Rome to Pisa - Bus Tour or DIY Train?

That will be a longish day trip especially if you go to Naples from Rome, then to Pisa.

I assume that was a typo and you meant Rome - Florence, then the regional to Pisa. The train station in Florence is very manageable so the changing of trains should not be an issue.

Personally I would do it myself, by train, unless the bus saved a lot of time. Rough estimate is 90 minute to Florence and then 90 minutes for change of train and travel to Pisa.

I suggest the original poster to check carefully her post. There is no Pisa scavi station. There is a Pompei scavi station but it is in the opposite direction from Rome.

According to www.bahn.de it's a 3 hour train journey each way, either directly or with a change in Florence. Google maps says it's 3,5 hours by car. My main question would have to be why? This would only leave enough time for a quick snapshot of the Learning Tower and the rest of the day would be spend in transit. Sure the tower is an iconic sight, but it is also one of the most horribly touristy spots I have ever been in my life and there are plenty of other places I would rather go on a day trip from Rome.

Sorry,

I'm confused....

Are you going to Pompeii where the ruins from the explosion of Vesuvius happened, or Pisa where the Leaning Tower is?

They are a long way from each other, and your post could be for either....

Please clarify your post - I think you mean Pompeii Scavi. It's a trip involving a train to Napoli Centrale and then the Circumvesuviana to the Scavi stop (there is another stop for Pompei as well). If all goes well, you could be at the site in a little over two hours, plus two hour back, more if you must wait for connections or get on the wrong train (you want direction Sorrento), or get off at the wrong stop and have to backtrack.

If you mean Pisa, the time is about the same or a bit longer.

FWIW I am planning a trip by train to Pisa from Rome in early June to visit the Leaning Tower. We too will not be staying in Pisa for the night. Rather we are planning to leave Rome very early, see the tower and surrounding attractions, have lunch at one of the great local restaurants, and head out by train mid-afternoon for our next stop on the Italian Riviera.

When reservations become available, I plan to book Frecciabianca train #9758 departing Roma Termini at 6:15 AM and arriving at Pisa Centrale at 8:23 AM. That's just 2 hours one way.

We plan to leave our luggage for the day at Pisa Central. According to RailEurope.com “Services: …Luggage storage….” Look for “deposito bagagli” upon disembarking. The “deposito bagagli” is to the right at the far end of Platform #1, past the police office. It costs about 3 euros for 12 hours. Have your passport ready for ID.

With that said, I waffle back and forth between whether we should do
the day trip on our own (take the train to Naples and then the local
to Pisa Scavi)....or, if we would be better off taking an all
inclusive tour via a bus tour or something like that.

I'm confused too. As you wouldn't go from Rome to Naples if going to Pisa (which is the other direction) and there's a Pompeii Scavi but not Pisa Scavi, I'm guessing as well you're wanting to go to Pompeii?

It's a long day from Rome: train to Napoli Centrale, and then Circumvesuviana train (the "local" you probably referred to) to Pompeii Scavi Villa dei Misteri station. Still, people do it, and I'd make this journey before I'd daytrip from Rome to Pisa. It's also very possible to explore the ruins on one's own - as we have - although I recommend some prior reading plus purchase of a good guidebook with a map near the entrance. The site is very large and there is no information at the various structures to tell you about them so you really need some sort of reference.

For an idea of what sort of ground you'd cover, here's a map from the website:

http://www.pompeionline.net/city-map/pompei-ruins-city-map

And one with more detail:

http://www.pompeiisites.org/allegati/Pompei_120515053335.pdf

Otherwise, there are guides hanging around the entrance which you can hire for a tour. Let us know that it's Pompeii you want to do and we can offer more help on how to do that?

Ugh.......my brain was on total hiatus this morning. I most definitely meant Pompeii and I have no idea why I repeatedly said Pisa (although i was working out our side trip to Pisa yesterday...which we will be doing from our hotel base in Florence!...not Rome...LOL).

I am sooooo sorry to all of those that replied....I completely meant Pompeii. I will try to correct the title of thread.

Too much Christmas cheer (or shopping/wrapping/cooking/cleaning) Michellynn? :O)
I'm still pooped and brain-dead too!

You can go to Pompeii on your own and it is easy.
First you take a train to Naples. Use the Trenitalia website to see timetables and prices.
www.trenitalia.com
Now it's too early for June, however tickets start going on sale 120 days prior to departure.
The full price (which is always available, even on the day of departure) is €43 o/w per person for a standard class ticket on a high speed Frecciarossa train. However you can save up to over 50% if you purchase ahead of time. However be aware that discounted tickets are not refundable if you miss the specific train you book.
The stations you enter in the website must be typed in Italian:
ROMA TERMINI
NAPOLI CENTRALE
Once in Naples take the Circumvesuviana commuter train to Sorrento. Get off about half way at Pompei Scavi/Villa dei Misteri. Timetable below. Prices are next to nothing on this train.
http://www.eavsrl.it/web/en
On the way back to Rome, the last high speed train departs from Naples at about 7:30pm. There are also a couple of slower trains later however.

It's easy enough to get to Pompeii Scavi on your own. However...is it really worth it? It's a long day and you won't even get to experience the beautiful Sorrento coast because Sorrento is past the scavi stop. Now if you're the kind of people that are going to be intimidated by beggars on the local train then you'd best take the guided tour. Better yet - make a visit to Ostia Antica which is a MUCH MUCH closer and better preserved seaside village.

Now if you're the kind of people that are going to be intimidated by
beggars on the local train then you'd best take the guided tour.

Panhandlers can be encountered on many of the regionale trains in Italy and not just the Circumvesuviana. They usually don't make a real nuisance of themselves as they don't want to call attention to the authorities checking tickets and whatnot. You will also encounter beggars in almost all of the public places which draw a lot of tourists so it's best just to get used to handling them. The Sorrentine/Amalfi coasts are very nice indeed but you may well have another coastal destination in your itinerary? It's not an enormous loss if you just can't fit it ALL in.

Ostia Antica, however, is a good idea if your days in Rome are limited as it really is much, much closer and a lot of visitors find it just as interesting. But if you are not pressed for time, then setting aside a (long) day for Pompeii is absolutely possible. How you decide to do it is up to your comfort level with managing public transport (it's really not difficult to do this one) and preference for independent exploration over tours.

There will be loads of "tour guides" at the scavi entrance ticket booth. So you'll have plenty of "guides" from which to choose if you don't mind just showing up and joining in. Personally, I wasn't that impressed at Pompeii.

Most archeological sites have licensed guides (no "") who have studied and taken exams to serve as guides. It's a good idea since the site is vast and labeling is not that good.

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies. After reading what all of you have said...I think we will go ahead and do this ourselves by train. If we can find a good guide at the entrance to the site, perhaps we will hire one. But, we will have guide book and rick steve's audio as some basic "back up" material. I know it will be a long day...but I've always wanted to go here specifically...so we will just have to deal with it (which we have done similar long days before on other vacations).

As for pan handlers....we have come to accept this as a fact of life when traveling abroad. The gypsies in Athens, Greece could be quite persistent...and we were fine dealing with them...so not particularly worried about anywhere else.

Thanks for all the helpful replies (even with my Pisa/Pompeii mix up). :)