Italy - Pompeii,Positano Amalfi coast day trip

Pompeii, Positano and Amalfi coast are a lot to do in a single day. For adults. If you wake up in nearby.

From Rome (and back)? With kids? That's crazy.

And adding in Vesuvius, too, on top of all that? Come on...are you trying to kill yourself?

What you're suggesting is not realistic. Which makes me take a second look at your overall plan - which is probably not realistic either.

You're flying in to Milan, but not staying there? So why fly there?

Do you really have "8 days" in Italy? Are you counting your arrival or departure days in that? Are you arriving on a long flight, or just popping in from someplace close by?

You didn't say if this is in high season, when the trip you describe is sweltering and sun-baked. You can, if you absolutely insist, do ONE of the three places you named in a day trip from Rome. But it is not recommended on an eight day trip to Italy. You cannot do more than one of them. Rome is good for lots more than 3 days, and two hours each way on crowded trains will be no pleasure for the children. You are right that Vesuvius is not recommended for young kids, especially under a beating sun. Pompeii has uneven stone roads which can trip up even adult legs, and are tiring to walk. Please select a more reasonable plan for Ancient Rome - either within the city of Rome, or at most, Ostia Antica or Hadrian's Villa. There is LOTS of Ancient Rome in Rome ... ....

If you use the Search Box at top center, you can learn about the trips you proposed, and maybe get an idea that they are too much for your schedule and family. Also, if it next month (?????) you don't have discount train ticket options from Rome-Naples, where you change to the jammed, edgy urban commuter train to Pompeii Scavi.

Hi
I agree. I need to give more details. We will be there in August (sweltering hot). Sounds like Mt. Vesuvius is out. We need to decide if we want to go to Pompeii or Positano/Sorrento or some other area instead. The sites will tire the kids out and thought of Sorrento as a break for them.

I would not try to do Pompeii, Positano, and Amalfi in one day - even as a single, high energy person traveling solo. It's simply too much, let alone trying to see all three with 3 young children. You have very little time in the three cities you mentioned, so I would add the extra day to one of them instead. If you really want to see Pompeii, then stay closer in overnight and cut out either Florence or Venice altogether. Keep in mind that young kids won't appreciate a site like Pompeii as much as an adult would and there is very little shade there. I could not imagine being there on an August afternoon.

We are taking the train from Switzerland to Milan and headed into Rome directly. We are not stopping at Milan.
Not counting travel time between Rome, Florence and Venice, we do have 8 days. Since travelling between the cities is 2-3 hours at most by train, we have put aside a day for that.

Thanks Agnes. I just saw the guided tour that covered all 3 in a day hence was checking. Thanks for the confirmation.

You need to back up and take fresh look at your overall plan. Start by being honest with yourself about how many full, usable, non-travel days you have in Italy not including your arrival or departure days.

What are your arrival and departure days?

How far are you coming - flying in long distance on a redeye, or just coming in from someplace close/same timezone?

If, as you say, you will have 8 full days in Italy, most people would recommend that you have enough time for just two locations, maybe three, but that's stretching it. You will have 3 young kids along, which is going to slow you down significantly and limit how much you can do and how hard you can push.

You say you're flying in to Milan - that would be a fourth location. This all looks difficult - and that's without your hoped-for "day trip to Pompei, Positano and the Amalfi coast" (which I think is impossible).

Sorry, I know this is not what you want to hear. But you ned to be realistic about how much time you have and what can be reasonably accomplished in that limited time.

Edited to add: I now see that you are coming in by train, and Milan is not part of your plans (although you originally stated that you were arriving in Milan).

So you begin in Rome (arrive by train), and you depart from Venice. In August (ouch). OK.

I would take issue with your approach saying that you have 8 days there, and because everything is no more than 2-3 hours away, you just lump all train travel together and subtract a day, leaving you 7 full days to use. Unfortunately, you are not going to spend 24 straight hours on a train and then have zero travel time on your other days (it's an interesting way to look at it, but I don't think it's going to work out that way). Look at it this way...

