins, to the train for a day trip to Herculaneum and very nice local restaurants and a drop-off laundry.

Modern Pompeii was a nice transition between our five nights in Rome and the vacation finale - four nights on Ischia and two in Naples.

We felt it was money well spent, compared with scheduling TrenItalia and the Circumvesuviana from Rome to Naples to Pompeii.

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the tip! Did you find it difficult booking and traveling via train?

Based on all the great suggestions, we changed our itinerary a bit.

Flying in to Rome for 5 nights then taking the train to Venice for 2 nights, then down to Florence for 2 more night and train/local to Sorrento for 3 nights and back to Rome for the night prior to flying out.

I was thinking of buying tickets and reserving seats once we get to Rome. Not sure if it's a smart idea or if we should try to book everything here before we leave since we'll be traveling in prime vacation season.

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions! More are always welcome.

I agree with Tom about modern Pompeii. We went there for 2 nights after Rome. We stayed at the Hotel Amleto and used the middle day to see the whole of the Ruins. If you go on a bus trip with 2 hours in the ruins, you see a small portion. Seeing the ruins at our own pace, we got to see more and it seemed more relaxing. The town is set around a square that faces the Cathedral and it just seems relaxing after Rome.

Have a Great Trip!

We are flying into Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome then leaving our luggage in Rome for a day trip to Paestum to see the Greek temples, then overnight in Sorrento, Naples/Pompeii the next day then train back to Rome that evening. You might think about some time in Sorrento to let the kids relax (?) or a day or two in Sienna.

This is what I did two years ago. Rome 3 nights, Amalfi 2 nights, Florence 3 nights, Venice 3 nights, then 1 night back in Rome for departure the next day.

Last year, I did this itinerary. Rome 4 nights, Florence 4 nights, Venice 4 nights, Bologna 3 nights, then 1 night back in Rome for departure the next day.

My next trip will include many more days along the Amalfi coast(probably 4 or 5 nights), as we really did not see much only staying for 2 nights.