I just wanted to share a little about our first time visit to Pompeii. We are on a north to south trek. I am happy with the route we chose going from Rome -Salerno (Pompeii) - Positano - Naples. We chose to use Salerno as a two night base so that we could spend a full day at Pompeii and ferry to Positano. The Salerno/Pompei train is 40 minutes, modern and air conditioned with hourly departures. The walk from Pompei station to the Anfiteatro entrance is easy enough if one has committed to spending hours at the site. There are lots of food and drink options along the way. There are also tour operators trying to sell unnecessary products. We bought our tickets in advance and went straight in with paper print out. We were asked to show ID for the kids. We had our passports with us. Once inside, be aware that some attractions have a separate entrance and exit such as the Palestra which may take one off the intended route or cause one to miss something completely. We made our way toward the Forum and Vettii and back to Porta Nocera where we ended our day walking through the necropoli. It was an incredible experience. We bought our return train ticket on Trenitalia app on our walk to the station. *No one checked our tickets in either direction.
The next morning, we had an easy walk to the Travelmar ferry and a beautiful view on our way to Positano. *Prebook and arrive early for a good seat on ferry.