Pompei

Best way depends on what's most important to you. If convenience is most important, take a tour. It's expensive, but will probably include transportation, admission and a guide, maybe even a stop in Naples for pizza and the Archaeological Museum. Your hotel can probably suggest a good one, or use the search box in the upper right to look for prior postings. If cost is most important, take the IC train to Naples and the Circumvesuviana to Pompei. Doing it on your own also allows you to set your own schedule. Either way, plan on a long day.

If you decide to go on a tour, look at the itinerary very carefully and ask the tour company if there are any additional stops. We lost about half the time we thought we would have in Pomei dropping off and picking up folks who rode the same bus but were going to Capri. Rick's directions on touring Pompei were great. Much more interesting than the guide we had. I think we booked through Go Today.

I will share an interesting experience with you. I traveled to Pompeii via the rail. It was very easy. Arrived at 1100hrs ate an almost two hour lunch and toured the ruins for a few hours. Back on the train and to Rome. While I was waiting for my family outside of the entrance, a tour bus pulled up. As the tourists were disembarking the tour guide said that they had one three hours which included their lunch. I guess it depends on the tour however, my point is why be one of the "sheep to slaughter" Go on your own, spend as much time as you wish. Why be told: when, with whom, and what to sightsee. At the entrance you can either rent an audio guide or hire a guide.

On the Circumvesuviana, make sure you take the SCAVI stop, not Pompeii, or else you'll end up in the town, and quite a distance from the ruins...

We stayed in Sorrento and drove in to Pompeii. Well worth the trip in and Sorrento is a lovely town on the coast. a self guided tour was all we needed. The train out of Rome is suggested because Rome is a difficult place to navigate.

Cinda: If you google "ostia antica" you may decide that this much closer site would be just as interesting and far less expensive to visit. It's about an hour from Rome. See what you think.

We visited pompeii recently and it is REALLY easy to get there on your own on the train (barring any strikes of course!). A guide would be nice - you can easily hire one of the official guides outside the gates (not really a need to book in advance), but we found Rick's book and the audioguide the rent at the booth worked just fine! Enjoy!

My husband & I did it differently. We checked out of hotel in Rome, took the train to Pompeii (the town) stayed 2 nights at the Hotel Amleto. Nice hotel huge bathrooms, 2 blocks off of town square. The in between day we spent all day at the ruins, were able to take our time. Having 2 nights in Pompeii town were very relaxing after the traffic of Rome. Then we hopped the train to finish our trip.

I took a tour of Pompeii when I was in Italy (July 2007). It was sort of a last minute idea (I was traveling solo), and I booked a tour from a company just outside of the Termini station. If you are booking a tour, I would definitely ask if there are other stops along the way as we stopped at some sort of jewelry store for about an hour and then dropped off other people on their way to Capri. I remember the tour costing somewhere around 90-100 euros. If I had to do it again, I would go on my own.