visit to Pompeii and Herculaneum

My husband and I are retired and we and our son are planning to travel from Rome to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum for two or three nights in late September or early October and had several questions:

Which is preferable as a base - Naples or Sorrento?

When you visit Pompeii - what can you reasonably expect to be able to do after the visit such as a museum or walking tour - same with Herculaneum.

Any recommendations for a tour guide for each place.



Similar Content



Transfer from Amalfi Town to Pompeii

I am looking for a list of transfer companies that might possibly take my family from Amalfi to Pompeii next week. Is there an updated consolidated list like this anywhere?

We are trying to sort out our plans, but we are debating between two alternatives. The first would have us leave Amalfi in the morning of our final day on the coast and visit Pompeii before heading onto Rome that afternoon. We would likely store our luggage in Pompeii, take the local train to Naples, and proceed from there. The second option is to visit Pompeii from Amalfi and then return back the same day.

8 nights in Sorrento?

Hello everyone,

Finally we are getting to go on our honeymoon and booked some last minute flights to Naples in 2.5 weeks time for 8 nights.

We are really struggling with whether or not to stay in Sorrento for the entire 8 nights or to go to Capri (or Positano) for a few nights also. We intend on taking day trips to Pompeii and Herculaneum. To give you an idea of what we enjoy...we like strolling around admiring the scenery, eating nice food and drinking and a fun nightlife; we definitively enjoy a bit of a nightlife buzz!

Look forward to your suggestions :-)

Stephanie.

Recomended area to stay

I am planning a visit with my two history and food interested grand-daughters (19-20). What would be the best area to stay ? The Piazza Billini area ? Or near the central station to visit Pompeii ?

I have looked at the top question "where to stay in Naples" but things may have changed during the last 5 years.

Ease of logistics

Hello everyone

Thanks for any help you can provide with this planning query. We plan to visit 4 places over 10 days late March next year. For few different reasons we have to do those 4 places and have only 10 days. Therefore I am looking for the best/efficient way to get these places. Our flight in and out is from Rome. We need to visit friends/ business in Venice, Tuscany and Naples. My initial thought was to stay in Rome for couple of days then travel to Venice then Tuscany , Naples and back to Rome via direct train. But wanted to see if we should instead travel first to Venice, then Tuscany, Naples and finally Rome to make the flight out easier? We are hoping to take flights and train but could get a car if need be especially thinking of Tuscany. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again

itinerary help

Hey there. We are planning a trip to Italy (and Paris) next June. We are bringing our DDs, first timers to Europe, ages 21 and 16. I’ve been reading through itineraries, guide books, youtube videos of Italy and getting so excited. We have limited time (only 10 nights in Italy) and we are packing in A LOT I know. We are considering using Zicasso or another company to make the most of our time, especially since we are trying to do so much...Here’s our latest itinerary so far. (we like to see as much as possible/get a taste so we know where to spend more time the next time:)

. Summary. 2 nights, 1 1/2 full days in Venice,

4 nights in Florence with day trip to Cinque Terre, 5 nights in Rome with day trip to Pompeii and Amalfi

*We already bought our tickets flying into Venice

Day 1. Arrive Venice from Paris on the 13th. Half day in Venice

Day 2. Venice

Day 3. Take a late train from Venice to Florence.

Day 4. Florence

Day 5. Florence. (Day trip to Cinque Terre)

Day 6 Florence

Day 7. Train to Rome by 7pm. Stay near Piazza Novana

Day 8. Rome

Day 9 Rome

Day 10. LONG day with private guide to Pompeii/Amalfi

Day 11. Rome

Day 12. Departure day

Grazie!

Edited: 12:57 pm, August 13, 2021

Struggling to pick Positano, Amalfi/Atrani or Ravello?

I'm planning to visit Amalfi Coast in early September and struggling to pick a town to base for 5 nights. I'm trying to list out pros/cons. High on my list during stay: day trip to Capri/Blue Grotto, Hiking (Path of Gods and a few other trails have also peaked my interest), some beach/water time (kayaking, water sports, boat ride), exploring a town or two (maybe via hikes) and of course amazing food. Also would like to be able to move around fairly easily (don't mind stairs). It sounds like buses can be an overcrowded burden during September, so I'm thinking walking/ferries is the way to go. Or do I split my stay? 2 nights in one town, three in another?

If I base in Amalfi/Atrani, is it easy to visit Capri on a day trip? I believe there's a ferry from Amalfi to Capri -- about an hour trip?

