Vesuvius and Pompeii - too much in 6 hrs?

From Pompeii to Naples takes about 40 minutes. The trains come approx. every 15-30 minutes, assuming no problems or delays. Plus you will need time to go from the Circumvesiviana station to Napoli Centrale upstairs, check the readerboard for your platform number, and then find the correct platform (binario). Better plan 15-20 minutes for that. So catching a train to Naples approx. 15:00 would be safe.

I have not personally been to Vesuvius... I live close to Mt. St. Helens, and have also visited Volcano National Park in Hawaii which I found to be kinda boring. If volcanos fascinate you it might be worth your while, if not then you have my permission to skip it.

What you CAN do if you find you have extra time after Pompeii is to go to the Archeological museum in Naples where all the goodies dug up from Pompeii are on display.

Angela and Edith, I am glad for your post and reply. I will be staying in Gaeta,, about an hour from Naples and we were wondering about a day trip to Pompeii. Angela your advice about the train helps figure time for travel from Naples to Pompeii and back. I wonder about travel time from the train station to the Archeological Museum and back and what is the best way to go. By taxi I assume. How much time to allot for the museum? Thanks

Mount Vesuvius absolutely looms over Pompeii so if you don't have a burning need to set foot on it, then you'll see it with no problem from wherever you are both in Naples and Pompeii. You really don't have time to go to both...go to Pompeii, LOOK at Mt. V.

Visited Pompei last Friday. Took the 11:00 Trenitalia out of Salerno, arriving at the Pompei main station at around 11:45. We had been hoping there would be a taxi to take us to the Porta Marina main entrance of Pompei, but there were none to be had, so what the heck, it was a nice day so we walked. FYI, at the main square in town there is a neat remembrance of 9/11, with an actual steel beam from the Twin Towers.

But I digress. After about a 15 minute walk, following the brown street signs to the archeological ruins, we came upon the BACK entrance to Pompeii, near the amphitheatre. Paid our 11 Euro apiece, we're in.

Let me tell you, this place is massive. And almost nothing is marked. Even with the map in Italian you are given upon entrance, it is very confusing. Fortunately (ta-da), we each had our trusty RS podcast for Pompei on our respective iPhones, which helped immensely. Better than a guide. For example, the entrance to the Forum Baths is just a hole in the wall. But what treasures inside! Listening to Rick, it was like I was IN one of his shows, seeing the sights for myself instead of watching it on TV. Very, very cool. The podcast was also set up in chapters, which was great because you cannot take Pompei fast, otherwise I guarantee you will trip & break an ankle. Not to dissuade anybody from visiting--because it's more than worth it even with my bad ankles--but Pompei is the land of uneven surfaces.

Even though Rick's podcast is only about 40 minutes, we took nearly 4 hours because it takes time to get from one place (podcast chapter) to the next, and there were so many neat things that I wanted to inspect at close range. We could've stayed for another 3-4 hours, easy. Actually we only got through about 85% of Rick's podcast before we had to call it a day, so I know we missed some stuff. But all in all, it was one of the highlights of our European trip. Just tremendous.

We left through the Porta Marina entrance, found a taxi (15 Euro...supply & demand y'know,,,) and were back to the Pompei main Trenitalia station in short order. Wouldn't have been able to walk it, as tired as we were. Got back to Salerno about 5:00 PM.

So...in closing I'll reiterate that taking Pompei with time limitations is better than NOT going, but you will be giving yourself short shrift & definitely need extra time to savor Pompei's magnificence.

I would say it's too much - Pompei Scavi is enormous - and as Anita, said, Vesuvius looms poignantly over the ruins.

You also won't take the same route as Jay as he was coming/going from Salerno. Coming from Naples (or Sorrento), the Circumvesuviana stop is a very short walk from the entrance. You don't get off at the TOWN of Pompei but at the Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri stop, which is just outside of the Porta Marina entrance: no taxi needed.

Allow a minimum of 3-4 hours to see Pompeii. I also highly recommend setting up a tour with a local guide or using Rick's podcast. The site is HUGE and very little makes sense without context from a guide. Its easy to miss the important and most stunning parts of Pompeii if your just trying to navigate on your own.

With that said, my husband and I toured Vesuvius and Pompeii in the same day (we're in our mid 20's). The drive up the mountain to the trail (I think it cost us $20 each) took about 20 minutes. From there it was a 25-30 minute climb up a fairly steep sand-dune kind of slope. We really enjoyed the desolate environment (there were flowers blooming along the sides of the trail, really beautiful sight). And if its a clear day you get a really wonderful view of the bay of Naples. If there are any clouds, you might just find yourself walking IN a cloud while it floats by.

Looking down into the crater of the volcano is pretty scary. (Vesuvius is now considered one of the most "dangerous" volcanoes due to some earthquakes in Italy in the past few years)...which seems to be a precursor to its eruptions.

After spending maybe 15 minutes at the top we climbed back down to the bottom of the trail (20 mins) and took another 15-20 minute ride back down in the vehicle. I would say the trip to Vesuvius and back took 2 hours.

If you're ok with spending 3 hours at Pompeii and 2 hours at Vesuvius with an hour allowed for snack breaks/transferring from train stations I'd say its very doable depending on how quickly you want to move through Pompeii and how much you can handle physically in one day from a walking/standing and hiking standpoint.

These "actual result" replies are very helpful. I want to add that edith (the OP) didn't give a month of the year. Both these excursions receive merciless sun and heat, in season, with almost no refuge. (At least there's an air conditioned snack bar in Pompeii.) I've heard of dusty conditions at Vesuvius, but can't provide personal experience. I don't live in Washington state, but I agree that there is a limit to the number of volcanoes (particularly inactive ones) that you need to see-especially on foot, uphill. (Opinion)

This map shows the Porta Marina entrance to Pompeii, and the Circumvesuviana train line stop:
https://goo.gl/maps/Qf61U

This map, at a larger scale, shows the Trenitalia main-line station in modern Pompeii, and off to the left, the Porta Marina entrance. I haven't used the previous poster's entrance from modern Pompeii, so I can't mark it on the map.
https://goo.gl/maps/hDlXP

Edit: The Farnese Marbles should not be missed at the Archaeology Museum in Naples. They have nothing to do with Pompeii, but are significant monuments in the history of art-comparable to the best sculpture anywhere else, including Rome and Paris.

For the person asking about the archeological museum... You should be able to easily reach it using the metro from the train station. I actually walked because I wanted to find a pizza place for lunch. I got a bit lost, but eventually found my way and some great pizza! 2-3 hours is about all the time you need there. I was quite amazed at how advanced the people must have been back then, as there were all sorts of decorated glass objects, painted pottery, and things made of metal. Quite beautiful.

OP here, thank you everybody for your help. I'll be there late May, accuweather says it'll average 75 and right now that sounds awesome (considering it was -12 here recently). I personally have no interest in climbing Mt. Vesuvius, it's my energetic 24 year old daughter who wants to (she gets her energy level from her dad, lol). I think we'll do Pompeii and go from there, if she wants to do both we could split up - I can stay longer and maybe head for the archeological museum.