pompeii from Naples

[pkfamily]

We have just got our booking itinery on the P and O website and they are telling us the trip to pompeii is only a 4 hour trip, done either in a morning or an afternoon. We went to pompeii 20 years ago and I would have thought that four hour is too short to do the trip?

 

Has anyone done the trip and if so is it long enough?

 

Has anyone done the trip without using P and O?

 

Lastly can you take towels from the cabin to the pool and beach?

 

Many thanks in anticipation.

Paul:)

[tom_uk]

it is certainly possible to do the trio from Naples to Pompeii on your own. Look here:

http://www.europeportreviews.com/Naples5.htm

for detailed instrucitons.

 

Also do a Google search for 'Circumvesuviana' - this is name of the train line that runs to Pompeii from Naples.

[Kerry & Danny]

Before I start I do not want to upset any Italians, and this is my personal opinion from our experiences from the Sea Princess 2 years ago. We adore Italy, and have me many wonderful Italians on our travels.:o

Pompeii from Naples should be easy in theory on your own, we did it.

We got off our ship and were met with lots of Taxi Drivers, who got into a fight with each other for our business; we agreed a price to take us to the train station. The driver stopped half way turned nasty with us and told us he was taking us to Pompeii, and we did not have to bother with the train. In the end we go out of the taxi and only got back in when he agreed to take us to the station only.

We got our ticket and got it validated, the journey was interested, as a number of Italians were quite aggressive and intimidating. The station at Pompeii is very close, not a problem. And yes we did spend all day there was just so much to see and we still did not see everything, but we are a bit of history addicts.

When we got back to the ship, there were lots of stories of people being mugged, one guy had his watch cut from his wrist, one person had money snatched from an ATM at the bank, several hadbags and wallets stolen. We decided maybe we were lucky!

 

So in conclusion would I like to go back to Pompeii, yes defiantly!

Would I do Pompeii on our own again, only if there were a large group of us men and women!

 

I will add we did Rome on our own and did not have any of these problems, I think Naples is just a place to be very careful of especially if you get off a cruise ship!

[StLucia]

We visited Pompeii last October when we cruised with OV2. We visited in the morning and then went to Sorrento in the afternoon. PandO probably offer the same trip. The tour guide was excellent and showed us all the main features. Unless your really do your homework in advance I cannot see how you can do it on your own. It's a massive site and very easy to get lost in the maze of streets. We did not have any of the problems experienced by others and really enjoyed ourselves. The only complaint, the weather was awful, very cold. Sorrento was beautiful and we are planning to visit it again when we are on Celebrity Solstice October 2009, just hope the weather is better!

[K8T]

Hi there

 

Yes you can do Pompei on your own, it is not difficult atall. Two years ago we did Pompei and then last year Herculanum, which to be honest, was much more impressive for me.

 

The train station is a fair walk from where the ship comes in and along a very busy industrial sort of area. It will take 20 minutes at least and isn't a pleasant experience with all the fumes, so get a cab. We have never experienced any bad taxi drivers (apart from the driving!!!), but obviously they want the bigger fares, not the short trip down the road. I would suggest you just tell them you want the train station and not why.

 

The trains are easy to navigate, you get your ticket from the window, or a machine - we always go for the window option, just to be sure and then it is straight through to the platform. The trains have little maps on them (as per the underground), so you can check you are going the right way! You can't miss Pompei from the station and it is only a short walk. Get a good tour guide to Pompeii when you get there, we got an excellent one that showed what it looked like now and then you pull a piece of paper accross and it makes up the picture to what it probably looked like. It is large, but is not difficult to get around. If you know anything about Pompeii, you will know what will be your key points. You will come accross lots of English tour groups and the Cruise ones too, and you can earwig on what interests you and walk off when you get bored!.

 

Herculanum is the same, but fewer groups and much much smaller and intact. You can get heaphones that talk you around the site. They may have these in Pompeii now too.

 

When you get out the station at Herculanum (I think it is called something else), walk down the hill. In fact, we went up Vesuvius and to Herculanum (with a toddler too!). As you come out the train station, on the left is a tour company doing trips up the volcano, we went and asked and they had one going in about half an hour. A few others came along too - I can't remember what it cost, but it wasn't a lot. You do have to walk up the last bit, but getting to the top was fantastic and it is still smoking!!! We then had time to go around Herculanum and have lunch!

 

Naples is renown for thefts and crime, especially kids on motorinos ( little motorbikes), they whisk along and take your bags. However, some people coming off cruise ships have no idea and look so like tourists, with their stay press slacks and gold necklaces, I must admit it makes us laugh!

 

(The funniest was when in Jerusalem, a cruise passenger bartering in the bazaar, over a couple of pounds, wearing a diamond studded watch strap - she was lucky she didn't get her hand chopped off!).

 

Seriously though, dress down, leave you posh jewllery and watch in the safe, take a bag you can put around you and split your money between you, put your credit card in your shoe just in case and get in a carriage which has lots of people in it!!. You will be fine.

 

If you get to Pompeii and are worried about getting back, then get a cab.

 

The money you save can be spent on several bottles of wine at dinner!

 

Kate

 

P.S. Take a piece of paper with you and a pen, so the taxi driver can write how much they are going to charge, there is no arguing then!

 

P.P.S The towels!!! You usually have a couple of towels in your bathroom, which are coloured (used to be a mauve pattern!), these are your towels for the pool. Leave them up there in the bins when you have finished and they will be replenished in your room. Gone are the days when there were piles of fresh fluffy towels on the decks and you just grabbed a couple - another cost cutting exercise I expect!