I am looking for a guided tour to Pompei for the day, can anyone recommend a reputable service? I have read postings about Enjoyrome.com and Roman Odessey Tours but they do not offer guided tours. I am leaving on Wed. so is it imperative to make these arrangements ahead of time or can I make them at the Hotel?

***title spelling edited only***

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Colleen,

Bill

Gazetteer of Rome

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bill Thayer,

Hi

I second Bill's suggestion of Ostia, often patronisingly and quite mistakenly referred to as the 'poor man's Pompeii'!

I fully support the previously expressed views about not doing Pompeii as a day trip from Rome...

But if one was going to do it, I would urge them to spring for a recommended private guide as well as car and driver. This would lessen the "pain" of the round trip transportation, give the visitor a more focused view of the excavations and possibly give them time for a visit to the archeological museum in Naples to see some of the treasures that are on display there.

And it would avoid the almost universal tour bus stop at a local cameo factory....

Dawn -- Pompeii as a daytrip from Rome is a very tiring long day. Are you sure you can't save it for another visit, or overnight at least one night?

If it must be done this time, then I'd recommend taking a train to Naples on your own, and arranging to have a driver pick you up and take you to Pompeii, where a guide will have been arranged (if the driver isn't one himself...there's a fierce guides' union at Pompeii and not just any guide can take clients around Pompeii). Driver could wait and take you back to Naples, or you could just take the Circumvesuvia from Pompeii Scavi to Naples and the regular train back to Rome.

If money isn't a big problem, then have a driver take you all the way from Rome.

Best wishes,

Hello Dawn,

I am new here too, and we are facing the same decision. I’m not sure what your budget and timing is, however, we are also wishing to see Pompeii. We have decided to switch one of the nine days we had in the countryside between Florence and Rome and hire a private car and driver for the day toward the end of our vacation while in Rome to go to Pompeii and the AC. We did NOT wish to give up a day in Rome.
We will take the Eurostar early one morning, getting into Naples just before nine am. We will be met at the Naples train station, take a (very) brief drive through tour of Naples, drive to Pompeii for two hours (45 minutes by car) and then down to the Amalfi area for the remainder of the day. We will be catching the 6:30 pm train back to Rome arriving at about 9 pm.
Two hours in Pompeii may not do the area justice, but at least we will be able to see it. The driver suggested we “choose to hire an Authorised Archaelogical Guide or take the excelent audio tour”. We have not made up our minds which to do yet. A long day, but one that will be spent much of the time on our hind quarters looking out windows, except for the two hours at Pompeii and lunch on the AC.
Salvatore at driveamalfi@hotmail.com has been very prompt, helpful and answered all the many questions I had regarding timing, services, car type etc. I am feeling very comfortable booking him for the day. He has come highly recommended from folks here.
I’m not sure if he does trips just to Pompeii, but he may be able to make a referral for the day.

Hope this helps.

First, we were going to jump in here to agree on not doing Pompei as a day trip from Rome. It's exhausting. Stay the night in Naples or Sorrento, or save it for another holiday.

Now we see another post with Pompei and Amalfi Coast as a day trip from Rome? We've also noticed the Juneau Alaska address. It's 34 degrees here today (98 degrees F) and even with an air-conditioned limo...you'll faint at Pompei in this heat.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Vagabond_wannabe:
We will take the Eurostar early one morning, getting into Naples just before nine am. We will be met at the Naples train station, take a (very) brief drive through tour of Naples, drive to Pompeii for two hours (45 minutes by car) and then down to the Amalfi area for the remainder of the day. We will be catching the 6:30 pm train back to Rome arriving at about 9 pm.

---

Even more tiring than visiting Pompei alone! if you really want to do it, at least reerve all your time in the area for Pompei alone, skip Naples and Sorrento. Still, I would reserve three nights in Naples, have at least two half days to tour Naples (it has bad press, but the city is very interesting) and one day in Pompei. The other two half days will be the trip from and to Rome.

