Night in Rome or Orvieto?

I will toss out "Option C' for your consideration

Continue on to Naples on Thursday; spend the night in Naples, see Pompeii on Friday and then move on to Rome.
I believe there are luggage lockers at Pompeii, ( check it out to be sure) or you probably can have the hotel hold your bags while you go to Pompeii and pick them up on your way back to Rome.

Thanks for your reply. We are flying in that day. Land at about noon (will feel like 5 am to us) and we have a layover in Frankfurt. Bleh. Would you go straight to the train from the airport to do that or is it too much? Honestly, it sounds exhausting, but I can see where it makes some sense.

Any chance of adding a day in Rome or Naples?

If I'm reading your plans accurately, option B has you sticking with one hotel in Rome the whole time until you leave for Orvieto, is that right? Honestly, I would do that. The idea of checking out, leaving luggage somewhere (probably at the Pompeii entrance), and getting back to Naples to catch a train to Orvieto sounds more stressful than I'd want. Either way, a day trip to Pompeii from Rome means you'll want to get a very early start. Returning to Rome that night and having a relatively relaxed morning before you catch the train to Orvieto sounds preferable, in my opinion.

https://www.fiumicinoexpress.com/?lang=en

No personal experience, but this could be a no stress way to get a nap on your way.

Naples train station has left luggage facilities. Better to leave luggage there than to schlep it to Pompeii and back on the local metro (Circumvesuviana "train").

The luggage facility "Deposito Baggali" at Napoli Centrale is to the left as you walk into the station toward the tracks. The train to Pompeii Scavi is downstairs at Piazza Garibaldi.

I'm pretty sure that the high speed trains don't stop at Orvieto. Have you found one that does? From Naples?

Thank you everyone for the replies. I will think through this, but I likely will do my plan B, returning to my same hotel in Rome. Too many things can go wrong with trying to leave luggage etc.

I'd like to endorse "C", but it's risky to buy restricted train tickets for an airline arrival day. The non-Frecciarossa tickets (from Termini, not the airport, at that) are SO SLOW that they're out of the question for a (bad-idea) same-day runout to Pompeii. Frecciarossa tickets cannot be used on different trains than printed on the ticket, and can't be exchanged if you miss your train. Then you pay the highest walk-up fare for the replacement. While C is a better schedule, I hate to add yet another hotel check-in and move, because it is so much overhead for a 30-hour (?) stop. Pompeii is not a suburb of Rome - this is more like an international tourist visiting Independence Hall in Philadelphia from a stay in New York City.

You also need to consider your last day before flying home. Are you leaving from the Rome airport? Maybe you should do Rome last. You certainly should not plan to train home from northern Italy the day you fly out. But 2.5 days, including check-in and check out, and local transit, is far too little for such a rich destination as Rome. If you feel "I will never set foot in Italy again" (I mean, as justification for a daytrip to Pompeii), then you have to ask whether you can skip enough places to get out of Rome in 2.5 days.

"Same-Day Pompeii?" is almost an FAQ here, so you should do yourself the favor of using the top center search box to research advice on that single issue. The fact that you have not described the rest of your trip makes me wonder if it is the same death-march pace.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/pompeii-and-vesuvius-69e8366c-1e75-4a14-a0bc-0677269492d1

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/herculaneum-and-pompeii-questions

I have not used it, but posters here have been very happy with the luggage storage at Pompeii just beyond the ticket offices. I've never read about a bad experience on this newsboard. And of course, the Internet is more likely to attract a rant than a five-star review!

Honestly, the reason you're having a hard time here is that you are simply trying to do too much. I'd drop Pompeii because it's such a long day-trip. If you are adamant about getting to Pompeii despite taking so much time away from Rome, I think you really, really need to drop Orvieto. It is a worthwhile (and much easier) side-trip, but you're setting yourself up for an exhausting trip. Do you still have just 2 nights planned in Florence (plus 1 in Orvieto?), 2 in Venice and 3.5 days in Rome (if you include the day-trip to Pompeii)? You really shouldn't count that first half-day if it's the day you arrive from North America. It's likely at least one of you, if not both, will be severely sleep-deprived and/or jetlagged. That seems like five destinations in only nine nights.