I assume you will arrive in Rome sometime other than early morning, on "Day Zero" - that is, not counted as a full, usable day. So then you have:

• Day 1: Rome
• Day 2: Rome
• Day 3: Rome
• Day 4: Florence/Pisa
• Day 5: Florence/Pisa
• Day 6: Venice
• Day 7: Venice
• Day 8: Fly out of Venice

There are problems with this. First, for each location change, you need to account for the time it takes to get up, deal with basic needs, check out of your hotel, find your way to the station, travel to the next stop, find your way to your hotel, check in, get settled, etc. That will consume half a day right there - and that's assuming you are all (including your young kids) on your "A game", efficient and quick at everything, never get lost, no need for a break, etc. Maybe that's how your family rolls, maybe not, but that's the best case: you burn half a day each time you move, possibly more. So for every stop listed above, subtract half a day. That means you have 2.5 days in Rome, 1.5 days in "Florence/Pisa", 1.5 days in Venice. See the problem?

Just because someone is trying to sell you a one-day tour that includes Pompei, Positano and the Amalfi Coast doesn't mean it's reasonable to try and visit all three one the same day (with kids, in August). People will try to sell you all kinds of junk you don't want.

Honestly, given your constraints, your family along, and the heat of August, here's what I would do:

Rome
Florence
Venice

That's still spreading yourselves thin, but at least with the above, you'll live through it and might even have some good memories of your trip.

Ostia Antica would be a much better option than trying to do a day trip to Pompeii, etc.

Unless you are from Fla. or Az. or some such place and your kids play outside a lot in the summer, they are likely to wilt in the Italian summer heat much more quickly than you imagine.

We are coming into Milan and flying out of Venice.
We plan to be inItaly for 8 full days. Our itinerary was
Rome (3 days)
Florence (2
days) with Pisa
Venice (2 days)

OK, so how many NIGHTS do you have in Italy?

If you are coming from Switzerland through Milan to Rome, that pretty much shoots most of Day #1. To be utterly honest, there's NO way I'd take one of the only two full days you have in Rome, in August, with three young children, to go to Pompeii and the Amalfi coast. No WAY would I put your children through that. Rome will be hot/busy enough, and it'll be all you can do just to cover some of the attractions there with the very little time you will have. The coast and Pompeii should be saved for another trip when you can STAY in the Amalfi/Sorrentine area for at least 3 nights/2 full days. That's minimum, and 4 nights/ 3 full days would be better.

I also wouldn't do Pisa with 3 young kids and just 1.5 days for Florence. With the 3 cities you have, you'll be spending a lot of time packing up and moving your family around. Add day trips and you'll be seeing more of the inside of transport/ train stations than Italy, and dealing with exhausted, over-scheduled kids. No fun! Go directly to each of the cities on your list and just STAY there until your next move.

From David above:

Just because someone is trying to sell you a one-day tour that
includes Pompei, Positano and the Amalfi Coast doesn't mean it's
reasonable to try and visit all three one the same day (with kids, in
August). People will try to sell you all kinds of junk you don't want.

I'll absolutely agree. Just because it's possible doesn't mean it's reasonable to do it. In your case? I would say no. Plenty to see in Rome, and you and your kids will be much happier! :O)

Hi,
We have booked the Rick Steves Mondo tour for Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast in one day. It is geared for cruise ship passengers and costs 65 Euros per person. We are taking the first high speed train down from Rome which arrives at 8:45 and then taking another high speed train back at about 18:30. Makes for a long day but you gotta do what you gotta do. As of now there are no cruise ships in port on the day we are going but we are six people (minimum required) so they have agreed to pick us up and drop us off at the train station. Mid August, so absolutely the worst time to go but, when you have a 15 year old, your vacation times are limited. Yes, it should be done at a slower pace and yes we will only scratch the surface but better to have scratched the surface than not at all IMHO. You probably won’t get discounts for kids as they will take up a seat in the minivan so it will be expensive for five of you but......

Yo, birvine2012!
Good of you to assist; hope your trip is coming together nicely! :O)

That said, there's a difference in what your teenager (the only minor you're traveling with?) can tolerate versus three young children, thus the genuine concern from almost all of us. I'm also hoping that you've planned more full days in Rome than our OP looks to have?

The sites will tire the kids out and thought of Sorrento as a break
for them.

pkothari01, Sorrento will be hot and busy so I don't really see it as a "break" for young children unless it's to stay in a hotel with a pool (doesn't have much for beaches). Can you explain further?

