Rome - day trip to Pompei/Herculaneum with Napoli pizza!

"Tuttle la stazione" means train stations. You need to pick which one you're going to travel from. You will want the roma termini station. You arrive in Napoli Centrale, then go downstairs to the Garibaldi station. It's in the same building it just has two different stations and names. The circumvesuviana comes a few times an hour. Just get on the train heading to Sorrento. You'll get to the Ercolano (herculaneum) stop first. I would go here first then head to the Pompeii Scavi stop. I would spend the rest of the afternoon there. Herculaneum is small and can be seen in a few hours so if you start there you won't need to rush through Pompeii. You can leave when you're ready to. I've done this trip several times. It feels like a long day because of all the walking but it's a great day trip to make. I would come back as late as you can. Donna

I did the same trip in 2011. You take the train from Termini station in Rome to Napoli Centrale. We for some reason had to buy our tickets for the Circumvesuviana in Naples (yes - same station you arrive at from Rome and downstairs). There was quite a lineup for ticket purchases so if you can buy them in advance it's likely worth it. I can't remember why we did not have them in advance. I think it might take you longer than you think at Pompeii -it's spread out and there's a lot of walking. We did not make Herculaneum. We did a later train from Naples to Rome so we had time to eat pizza in Naples. We walked from the train station to the street where there are a lot of pizza places. It was a bit of a hike. The maps weren't entirely clear and we had to ask for directions. Be careful with the traffic in Naples. Even pedestrians don't pay any attention to the lights. Long day, but perfectly doable now that there is a high speed train between Rome and Naples.

You have to buy the tickets for the circumvesuviana in Naples because it is a private line and not part of the trenitalia system. There is no way to buy them through trenitalia. You don't need to buy them at a ticket window. Most magazine stands or tobacci shops will sell them. Donna

Cat, A few comments to add to the others..... > "Tutti le Stazione" refers to "all the stations". It's better to narrow down your search by choosing one station. Your trip to Napoli Centrale will most likely be departing from Roma Termini, so use that in your search. > Yes, Napoli Centrale is the correct destination. > You can check the travel times and other details on the Circumvesuviana website. That will indeed be a L-O-N-G day! Keep in mind that when you arrive in Naples, you'll still have to get to the main part of town to find a good Pizza restaurant, perhaps in the Chiaia neighborhood, so be sure to allow for the travel times back and forth to the station. Although it probably wouldn't be a concern for me, waiting for your train at Napoli Centrale later at night may be a bit "uncomfortable", as there could be a few dodgy characters about. If at all possible, I'd suggest spending one night in Naples to allow a bit more time and a more relaxed visit to the sites you want to see. It's also worthwhile to visit the Archeological Museum in Naples, as it ties in with Pompeii, and perhaps the Church with the Veiled Christ as well. I wouldn't say you're "crazy" but there's NO WAY I'd plan a day like that! Happy travels!

Regarding great pizza in Napoli, if you're considering either of the 2 classic places listed on Rick's self-guied "Slice of Neapolitan Life" walk, realize that Pizzeria da Micheli is great and open straight thru, but expect a 2-hour wait (they hand out numbers and a mob of people waits outside the front door for the numbers to be called as tables open up - go do part of Rick's walk after you get a number) plus they only have beer and pop to drink, and that Trianon closes at 15:30 and doesn't open again until 19:00 -- plan accordingly or find another pizzeria.

last March, 2012 we did the pompeii trip this way. Left Rome at 7:30 arrived pompeii via Regional train and toured pompeii for a few hours. We did not "extensively scour Pompeii but did Rick's walk and enjoyed some time there. We did not do Herculaneum. We took the regional train back to Napoli and had great pizza at one of the two places in Rick's book that are practically next door to each other. At that time last year, there was lots of construction in front of the train station and that made it hard to get our bearings. After pizza, we walked and found a small alleyway that had lots of shops of all kinds of touristy and jewelry. It was around a university I think, and then we got a taxi back to the train station and headed back to Rome. We did not arrive back in Rome super late, but it was a full and fun day!