Thanks everyone. I think I’m a previous post I had said we had 9 days, but in reality we have 11 full days plus the 1/2 day we arrive in Rome plus the 13th day is a flight out of Venice in the morning. I am traveling with my 19 year old daughter. For this trip (who knows if we will ever get back?) I don’t mind seeing a lot, but I am trying to build in some more laid back days.

Thursday- arrive. Just wander in Rome. See the steps/ fountain etc.
Friday- sistine chapel/ Borguese Gallery
Saturday- Pompeii day trip (this is a must)
Sunday-Colosseum/Palantine/late train to Orvieto
Monday- Cevita early bus/ afternoon in Orvieto
Tuesday- Florence early”ish” train
Wednesday-Florence
Thursday-Florence/late afternoon to Cinque Terre (I think. This is just a thought right now. Not sure how we want to spend these next few days. If not Cinque, then day trips to Lucca or Volterra. Possibly making a mad dash to Milan to see The last Supper “on the way” to Venice). Daughter will have museum fatigue by now and would like to bike or hike etc.
Friday-Cinque hiking
Saturday-cinque boat/ later train to Venice
Sunday-Venice
Monday-Venice
Tuesday- fly out of Venice

I am trying to build in some more laid back days.

Not seeing this at all.
Drop Orvieto- add those nights to Rome

Possibly making a mad dash to Milan to see The last Supper “on the
way” to Venice).

Milan is not exactly on the way to Venice and you'll have the same issue there with luggage storage.

Have you figured out your transportation to VCE on departure am? That can be an issue

My flight is at 9:50 headed to a layover in London. I figure I need to be there at about 7. So, for the last night we are going to stay in the courtyard Marriott near the airport.

Very good idea ^^

While the last supper is very cool, the extra hours on the train are not worth it thus trip. Assume some day you will return.

I have been to Italy 4 times and have never been to Milan. It is my understanding that the Last Supper is not in the best shape, since Leonardo used an experimental technique. I think your art museum time would be much better spent in Florence. I love art museums, but I think the Sistine and Borghese on the same day is too much. I think your plan is exhausting and you will waste a lot of time transiting between cities. Unlike most people on this forum, I am fine with the day trip to Pompeii from Rome. I have done this twice-once on a bus tour that also drove down the spectacular Amalfi coast, one on an Enjoy Rome bus. The cathedral in Orvieto is a Wow. I would cut down on some of the outliers-like Cinque Terra(which I admit I've never visited) and stick to things in a few areas.

Overall, I am exhausted just reading the itinerary - imagine how you will feel doing that actual travel! For me personally, way too much time on trains, and not enough time to enjoy. I would cut way back on the number of destinations. I am not a fan of what I call check box travel - I prefer the experience. I loved Pompeii! but if you are not staying in the Amalfi/Naples area, I would delete it. Orvieto is an easy day trip form Rome - Pompeii not so much. Slow down, enjoy :-). But then again, we are all different, and prefer different ways of travel. In any case, hope your trip is wonderful!

Glenn

We did a day trip to Pompeii/Sorrento (with small group tour--The Tour Guy--there were a total of 5 of us on the tour) 2 weeks ago, and we loved it. It was a highlight. Sure, it was a long day. So what? Sure, we had only about 2 1/2 hours in Pompeii and could have used more, but we feel like we saw a lot, regardless, and are pleased that we did it.

We also spent the night in Orvieto on the way from Rome to Florence. We didn't do it by public transportation, because we also wanted to see Civita di Bagnoregio, and that would have been challenging, given the limited bus times for that. So, we hired a driver (via My Day Trip). We were picked up in Rome at 9:00, stopped at Sacro Busco (cheesy, but loved it, and it was lovely to be in the Umbrian woods), and then stopped at Civita di Bagnoregio. We were in Orvieto by early afternoon. We had time to visit the duomo (our favourite of all the churches and basilicas we saw in Italy) and then do the underground tour at 5:15 pm. We caught the regional train (Trenitalia) to Florence the next day around noon and were in Florence just after 3, which worked out well for our hotel check-in time.

We are very, very happy with did both of those side trips on our visit that included Rome, Florence, Verona, and Venice.