Greetings!
My sister and I will be spending a week in Rome at the end of February 2020. We plan to take a day trip by train to Florence one day and Pompeii another. Do you advise booking trains in advance from the US or wait until we get there and purchase at the terminal? We were also considering buying a bus pass so we can get around the city on public transport. Is it suggested a Roma Pass is worth getting?
Any guidance or help would be greatly appreciated!
How many days will you have in Rome, not counting the arrival and departure days? Florence and Pompeii would both be very long day trips. There's so much to do in Rome, consider your plans for Rome carefully. By doing too much, you might short shrift all three.
Both Florence and Pompeii are extremely long day trips. Florence deserves more than a partial day.
You can book in advance for discounted tix as long as you are committed- no refunds/no changes.
Waiting til day of does allow some flexibility- I'd not want to have a trip booked to Pompeii on a rainy day- been there done that!
The "day of" price will be significantly higher.
Alternate suggestion- do a day trip to Orvieto- closer and smaller than Florence, will give you a taste of a medieval hill town.
Ostia Antica gets rave reveiws here as a Pompeii alternative. Local transport- so no need to book in advance
Roma Pass is usually not a good buy- you'll need to do the math to see if it is worth it to you.
We have never taken a bus or tram or metro at all in Rome- it is very walkable- the bus won't get you near most of the sights as those are in pedestrianized areas. Depends on where you are staying whether you will need to use any public transpo at all.
If you haven't already- do pick up a copy of RS Rome guide- it will be invaluable to you.
Have you looked on the Trenitalia website to map out the train rides to see what your day will look like? The day trip to Florence is doable, and I recommend it, but to Pompeii is long (4-5 hours). Having been to both places twice i would say do the Florence day trip only and save Pompeii when you can explore that whole area because it is so beautiful. Have you mapped out your days in Rome and what you want to see? You may find that it's a stretch to even loose one day to visit Florence.
As alternates, Tivoli and Ostia Antica are two more realistic day trips for one week in Rome. Orvieto is also a good idea. But check weather forecasts or climate record websites.
I advise booking in advance if you're taking the fast trains, it will be cheaper. You'll be locked in to the day and time your purchase, however. A day trip from Rome to Florence is doable, as it takes about 1.5 hours each way on the fast train. A day trip to Pompeii from Rome is much longer, I think about 3 or 3.5 hours each way (on the fast train to Naples, then on a regional train to Pompeii Scava). That makes for a very long day just in transit and not much time to enjoy Pompeii, which is wonderful.
You may wish to consider visiting Ostia Antica just outside of Rome for similar ruins since you're on limited time.
The Roma Pass includes limited museum entries as well as transportation (bus/metro). Check their website here for specific info. Read carefully, it can be a bit complicated.
If you just want a transportation pass, check this Rome Metro site for info on options and prices for transport tickets. It really depends on how many consecutive days you'll need it and how often you'll really use the bus and metro. Single tickets are €1.50 and the 3-day pass is €16.50.
Good luck and enjoy Roma!
I did check the train schedules to Pompeii and the fast train is roughly 3 hours. You might be right about it being a long day. We were just wondering if it was doable for a day trip. Probably not. Florence is less then 2 hours so it might be a nice side trip. We are aware it will be a quick there and back.
Right now we're trying to figure out what is doable and what isn't. Ostia Antica is definitely on my list. I was in Orvieto last year but my sister has not been, so that's a great idea as a possibility! Thank you for that suggestion! We will have 5 full days to do a few things off the beaten path. Just tossing out ideas right now.
Thank you all for your comments!
When you DO finally make plans to go to Pompeii, be aware the fast train only goes as far as Napoli Centrale, where you catch another slower train more along the line of a commuter train.
I would not enjoy a day trip to Pompeii coming from and returning to Rome.
When I visited, we stopped on the way back from Sorrento. We were not under any time constraints that had us rushing to leave the archaeological site. It's very sprawling and you could easily spend hours there and still want to see more. Not a leisurely visit if you've spent 3 hours on a train and are looking at 3 more getting back.
I agree ribaholic. I think we'll wait until we have more time. Florence is doable, but not Pompeii. Thank you for replying!
Yes, Pompeii is too far as a day trip. Look at images for Ostia Antica, it's not everyone's cup of tea. I loved it and spent ages roaming around, my wife couldn't stand it.
A long trip really worth the effort? The Garden of Ninfa, the centre of the universe.
I know a fellow - we actually share an office - living in Rome and commuting 5 days a week to work in Florence. So Florence is a feasible day trip - what you will manage to see in a single day is another question. Pompei needs too much time for a day trip.
I went on a small group tour to Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli. It was worth it. The guide was good and it saved time and hassles to be driven to Hadrian's Villa and back. Learning about and seeing Hadrian's Villa first gave me a much better appreciation for the Villa d'Este. If you want more time in Villa d'Este and to wander around Tivoli, you should have the option of staying and getting back to Rome on your own. I thought about it, but starting to get tired.