B

Good idea for a FAQ. Even better would be a brief page on the main site, giving a brief overview, details for getting there and making the most of the visit, and giving leads to resources. (Volunteers, anyone?)
And for our poor Dawn, here's what everyone's talking about---
Ostia Antica (click on "visiting the ruins" for some nuts and bolts)

Hi,
I agree about not doing this as a day trip. I actually prefer Ercolano (Herculeneum) with a stay in Naples or on the way to a night in sorrento. Naples is an interesting city, as Alice described. The view of the bay of Naples is spectacular. You can see why the Victorians were so enamoured with it.
Philip

Well.... Liking to believe I have an open mind (the wife would disagree) I shall now have to rethink our choice. In our own defense (not that one is needed, we all approach situations a bit differently) the wife and I are 50ish, in VERY good shape, exercise and hike a great deal, don’t have children with us, don’t drink (I do believe this fact has a high degree of correlation with the amount of exhaustion one would experience, in any heat)and travel with one light pullman only.

I would NEVER get in a 50ft tin can with 60 other tourists for any length of time, let alone 98 degree weather. I would liken a trip like this to a drive and hike from Kona to the Kilauea area. It’s an hour and a half drive, some of the hikes can be 8 to 10 hours, and an hour and a half back to the condo. And worth every second after sitting around on the beach for a week.

Each to his own. Just trying to be helpful should one decide to hire a car for the day after taking a train to Naples.

Smiles and Cheers Folks!

quote:

---

Originally posted by philip:
You can see why the Victorians were so enamoured with it.

---

On the board it is often quated the line "one life is not enough for Rome" (or something like that), but the true hymn to tourism in italy is "Vedi Napoli e poi muori" (see Naples than you die, which actually mean that seeing Naples makes a life having been worth, so that you cna die peacefully and with no regrets only if you have seen it).

Well I'm not a frequent traveler to Italy, but I'm also not one that thinks a 2 or 3 hour one way daytrip is a horribly exhausting endeavor either. We do it at home quite often. Of course I live in the boondocks and must drive an hour each way just to go to the grocery store, so I have a different take on travel.

We didn't go to Pompei, but we went to Assisi from Rome which is just about as far in another direction. My recommendation would be DO NOT TAKE THOSE STUPID TOURS! Take the train to Naples (2 hours) and then the smaller train to pompei. Do it on your own. We saw Pompei on our own and spent four hours. (but we saw it from Sorrento) So you get home 7 or 8 at night. So you'll be tired when you get back to your hotel. So you'll sleep in the next morning. If I wanted to see Pompei, I wouldn't let that stop me.

Joelle

quote:

---

Originally posted by Joelle:
Well I'm not a frequent traveler to Italy, but I'm also not one that thinks a 2 or 3 hour one way daytrip is a horribly exhausting endeavor either. We do it at home quite often. Of course I live in the boondocks and must drive an hour each way just to go to the grocery store, so I have a different take on travel.

---

I agree with you, Joelle. It can be an enjoyable day trip from whereever. I even took it as a day trip from L'Aquila. But there are several caveats:
1. Do not plan on seeing every last detail of Pompei. Do your research and pick your top 5-10, etc. sights within Pompei.
2. If you can't arrange a suitable human guide, do it on your own using the walk around audio guide headsets you can rent there, which is what I did. Numbers on the guide map can be entered into the device to get a nice description of what you are looking at. You control the device and get as much info or not as YOU see fit.
3. It may end up being a long day, and you will fighting waves of tour crowds, but if you want to see Pompei, Dawn, YOU go for it. Just remember point 1. You can't see everything in a day trip.