Alternatively, if I base in Positano, is it fairly easy to get to Path of Gods trail heads and also ferry/bus to other towns like Ravello?

And finally, what about Ravello? It looks stunning, but would staying there limit my ability (or add a lot of travel time) to visit Capri for the day or really enjoy the beach/kayak?

Appreciate the feedback -- I'm quickly falling into the research rabbit hole and need to make some decisions since trip is quickly approaching.

Edited: 10:47 pm, July 08, 2021

Trip to Amalfi and Capri

We are planning to visit Italy this September, going to Amalfi and Capri. We are planning on flying to Naples airport and from there going to Amalfi to stay for a few days and take a day tour to Capri. Another option would be going from Naples to Capri and from there to Amalfi. Which of the two would be a better choice? Woukd appreciate anh input

Sicily & the yellow zone - the reality?

Hi,

My wife and I are due to travel to Sicily from the UK for a 2 week trip, last week of September/first week of October. This would be our first visit and we planned to rent a car and tour some of the island staying in a few different places - Palermo, Cefalu, Aelion islands, Taormina, Syracuse.

Now that the yellow zone restrictions have been reintroduced, we were hoping for some first hand experiences as to what impact this might have for us? Ideally from locals or people who have recently visited or are currently visiting Sicily.

We would obviously follow all the local restrictions and mask rules, we are fully vaccinated ourselves, plus both recovered from previous covid infections some time ago. However we have some concerns that our plans to tour around might mean we would be wearing our masks pretty much all day every day (when not driving) and that the restrictions will result in places we would like to visit being closed or very restricted.

So we are now considering whether to book elsewhere and head to Sicily another time. Or are we worrying too much?

Sicily for 4-6 weeks - mid June-late July; or after August

Hi there,

My family of 4 (kids aged 9 and nearly 5) are planning a trip to Sicily for 4-6 weeks in 2023 (and other parts of Italy too after the 4-6 weeks are up). We will rent a car for most of our stay.

We are planning to come in mid-June, which is the earliest we can arrive that spring.

My main question is: We aren't certain though if we should stay through to the end of July (6 weeks)?

We don't really know what its like in July, as we've been to Sicily in different periods befo

* early-mid June a few years ago (a bit north of Catania, Ortigia, Agriturismo Silitti near Caltanisetta, Marsala, Scopello); and

* a few days in early October for our honeymoon about 10 years ago (Ortigia and an agriturismo called Zottopera near Chiaramonte Gulfi).

We would ideally like to have a relaxing time with the kids in Sicily - and are hoping to avoid extreme heat (e.g. over 33 Celsius) during the middle of the day, crazy busy-ness and the worst of the Italian school holidays.

We are planning to stay in 2 or 3 spots as bases (about 10 days each): something like beachside near Noto/Ragusa, another near Palermo; and possibly an agriturismo in a central region or near a nice village (in a different region) as a third base. With possible weekend stays in Ortigia, Palermo, Cefalu and San Vito lo Capo.

Most places in Italy we'd like to visit mention September/October as ideal timing to visit, which I believe is also true for Sicily. But if we can visit Sicily at the start of our trip, we can leave September for areas like further north like Tuscany, Urbino, Ascoli Piceno.

6 nights in Sicily

Due to the unique current offerings airline wise we have 6 nights/7 days in Sicily as part of a broader trip. We fly into Catania midday day 1, and our departure is from Palermo at 8pm, offering a near full-day in Palermo on day 7 (with bags safely stored with our hotel)

My dilemma is allocating the 6th night.

So far we’ve settled on 2 nights in Ortigia, 2 in Taormina, 1 in Palermo. For our 6th night I cannot determine if we should devote 3 nights to Ortigia as our base to have more time for places such as Noto etc or place a 2nd night to Palermo to have 2 full nights between transfers.

My current thinking if 3/2/1 is arrive Catania middday day 1, head to Ortigia and spend afternoon/evening there.

Day 2 - visit Noto, Ragusa, Marzememi or so one (1-2 of these).

Day 3 - visit another couple of places

Day 4- drive to Taormina, staying there.

Day 5 - visit Etna or gorges etc

Day 6 - to Palermo, spending part of the day in Cefalu

Day 7 - Palermo till leave for our flight late in day.

Is this a wise itinerary or should we forego the 2nd day of exploring behind Syracuse in favor of 2 nights based in Palermo?