Hiring a private driver for tour of Pompei

[Albany1]

I will be in Italy in october,2010 and will be in rome the week of Oct.24. Can anyone recommend a reliable tour operator who will drive me from rome to Pompeii as well as a side trip to the Archaelogical Museum in naples? I want to do a day trip but don't want a tourist trip to a cameo factory.

[maestra36]

Welcome to this forum.
Why not take the train from Rome to Pompeii? Not sure how long the travel time is. Have been on the trains in Rome but not from Rome to Pompeii. At Pompeii, you can buy an audio tour in English, for two hours, four hours, You pick. The trains are not that expensive. We took the train from Naples to Pompeii and that was an easy run. Spent two hours at Pompeii (the train station is right near the ruins) and then took the train to Sorrento and from Sorrento back to Naples.

[liviomoreno]

The travel time from Rome to Naples and then to Pompei is about two-three hours. You have to change train in Napoli.

[maestra36]

You would have to take one train from Rome to Naples and then pick up the local train which goes to Pompeii and stops near the ruins. There are high speed trains from Rome which, I believe, only take an hour and 20 mins to Naples. It was abt 11 stops, I think, on the local train from Naples to Pompeii. The train from Naples to Pompeii is the Circumvesuviana. The train station in Pompeii is Pompeii Scavi. You only have to walk about 100 yds to get to the ruins from the train station.

I strongly suggest that you look at message boards on the internet for information from people who have booked private tours out of Rome. Even though you are probably not on a cruise, there is a lot of feedback about private tours on cruise critic message boards. Just search your topic on www.cruisecritic.com. I think you will get more information there than you may get on this forum.

[maestra36]

Thanks, Livio. I think it is too long a haul for a one day trip from Rome, but that's just my personal opinion. From Naples, the trip to Pompeii is a piece of cake-about 40 mins on the local train. Have no idea how long the drive is from Rome to Naples. You probably do.

[liviomoreno]

See here: http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

[Albany1]

My thanks to everyone who replied. These are good suggestions. I am not too keen on taking the train but it might be easier to do than I think.

[misbris]

Hi,

It also depends on how many people are in your party. We hired an excellent service to take us from Rome to Sorrento. On the way, he took us to Pompeii and let us explore at our leisure. We were in an air-conditioned Mercedes minibus. I will pm you with his website and email. We emailed back and forth numerous times regarding prices and changes. He was awesome. I'm sure he will tell you what is feasible and within your budget.

MJ