OK, I have to throw in my 2 cents worth. We did Pompeii from the Amalfi Coast and it was a great day trip! Wonderful because we were able to spend quite alot of time there without feeling rushed. To do it from Rome is, in my opinion, not being able to do it justice. You will be tired when you get there, you will HOT while there, rushed through it without really seeing it and then exhausted when you get back to Rome. Don't do it! Do, instead, go to Ostia. We loved Ostia when we went last year and had a wonderfull day....from Rome! Easy and pretty darn fantastic. Save Pompeii for another trip when you can visit Naples, Amalfi, Caserta, Capri, Herculaneum.....ahhhhh...I think it's time I plan my next trip!

Donna Marie

OK, I'll chime in here as well, having gone to Pompeii any number of times from any number of bases (hey, I was a Latin and classics major as an undergrad!).

The key issues here are travel time, hassle value, and motivation. I vastly prefer basing myself in Sorrento, Naples, or somewhere else in the area and spending the day in Pompeii. A quick trip on the Circumvesuviana (local train) and you're at the site.

But, if you don't have the time, and you do have the motivation, go ahead and do it from Rome. *Please* take the Eurostar Italia early in the morning (anything else is too slow), and transfer at Napoli Centrale to the Circumvesuviana train. If you're only carrying a camera bag/daypack, this shouldn't be too tiring.

Under no circumstances would I drive, or be driven, from Naples to Pompeii -- not unless you have a high tolerance for disturbingly dizzying traffic and delays. Sitting in the back of a taxi or limo while at a standstill is not enjoyable.

Guides -- here, if I had not been to Pompeii previously, I would splurge. Many of the Pompeii guides are very knowledgeable. I've met classicists, archeologists, and historians serving as guides. If you've come all this way to see Pompeii, having a live guide of whom you can ask questions will make this more enjoyable (and they sometimes will use their keys to show you buildings usually closed). If you don't want a private guide for the two of you, try to round up another couple at the ticket area.

My two cents.

I agree with Scott about the live guide. The headphones are good for a "canned" presentation. But nothing can compare with a knowlegeable guide who can answer your questions as well as give you the spiel.
We engaged a guide for Herculaneum who had been recommended by our driver.
Augustino Cappiello, a history professor by training, is a true teacher in the most noble sense of the word. He can share his incredible store of knowledge with ease in four different languages. As far as his credentials go, he writes the guidelines for continuing education and professional testing for the antiquity guides of the region. He also tutors new guides. His client list tends toward the historically inquisitive and includes the history departments of several US and UK Universities.
What I liked most about him was his obvious desire to educate us rather than just show us.
As we walked across the overwalk, he stopped in the middle and gave us a detailed explanation of how Vesuvius erupted and the various directions the lava, gases, cinders, and ash took as they spewed. He literally drew a picture of the mountain and the bay to show how the lava flowed toward Herculaneum and the wind currents carried the ash & cinders to Pompeii. All of this was to illustrate why the entombment of at Pompeii was so different from that of Herculaneum.
You really can't get that quality of understanding from a set of headphones. If anyone is interested, my last e-mail address for him was agostino.guide@libero.it
We spent four hours in Herculaneum (which is a fraction of the size of Pompeii). It wasn't enough time. We've visited Pompeii three times, always for at least 4 hours. We still haven't absorbed it all. I would never recommend visiting Pompeii without first spending some time in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Napoli.
I agree with Alice, Naples is a wonderful city. It deserves more than a quick visit to the museum and a fearful retreat.
I agree with Donna Marie...You could easily plan a two week trip for that region and not come close to exhausting your opportunities.
And most of all I agree with those who commented on avoiding Pompeii during the hot and crowded high season. It is miserable!

Having been to both, I recommend going to Ostia Antica instead. --Okay, it wasn't once covered in lava, and it's not as famous, but it's far closer, jaw-droppingly impressive, completely gives you your "ruined Roman city" fix, and isn't as hot/crowded/lacking in ameneties.

I would only go to P. having based in Naples or somewhere on the Amalfi coast.

Trust me.

R.G.