Hi Kathy,
I agree with your comments about the difference between travelling with one 15 year old and 3 kids. Personally I can’t imagine travelling anywhere long distance with 3 kids. We also have an 88 year old in our group so we do have to watch ourselves. Yes, our trip planning is coming along nicely thanks to this Forum and your responses to my other queries. I won’t dare print our itinerary as people would call us crazy. I very much appreciate the help you have given me. We are 5 nights/4 full days in Rome but one of those days is the trip to Pompeii etc. We also have a half day on either side as we arrive from Florence by train and then depart on a cruise at the end.

Bernadette

Bernadette (and OP)--

Crazy is subjective. What works for others may or may not work for us. But what we on this Forum know from multiple trips there is that we see Italy for what it is--a wonderful, beautiful country that frankly tells tourists to 'love me for what I am'. This means that they feel absolutely no need or compunction to make things easier for visitors, or to apologize if they aren't. So if a train is 2 hours late, if you have to wait for your baggage at Rome Fiumicino forever, if there are no water fountains when you're parched, if your hotel or B&B confirmation gets bolloxed up through no fault of your own, if the buses or ferries are full to bursting...you're in Italy, so you're supposed to roll with the punches and dare I say, enjoy it!

What we on this Forum have done, on subsequent trips, because we have collectively made all these mistakes on our initial journeys, is to plan carefully with advance intel from research and experience so these snafus don't crop up quite as often. We do resign ourselves to the fact that this is Italy, so you can pretty much guarantee that something will not go as planned. That's where a Plan B (or C) comes in, and I cannot tell you how thankful we are to have alternate avenues to explore in real time. It certainly gives us a sense of satisfaction to say...I came, they threw a curveball at me, and I conquered!

And I don't want to give the impression that this is Third-World travel. It's just that if you are running around on a very tight schedule, there's more of a chance something will upset the apple cart.

That being said, enjoy your planning!

Please come back after your trip and tell us how it went. I hope you are from the south west or south east of the US so your kids are used to the heat. Even if places have air it is not like our air at home. We were in Rome with a 15 & 19 year old two years ago & the heat & crowds really did them in. We did a lot less than I had hoped because they and honestly us needed down time. I can’t even imagine taking them on a train & a very long full day tour. Good luck hope it goes well.

Hi,

Based on the replies, we are going to cut down on some of the activities. Obviously, we are trying to do too much with 3 kids in the summer.
The original plan was as below which gave the 8 days mentioned before. . We will try to stick with it if possible or improvise.

Day 1 - Arrive in Rome
Day 2 - Full day Rome
Day 3 - Full day Rome
Day 4 - Full day Rome
Day 5 - Rome half a day , Florence other (1.5 hour train trip)
Day 6 - Florence
Day 7 - Florence (side trip to Pisa - 1 hour train ride)
Day 8 - Train to Venice (6 hour trip) - 1/2 day Venice
Day 9 - Venice
Day 10 - Fly out

Thank you to all for your great feedback. Will update when we get back.

Taking a direct train from Florence to Venice only takes 2 hours 5 minutes.

I don’t know if you are still considering the visit to Pompeii, etc. but as mentioned, Ostia Antica is a wonderful site just outside Rome and Rome itself has so much to see. With such a short time in the Eternal City, I would not waste the time (or money) to make the trip south. Italy is a country to be savored. Dolce far niente.

That sounds like a nicely-updated plan, OP. Good thing is you can plan daytrips depending on the weather or how you're feeling. Too hot? Too tired? Forget it. A nice day in the 70's and you're up for it? Either do Pisa or Siena from Florence or Orvieto or even Pompei from Rome. Make it a game-day decision. You gotta have that flexibility built in.

Because I have not been to Pisa, I should not offer an opinion - but I don't think that dreary if iconic sight is worth losing a day in Venice. Venice is a magical place, and although hard on short legs for all the steps and walking, it's magical for children too. I recommend that you drop Pisa and add the day to Venice, especially since you have less than half a day there upon arrival. It takes a while to get to your hotel in Venice. It can be a magical and fun transfer ... ... or it can be frustrating and confusing, when hot, tired, and adjusting to a pedestrian/water city.

It's not practical with luggage and kids, but Bologna has lots of smaller towers, and is an equally iconic city. And it's on the way to Venice. But of course, no one at home will ask you if you went to Bologna. (I have been to Bologna.)

Referring to the good, long reply about tourist life in Italy (!), I've been to Venice at least four times. But the third time, I still made a mistake buying my Vaporetto pass from the vending machine upon arrival. When you are rushed, reading mostly Italian instructions, and worrying about your budget, you make mistakes.