My husband and I will have just spent 3 nights in Rome and will be taking a train to stay in Sorrento for two nights. We will be traveling to Sorrento on may the 8th. I know Pompeii gets hot but how about the idea of stopping to spend the evening there on our way from Rome to Sorrento. We could leave our luggage at train station or the site and spend the evening (I'm thinking around 3-7pm) at the site before checking in to our hotel in Sorrento. The next day we wanted to wake up early and do bus to alma and Positano for the day. Does this seem reasonable?? If we wake up early to do Pompeii first thing in morning instead of our travel day how early does it open and would we still be able to do our bus ride to Positano and alma before returning back to our Sorrento hotel?
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5656 posts
Pompeii shouldn't be that hot in early May, but who knows, you may hit a hot spell. I don't think waiting til 3pm would be of any benefit. The hottest part of the day is usually late afternoon. Go with whatever time is best, but IMO the earlier the better. We spent most of the day and didn't see everything. I wouldn't try to combine this with an Amalfi tour day.
Posted by
3124 posts
Agree with previous comment that I would not try to combine Pompeii with the Alma-Positano bus. You may find the following blog post helpful http://girlandhersuitcase.com/pompeii/ Note: "To find the luggage storage in the Pompei Scavi station, follow signs to the WC downstairs."
The Pompeii archaeological area ("scavi") is an entire city. You can get a taste of it in an hour or two, but if you really want to see it you need to devote an entire day. It depends on what you're most interested in and what your trip priorities are.
Personally I would make Herculaneum a shorter stop along the railway line (although there's no actual luggage storage at Herculaneum -- you & husband could take turns guarding your luggage on the railway platform, or else see https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187786-i1888-k10387204-Pompei_Herculaneum_and_Mt_Vesuvius_with_luggage-Pompeii_Province_of_Naples_Campania.html "the Vesuvio Express does hold luggage and will probably hold it for you after Vesuvius if you plan to walk down the road to the Herculaneum site without wanting to take your bags.)
Then I would spend a night in Pompeii to be able to have a whole day to see the scavi.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16708 posts
...will be taking a train (from Rome) to stay in Sorrento for two
nights,
Personally? I wouldn't do this at all if two nights is all you have to devote to this region. It only gives you one full day of sightseeing, and that's not enough to begin to cover the amount of ground there is to explore.
And it's not "Alma and Positano", it's Amalfi and Positano.
If we wake up early to do Pompeii first thing in morning instead of
our travel day how early does it open and would we still be able to do
our bus ride to Positano and alma before returning back to our
Sorrento hotel?
No, it's not enough time. Pompeii is HUGE and can easily take the best part of a day to explore. It did for us, anyway.
Pompeii website:
http://www.pompeiisites.org/index.jsp?idProgetto=2
Hours for your May dates:
April - October 8.30 - 19.30
(from 18.00 exit only)