Using buses in Italy..Naples to herculaneum and Pompeii

You must mean the Circumvesuviana? That's what goes there. What do you mean by "unsafe"? Going to crash? Or pickpockets relieve unwary tourists of their wallets because they were surprised by gypsies or distractions and did not use money belts? Where have you seen such horror stories? If you will clarify your concerns I will answer...

Just have your wits about you when you get off the train (Circumvesuviana is a train). I've never had a problem on a bus or a train in Italy, and I've been traveling there for 40 years.

I have never heard that the buses are unsafe in Italy. There is the usual caution that pickpockets can work the public transit bus and subway pretty well. However, we never had any problems during many weeks of travel on buses and subways. You take the usual precautions - be aware of your surrounding even when packed into a bus or subway car, never have anything on you worth stealing and, if you do, make sure it hard for you to get to so it is hard for anyone else to get to. But that is the same advice whether it is Italy, Spain, France, etc.

Thany you for replies Yes on cruise critic a you tube video and must have been a show on the tele people were commenting on. Hoping to get train to herculaneum and Pompeii and down Amalfi Coast. Is it possible to train from Pompeii and back to Port of Naples or ferry?

Hi Liz, On my son's and my first trip to Italy and Europe for that matter, after our RS tour ends in Rome, we plan to take the fast train (I think it will be either express or Eurostar) to Naples. Then, it will be necessary to take the commuter train to Pompeii on the Circumvesuviana. We will then take the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento after Pompeii. We want to take the Amalfi bus tour from Sorrento to Positano, then take the ferry back to Sorrento from Positano. Other travelers as well as Rick in his book mentioned this ferry. If we need to fly back from either Napes or Rome, there is a bus that goes to the airport to Naples (to my understanding) and a bus that goes to the train station in Rome. Rick's book on Italy has very helpful information. I plan on wearing a money belt. I think as long as normal precautions are taken, everything will probably be fine.