Rome - Pompeii Day Trip

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This is a frequent topic here. The day trip makes for a very long day, but possible. Posters mention public and private transportation options.

Have a great trip!

Just launched a few months ago, Trenitalia now has a high-speed Frecciarosa train running directly from Rome Termini train station to Pompeii every Sunday in 1 hour 47 minutes This is an alternative to the conventional high-speed train journeys that leave from Rome and transfer in
Salerno for Pompeii or transfer in Naples Centrale station to the local Circumvesuviano line
and continues to Pompeii Scavi-Villa dei Misteri station. Passengers on the newly-launched Rome-to-Pompeii train can watch a film about the Pompeii Archaeological Park and buy their admission tickets while on board the Frecciarosa train.
The Sunday trains depart from Rome Termini station at 8:53am and arrive at Pompeii at 10:40 am. A shuttle bus transports passengers to the Pompeii ruins. For the return trip, trains will leave the Pompeii station at 6:40 pm arriving in Rome at 8:55 pm. Tickets for the journey are about €30 each way.

I think this new train service may be infrequent. At least they won't be as crowded as usual, in February. One argument for a purely independent trip is that you can adjust for the rain forecast after you get there. But the high speed, Frecciarossa train normally needs advance purchase to get reduced prices..

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/pompeii-day-trip-from-rome-2c38f926-9036-480d-95fd-403dd7694e4a

One problem is that the trip by car is hours longer than the trip by train. A private tour in a Mercedes sedan that only seats three people in the back, maybe one in the front sounds luxurious, but provides even less time at the famous site because of the three hours (and subject to traffic) drive each way. Of course that applies to a much cheaper bus-tour as well .

The choice is purely a matter of travel style, and/or budget. There really is nothing you can do to make Pompeii "next-door" to Rome.

I booked a tour with Through Eternity tours and was very happy with it, though it was quite expensive. You take the fast train to Naples (they email you the tickets) where a driver picks you up and drives you to Pompeii where you meet your guide. I chose it because I wanted to avoid the long bus ride that other tours from Rome involve. (Through Eternity has bus tours too, as do a number of other companies.) You get two or two and a half hours in Pompeii, then the driver picks you up and takes you back to the train station in Naples. You can take whatever train you want to back to Rome, which is nice if you want to spend more time in Naples. We did not.

I would have liked more time in Pompeii, but my husband was not that into it, so it worked for us and I was satisfied with the short time in Pompeii. It was an easy and painless trip and gave me time to see other stuff in Rome when we got back.

Through Eternity gets good reviews, and we liked our guide.

I can't speak for that particular Through Eternity tour but we've taken 3 with them in Rome and they are always exceptional. Taking the train as you described also works well. We came from Sorrento and met a guide there through Mondo Tours. It was a good 2 hour tour and then we explored further for another couple of hours for areas that most tours don't touch on.

I'd also recommend a stop in Oplontis on the way back to Naples. It's a Villa also buried by the eruption.

The Trenitalia high-speed train from Rome Termini to Pompeii must be seasonal or very infrequent. The Trenitalia website has no mention of it during the time frame of our trip, or other dates i checked just to see if it is real. Looks like we must do the Napoli Centrale connection route.

Rome to Pompeii and back on a self-trip you can arrive at Roma Termini at 9AM and return at 6:15, checking current schedules for any minor changes: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

Licensed guides at the ruins conduct small group tours.

Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale on Trenitalia 9:15-10:23, then downstairs to Piazza Garibaldi and tickets [window or news stand] for the next Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii Scavi, arriving at 11:47 or 12:11. Then back to Garibaldi at 4:12 to 4:44, train to Termini at 5:25-6:35. Earlier trains to Napoli at 7:00 and 8:00 [all 1:10]; later returning at 6:09-7:20 [From Pompeii 5:00-5:38].

Or you can take trains on Italo: https://www.italotreno.it/en 

Jay, The Sunday Trenitalia high-speed train to Pompeii is a real thing. The specific train is Trenitalia’s FR 9693 leaving Rome Termini at 8:53am and arriving at Pompeii 1 hour 47 minutes later at 10:40 am. The return train is the FR 9568 departing Pompei at 6:40 pm and arriving at Rome Termini 2:15 later (two hours and fifteen minutes) at 8:55 pm.
Because the revised European Train timetables will not be released until December 10, Trenitalia does not sell train tickets for dates beyond then
until December 10 at 24:00. The law in Italy doesn’t allow government-run Trenitalia to sell tickets for trains until the new schedules have been officially released. This is why bus tickets are listed and you won’t see many—if any—train tickets listed for sale online for dates beyond December 10. You will see those train tickets appear on Trenitalia’s website ( and other sites such as The Trainline) for sale beginning December 11.
Trenitalia likely will expand the number of days its high-speed trains will travel the entire route between Rome and Pompeii after seeing there is enough demand for the service.

Kenco, wouldn't that be the rail station in modern Pompeii, about 2km from the Amfiteatro entrance to the ancient site? That is, not the Pompeii Scavi stop of the Circumvesuviana, which is across the street from the Porta Marina entrance to the ancient site? It's still a two-seat ride.

Tim, That is how I understand it as well. For now, the Pompei ( with one “i”) FS station in the suburban city of Pompei and about one mile from the Pompeii ( with two “i’s”). Archaeological Park’s entrance by the Roman Amphitheater — is being used until the new train station is completed early in 2024. It was due to be finished as early as January. Construction of the new train station started last summer as part of the ”Great Pompeii Project” founded in 2012 and funded by the European Union. Passengers on the single Trenitalia Frecciarosa train every Sunday from Rome to Pompei are taken from the train station by shuttle bus to the Pompeii ruins which are about one mile from the Pompei FS train station.
Pompeii’s ruins draw more than 20 million visitors annually and this new high-speed train route will streamline and expedite the train journey from Rome. It also will be much more comfortable than using the Circumvesuviano commuter trains from Naples which are hot in the summer and often so crowded there’s standing-room only.

Finally, transport to one of Italy’s finest ancient attractions from the eighth century BCE will be brought into the 21st century.

....... You get two or two and a half hours in Pompeii....... That is barely enough time to walk across the site let alone stop to visit any of the hundreds of sites. Pompeii is huge and can easily most of the day just to walk through the site. Second, and perhaps more importantly, you really need to schedule time to visit the museum in Naples. That is where all of the good stuff from Pompeii is displayed. I think you should plan an overnight trip from Rome. You have time if you are planning 9 days in Rome. Good luck.

A day trip to from Rome to Pompeii can be very strenuous. We overnighted in Naples. It took us a full day to explore both Pompeii itself and the museum in Naples where the artifacts are housed. That was with a private guide.