Rome, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast

As I understand it, you have 4 days and have Rome, Pompeii and Amalfi Coast on your wish list.

Presumably you are leaving Italy at the end of those 4 days. What is your departure point to return to wherever home is ? If it is Rome I would suggest you spend the 4 days in Rome. You can do Ostia Antica as a substitute for Pompeii for the experience of an ancient Roman city as it is an easy day trip from Rome.

Otherwise I think you will just be looking out of a train or bus window as you do a blitz from place to place and not really see and enjoy anything

If you have the flexibility to fly out of Naples you could spend 2 days in Rome and 2 in Naples (or Sorrento) to give you access to Pompeii and the AC

If this is a 1st trip to Rome, I suggest you spend the time there and enjoy it.

If you really really have to do it....and are flying out of Rome. If toward the. end your Euro trip and are in Rome, you can take a 1.5 hour Train ( you must get a fast train not a 3 hr one) to Naples Central station....you can store luggage and take a train 25 minutes to Herculaneum, which is smaller and much better preseved than Pompeii, it takes 1.5-2 hours to see, then head back to Naples pick up bags and go to Capri for 1 to 2 nights, back to Naples by ferry then fast train back to Rome for last 2 nights. Even though Positano is just across from Capri by ferry it will be exhausting to constantly travel. I find islands much more relaxing than the A/C but maybe that is just me!

Does four days "around" Rome mean that you're not staying in the city of Rome? If you want to use public transportation to visit the distant Amalfi Coast, you need to be near the appropriate train line. Note that advance-purchase train tickets are much cheaper, but not changeable or cancellable. This is a very ambitious day-trip that you can research by using the Search box at top center. Even though it is a tough, 14-hour day, with a vast amount of riding and waiting for transit means to arrive at change locations, many people who can't conceive of having a second visit to Italy insist on doing it.

Your time really would be better spent with a near-Rome trip, like Ostia Antica or Villa D'Este, or a one-seat train trip, like Orvieto. Have you allowed enough time for Rome - it takes more than four days to see Rome?

I highly recommend that you choose either staying in Rome for the four days or the Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast area. To take the train to Naples, then visit Pompeii, (not sure what your transport plans are) then the Amalfi Coast, return to Rome will burn two nights of your four nights. Rome has a lot to see and even four days is not enough.

A more complete picture of your itinerary would be helpful.

Are you arriving in Rome on the first of your four days? From where?
Are you flying out of Rome on day 5, after your 4 days are over?
Have you even been to Rome?

If the answer to the last question is no, then I'd spend all of your time in Rome. As already wisely explained in previous posts, trying to do it all in the time you have will have you seeing a lot of packing up, moving around, public transport, and not very much of one of Europe's great cities or the coast.

Also, it's going to be much easier to base 8 people in one spot versus move them around on an aggressive itinerary involving multiple types of transport. Four days will be a mere scratch of the surface of Rome, and I'll say the same for the coast. Also, If you are flying both in and out of Rome, it's a no-brainer as you're going to want to be close to the airport on the night prior to departure and not on the Amalfi Coast.

Ostia Antica is an excellent substitute for Pompeii as it's much closer to Rome. I'd save the Naples/Pompeii/Capri/Amalfi Coast for a different trip when you can give it more time.