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Salerno to Pompei to Pompeii Scavi via "Trenitalia Pompeii Link" bus / Misc Pompeii question

Posted by (Columbus, OH, USA) on

Hi All, appreciate advice from your experience, please!

What are the best logistics options for going RT to Pompeii ruins from Salerno on public transportation? We are staying in Salerno and considering travel to Pompeii ruins. I'm working out how to best deal with the logistics, and looking at various articles and maps. I see a bus option (seems much lengthier than train). I also get that I can take a train from Salerno to Pompei and then walk to the Anfiteatro entrance, or a longer walk/taxi to the Porta Marina entrance. I ran across what looks like an integrated service with Trenitalia (looks like slightly under 4EUR) that would take us from Salerno to Pompei via train, and from Pompei to Pompei Scavi via bus (I think). Has anyone used the service described in this article? I can see on Trenitalia how to buy the tickets - and it looks like a good plan, bus leaves 15 mins after train arrives.

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/tourism/2019/06/26/train-bus-combo-for-pompeii-and-amalfi-launched_5bff1847-5a88-450d-b73b-922b857d98e2.html

Also, is there a reason - other than the closest to you - to enter Pompeii at one entrance or another (Anfiteatro vs. Porta Marina), with respect to visiting Pompeii? I've heard that Anfiteatro is less crowded, makes sense, and that you can really only pick up a tour at the Porta Marina entrance, but is there any advantage one over the other?

I'd really appreciate input/experience on doing this. We'd be there in mid-May 2020, group of 10, inclusive of 2 children (ages 5, 3). There are enough of us that some sort of group transport is possible, I just wanted to do it on the cheap, and this (overall) looks pretty easy if it's a reasonable option.

Posted by
7270 posts

Stephanie, I suggest that you use Google Maps to look at the three Trenitalia stops in MODERN Pompeii, and see their distance to the entrances on that side of Pompeii Scavi, the ancient excavation that you are going to visit. I am not familiar with the bus-combo product you describe, so I won't comment on that.

The summer lines at the Porta Marina entrance really aren't so bad. But you don't have good access to that entrance because you want to travel by Trenitalia, and only the CIrcumvesuviana train (Naples-Sorrento and some other routes) stops directly across the street from Porta Marina entrance. The closest Trenitalia stop is much farther from an entrance that I've never been to. If there are "no tours" at the Amfiteatro entrance, it's because traffic is so low there that itinerant guides won't hang around there looking for work! I'm sure it is a very sleepy entrance.

I agree that having 10 people is a special case, because you won't fit in one modern-Pompeii taxi from a rail station to the ancient excavation! I hope you get the specific response you need from someone on this board, but I'm dubious about depending on a bargain product with no reviews for a group of 10 people.

Salerno has many virtues, but simple access for daytrips is not one of them. I don't want to pressure you to extend the day, but if you were certain that you wanted to visit the Archaeology Museum in Naples as well, that would help you use the Circumvesuviana to get to the Porta Marina entrance. You could exit the Amfiteatro gate and walk or taxi to the Trenitalia to go home.

(It's worth mentioning that Pompeii can be very hot and tiring, EVEN IN MAY. Many people spend at least 4 hours there, and you need a lot of water and sun protection. It is almost impossible to drive a child's stroller (American term ... ) on the rutted, separated stones of Roman streets. So the two youngsters are going to be burden for 1 to 2 miles of walking and 4 hours in the sun.)

Posted by
922 posts

We took the train from Salerno to Pompeii. Once we got off the train, there is a cafe that sells shuttle rides to the ruins. I don't recall the price but it was reasonable. They use vans and might hold 10 people but it's close. This worked quite well. The return trip was a bit tougher. We toured Pompeii and took the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento for a brief visit. When we took the same train back, we had to take a taxi to the trenitalia station. It was rush hour. The taxi ride took a while and wasn't cheap due to the traffic. With better timing, it would have worked out better. If you want to dine at a Michelin starred restaurant, President restaurant in Pompeii serves lunch and dinner.

https://www.ristorantepresident.it/en

Posted by
394 posts

It's an 11 minute walk to get from the station to the Amphitheater entrance.

I don't know why people are turning you away from that?

"going from Salerno to Naples and taking the Circum.... " is way more than the 11 minutes of a walk.
Getting expensive buses or taxis seems overkill.

If you don't need a service provided at the Porta Marina gate, skip it.

Last spring (2019) we entered at the Porta Marina gate - left our luggage in the lockers there - and spent the day.
We WALKED, with luggage, all the way to the Pompei station to take the train to Salerno. That was a long walk after a long day.
But we do like walking :-)

Posted by
117 posts

Thanks for your comments, all. Appreciate your input.

I’m not concerned about the walk from the Pompei station to the Antifeatro entrance- it looks very manageable. My primary goal is really trying to understand if there’s an advantage - other than a desire to pick up a tour and/or a quieter entrance (lines) to one or the other. Porta Marina is the one most often described in the books/sites that I’ve reviewed (perhaps by nature of a traversed tourist path of tourists visiting from Sorrento or Naples?). It doesn’t really seem so.

I’ve looked a ton of city and excavation maps, street views, read articles. For everything that I’ve read, it seems one picks their entrance largely based on point of arrival, but I’ve not been there. 😊

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