I used buses, trams and the metro quite a bit on my visits to Rome. For me the sights are spread out and riding saves me time and gives my legs a rest. Remember, Rome is built on hills.
Not that I'm pushing the idea but you can do Rome> Pompeii Scavi in far less than 3 hours one-way, if so inclined. As mentioned above, you take a "fast" Trenitalia or Italo train to Napoli Centrale (abt 70 minutes) and then the Circumvesuviana commuter train from Napoli Garibaldi to Pompei S. Villa Misteri station (about 35 minutes). The scavi station is just outside the main entrance to the excavation (Porta Marina entrance).
Napoli Centrale and Napoli Garibaldi are connected; you walk inside from one to the other. As with all 'fast' trains, you'll generally be able to land some savings if booking in advance but the least expensive tickets are non-changeable and non-refundable. Circumvesuviana tickets cannot be purchased in advance but they're really cheap; just purchase at the station.
The Circ. is an unlovely thing (think 'L' trains in Chicago) but it's what the locals use and it gets the job done. Just keep a tight control of your valuables...which shouldn't be difficult as you wouldn't be traveling with a lot of baggage, and which you should do sightseeing pretty much everywhere anyway.
You want the Naples> Sorrento Circ. line; schedules here (scroll down for trains heading back to Naples):
https://www.eavsrl.it/web/sites/default/files/allegati/Orario%20Napoli%20Sorrento%20con%20Pozzano%20e%20Scraio%20e%20viceversa.pdf
And an abbreviated 2019 version (middle stops tourists generally don't need left off chart) to get a handle in English:
https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule
And some info from Man in Seat 61 on how to do all of the above, although he doesn't note that you can also use Italo for the Rome> Naples leg, and you can buy tickets directly through Trenitalia or Italo sites versus from italiarail.
https://www.seat61.com/places-of-interest/day-trip-to-pompeii.htm
Don't try visiting those places on a day trip from Rome.
First- Lodging is cheaper in Florence than Rome, love the Hotel Balesteri there. Near Pompeii, love Sorrento, you will be glad you stayed there.
Second- There is so much to see in both places, especially Florence, you can't do it in one day. If you only have a week in Rome, suggest that you save these places for another trip. Do a day trip to Ostia Antiqua instead, it is a bit like Pompeii.
Third- When you come back to Italy, so Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast (about 3-4 days worth). Also, you need 3-4 days for Florence and perhaps another day for a day trip to Siena.
elle, just be careful to read the exact advice that was given, switching trains (and train companies) in Naples. The Frecciarossa or Trenitalia that might stop "in Pompeii" stops in Modern Pompeii, a mile from the ancient site. The Circumvesuviana train stops across the street from the Porta Marina entrance to the ancient city.
Just to point out that Kathy's math may be a little misleading. Factor in the time to get from your hotel to Termini Station, add a little lead time to find and board your train. In Naples you'll need a few minutes (10-15) to go from the train to the Circumvesuviana station and buy tickets. The trains run about every half hour and it's not unusual for them to be late. So you may have a 30-40 minute wait on the platform. On the return, you'll want to allow considerable lead time to Naples, since the CV train could be late and you'll need time to traverse the station (maybe in rush hour) and then to find and board your train. That's why someone said it's close to 3 hours each way.
The fast train between Naples and Rome isn't cheap. You can save money by buying in advance. Right now you can get tickets for mid-February at the super economy fare of €24.90 each. The full fare is €48. If you buy in advance, you risk going on a bad weather day (rain is not your friend in Pompeii!!). Also, you must get to Naples in time to board the return train to Rome. If you wait until you get back to Naples after Pompeii, you not pay full fare but you may also have to stand in line to buy the tickets.
Maybe I should have been more clear: When I said it could be done in less than 3 hours from Rome, I meant less than 3 hours actually sitting on transport. This is an important distinction for me as practically all of the escorted bus tours to the scavi from Rome involve at least 3+ hours, each way, just sitting on that bus. While it goes without saying that there is time involved in getting to a station and buying tickets, and that waits between trains can vary, two 90 min + 35 min. train trips feel much less tedious/time-consuming to me than two 3+ hour trips captive in a bus seat, if one of the many escorted tours was under consideration.
Visiting independently also gives you more time to explore the vast excavation than tours from Rome allow. Is Ostia Antica an easier, less risky choice for an impromptu day trip? Without a doubt! Still, if willing to put in the time and energy - and a certain amount of risk or $ involving train tickets Rome>Naples and back - Pompeii is within reach. Tourists do it all the time, not that any of us would advise it in all situations! :O)
RT Circ. tickets can be purchased in Naples, eliminating the need to buy at both ends.
I am doing this in a few months, taking the fast train to/from Naples, and the Circ to/from Pompeii. It doesn't seem tedious at all to me, but then again I think that riding the Circumvesuviana is a fun experience that I want my kids to have so I may be a bit messed up in the head.
