Is anyone familiar with parking options at Herculaneum? We are planning to go in September and thought instead of the train we could drive to there and Pompeii before getting rid of the car. Rick's book mentions parking at Pompeii, but nothing about Herculaneum. Any parking tips re.Pompeii would also be appreciated.
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
2625 posts
I wouldn't want to drive around there myself - it was pretty crazy and I was happy to be a passenger. We did, however park at Herculaneum. There is a little parking garage right there. You have to pay to park but it wasn't a ton of money. Exit the garage and you're right at Herculaneum. It was a great visit and not very crowded when we were there in April.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16894 posts
The time that I parked at Herculaneum is not memorable, which means that it went fine. The part that is memorable was getting off the autostrade one exit too soon (when coming from Sorrento), and then needing a whole additional hour to reach Herculaneum via smaller roads, which were crowded with traffic doing every wrong thing you can think of. If you drive, then stick to the highways for as long as possible. Train is easy if your home base is along the Circumvesuviana rail line (running from Naples to Sorrento).
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7337 posts
Rick, you didn't say where you're going to drop the car and sleep. I'm sure September is better than high season, but even in May we found heavy traffic and narrow roads. You cannot use American experience to make decisions in southern Italy. The Circumvesuviana is annoyingly crowded, but if you don't have luggage, it is perfect for Herc and Pomp. Pomp is right at the station, Herc is a 15 minute walk, downhill.
Our whole reason for staying in Sorrento was the excellent transit propects.