Pompeii questions

We took the Circumvesuviana in late April last year. We followed the advice of getting on that first stop (just a few minutes walk away) and though it appears lots of other people also followed that advice, we had seats all 4 times we took that train.
Not scary, crowded but not so bad, especially if you get on early enough to get seats.
We used the pages out of the RS book to find our way around but it’s possible his audio broadcast would be another good way.

The Circumvesuviana is fine.

Get a human guide. It will make your visit more interesting and more efficient. After a few hours, you can walk around and enjoy the areas you didn't see on the tour. We just did a group tour.

Go to the Museum of Archeology in Naples, ideally before your Pompeii visit. I might recommend a human guide there too. They hang out at the entrance or you could arrange in advance. Rick's walking tour is pretty outdated.

At Naples, I thought about going to the other station so I could get a seat, but decided to stay put and chance it. Turned out fine. I got a seat anyway. I stressed major about this train prior to leaving for Italy but it wasn't bad at all. The only thing is that it's slow... even without a lot of stops (express) it seems to take a long time. I didn't find it that crowded, and I took it quite a few times (this was in September of last year when everything was crowded). I didn't bother booking the Campania "express" (note the quotation marks) or buying a ticket at all. I simply used my credit card at the turnstile and did the "tap and go" routine.
Prepare for a full day in Pompeii. I thought I would spend a couple of hours, having been there before (albeit, over 40 years ago) and then head for the Naples Museum. I spent 7 hours in Pompeii and did the museum on another day (well worth it). One of my best memories of Pompeii is the Rum Cake (Baba) in the cafe at the top of a hill (great view). So much rum I found myself drinking from the plate after there was no more cake!

The food at that on-site cafe is actually pretty good. I find vendors at European sites to consistently be better and cheaper than a similar vendor at pretty much any popular American site.

Anyplace with a lot of tourists and commuters packed into a small area will attract pickpockets. Just be aware of your surroundings and learn common distraction techniques. eg Door Blocking/Fake Arguments/Sign My Petition/Bump, etc.

But don't travel "afraid". I see so many people focus a LOT of energy on this on these forums. Travel with a positive outlook, be aware of your surroundings and have a great trip.

Another vote for the Mondo tour which is great. We did it a few years ago. In-person you can ask questions, you'll get a lot more info than listening to the audio tour, and your guide is likely to have a folder with larger pictures showing re-creations of some of the sites you see. Hands down a much better experience IMO.

We did the Mondo Guides Pompeii tour a few years ago- worth every penny. Guide was extremely knowledgeable, knew which areas were closed/avoided crowds, etc, I am sure we would have been lost and confused without a guide. Tour lasted about 2 hours then we stayed for more time on our own.

But maybe just downloading Steve's self-guided tour. would work?

It worked well for us. Seems like we went to all the same places that the 'live' guides went, and let us go at our own pace.

We took the Circumvesuviana from Sorrento and had no problems.

Here's another vote for the Circumvesuviana, at all the stations I've been to, they have automatic ticket machines that take cash or credit cards--but the scanners/ticket validator that you use to get through the gates may or may not be working--but, every station I've used is manned with a live person at the counter who can let you through/sell you a ticket and generally be helpful as needed.

I've done Pompeii and Herculaneum both with Rick Steves audio tour and a small group tour... I'll be honest, at one of those sites I actually stayed behind after the tour guide was done, and did the Rick Steve's tour. I did not just hire some rando at the entrance, I booked ahead with one of the recommended guides, but I was not feeling it. I felt that it was easier for me and the way I like to move through a largely-crowded site to go with Rick and do things at my own pace. The phone signal was excellent at the site, so if I wanted to look at anything on line, it was an easy google to see any additional pictures/recreations and even YouTube videos if I wanted more information.

If you really are more of a self-guided person, that's how I'd roll. There are other places where I really liked having a tour guide---like a walking tour of a historical city center where I might miss something that was right there, but I blew right past it--but there's just so much information, maps, etc., available for this site, unless you're getting some after/before hours-behind the scenes-fully customized situation, I think you'll do very well on your own.