Pompeii Travel Forum

I noticed that it is compulsory to make a train reservation from Naples to Rome.
When do you suggest I make that reservation? Can I do it the day of our trip (September 17)? Should I make it today from home? The challenge I have with making it now is that I have no idea how long it is going to take us to get through the ruins at Pompeii. I would hate to be rushed because we have to catch a train. On the flip side, I would hate to have seen everything and have to wait 3 hours for a train because I made a reservation for later in the day.

I didn't know it was compulsory to make that train reservation. But Pompeii could take up to 4 hours easily.

check out this link, it's got good overall advice

http://www.thecolefamily.com/italy/pompeii/trip.htm#oneday

I only visited Ercolano and we took about 2 1/2-3 hours.

It is NOT compulsory to make reservations for all trains from Naples to Rome. It is compulsory on a lot of them, such as the Eurostars, the Alta Velocita', the T-Biz (if any), the ICPlus, the EuroNights, etc.

On the regional trains, there are no reserved seats at all, and on the Espresso and the IC (InterCity) trains, there will be a mix of reserved and open seats.

To be fair, the trains with the reserved seats are faster (and more expensive).

Normally, when you have a trip with so many possible trains, you don't worry about reservations in advance, because even if one train sells out, the next train will probably have seats, which they will sell you at the last minute when you walk up. Note as well that you have regional trains through the day - this is important because they can't "sell out" - if there is room to stand, you can get on it.

So, for example, there is a regional train at 18:30 from Naples that arrives in Rome at 21:11. If you try to leave earlier but all the trains are full at the last minute, well, you can get on this one...or the Espresso train at 18:45 (which stops at Roma Tiburtina, not Termini, but oh well)...or or or...

In any case, unless you have some specific need to be back in Rome at a certain hour, I wouldn't feel bad playing it loose from Pompeii until about 21:00 (from Naples), when the number of trains dwindles. Note that you'll need as much as an hour to get from Pompeii to Naples and buy the ticket to Rome...

Make sense? Are you using www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html for trip planning on the railroad?

Bill

I have taken the train from Naples to Rome twice this year and did not make a reservation. I was traveling in the off season and the trains were not even close to full. Enjoy your trip!!

Thanks for the answers to my questions! This really made life easier for me.