train to pompei

We visited both Herculaneum and Pompei on our way to Sorrento. At Herculaneum you walk down a few somewhat steep blocks to the site and check your luggage for free. At Pompei you walk less than a minute to the site and check your luggage for free as well. There are other places to check your luggage for a fee but free is better. The sites were easy to find and the staff was helpful.

consider getting the Campania Artecard (sold in the Naples train station, among other places). For 25E you get 3 days travel on the Circumvesuviana train and all buses in the area, plus free admission to your 1st 2 sites. See http://www.artecard.it/EN/Home.cfm Note that the 13E card only covers transport and museums in the immediate city of Naples, you need the 25E card to go outside the city. If I remember right you get 2 cards; one works on the train entrance stalls, the other is for the museums.

BTW trains in Italy sometimes go on strike, and it is announced in advance. This train will be on strike 7/19/07; see http://www.vesuviana.it/Home and look for "sciopero" (strike).

BTW if you have an hour or so to spare and want a fantastic view, take the Funivia Castellammare di Stabia tram to the top of the hill. Cars run every 30 minutes, and the train station is right at the foot of the Funivia

Thanks for the advice. checking our luggage in Pompei would be great. I assume we can then catch another train to continue our trip into Sorrento. Also, we are not staying in the city center. Is it fairly easy to get a taxi at the train station?

Very easy to get a taxi at the Sorrento train station.

Consider hiring a driver and spending the day that way. We spent 9.5 hrs with a man named Giulio Manzone, of Naples. We were spared the ordeal of the Circumvesuviana and the crowds. It will cost more but , in our opinion, it's worth it