Naples/Pompeii

If you wish to see all three, Pompeii/Herculaneum/the museum, I would suggest doing it as an overnight. You can get a cheap hotel for the night and spend the first day at Pompeii and the second day at Herculaneum and the museum. After you finish just head back to Rome. If you can't do an overnight I would suggest picking the two you wish to see the most. You can spend a whole day at Pompeii and not see most of it. Herculaneum is smaller and will only take a few hours but it's my favorite site and I don't think you should rush through it. The museum is wonderful and the exhibits are really interesting. Again, you can spend hours there going from room to room. If I had to pick two of the sites to see it would be a very hard decision. Check venere.com to see if you can find a really cheap hotel for the night and see all three. You won't be disappointed. Donna

I have made this trip twice and I agree it's just impossible to do all three in one day. Catching the absolute earliest train from Rome, making the Circumvesuviana train in Naples, the earliest you can get to Pompeii is about 9:30 am. You can hire a tour guide who can show you the highlights in two hours but it'll still be 1 pm before you can tear yourself away. Then your choice is the museum (back in Naples) or Herculaneum. And there's lunch to think about, too.

Julie we did the trip from Rome to Pompei as a day trip last week. I don't think you can do all three,in fact, we narrowed our trip from Pompei and the museum to just Pompei. We splurged a bit and took a very early fast train from Rome to Naples-70 minutes, 180 Euros roundtrip for two and worth every penny. The Circumvesuviana was on time, but crushed, standing , no AC filled with childishly behaving older teens and it took an hour. We got to Pompei mid morning and it was great. We ultimately decided we'd spend all our time in Pompei and buy a book to look at the museum's treasures-I would have liked to have done both, but there just wasn't time. We took a less crowded but still standing room only train back to Naples and a 5 o'clock train back to Rome. It's a long day, but Pompeii is worth it. It you want to do all three, I'd think you could do Pompei in one day, stay overnight and then do the museum and Herculanuium in one day the next day. However, recent NY Times articles to the contrary, I did not feel good about Naples. The scene outside the train station, one I enjoyed in other Italian cities,was instead, one of high piles of trash. Folks we'd met in Pompeii met us as we were leaving the station for a walk and said they'd been followed, accosted and jostled within yards of the station. Other, younger (30's) folks , experienced travelers, we met on another train had said they'd stayed in Naples, but had been too uncomfortable to leave their hotel. I know it is a highly individual situation, but we were less comfortable in Naples than we were in Venice, Sienna, Florence, CT and Rome. Take it for what it's worth. Jeff

Riding the Circumvesuviana is an experience in itself! Not one I am sure I would like to repeat.

To do two days trips from Rome would be expensive even if you take the slow train from Rome which is cheapest way to go. I my opinion, the best thing to do is stay overnight. Even if your hotel in Rome is already paid for, you can just keep that room, leave your luggage there, go to Pompeii, stay overnight (I know, paying for another room) and it still might be cheaper than the two day trips you mention. We have not done this, but maybe there are day trips by bus from Rome to both sites, Maybe someone else will post that they have done that and can give you idea on price.

Julie, I agree with the others in that it's going to be virtually impossible to see all three locations in a day trip from Rome. There are two options you could consider: 1.) Take the day trip from Rome and see TWO of the sights. I'd suggest visiting Pompeii first and then go back to Naples and tour the Archeological Museum. After the tour, have dinner in Naples and then return to Rome. 2.) Stay at least one night in Naples. Tour Pompeii and Herculaneum the first day and return to Naples in the afternoon. The following morning, tour the Archeological Museum and head back to Rome in the afternoon. Good luck and happy travels!