Pompeii, Amalfi Coast and Sorrento Day Trip from Rome

An early start to our day at 07.30 at Termini meeting up with the City Wonders guides who gave us our tickets to Naples and escorted us to our seats on the high speed train. We enjoyed the fast trip to Naples and admired the scenery. The City Wonders guide Claudio was there to greet us on arrival. He entertained us as we travelled through Naples and down to Pompeii with the historical facts of what we were about to experience. After a quick snack, we were then met by a local guide for the tour of the ruined city and surrounding district. Her tour was very informative for all with her knowledge of the disaster. Claudio was there to meet the group at the end of the tour, which continued along the beautiful coastline down to Sorrento. He pointed out some lovely local restaurants and we chose one overlooking the bay of Sorrento where we had a lovely lunch (own expense). He then escorted us through the narrow streets where we visited a Limoncello factory which was very amusing. Then we visited a cameo factory which was fascinating and a leather shop which enticed us to purchase. Claudio bid us farewell as he ensured we were all safely back on the high speed train. The end of another lovely day enjoyed by the 3 generations (Granny, daughters and granddaughter).

Although the weather was rainy for most of the trip, this was one of the most memorable tours I took from Rome. We were met at the main train terminal in Rome by our host, who directed us to the proper track in the busy station. He saw us onto the train safely. The train was very clean, and the ride was smooth, with lovely countryside views, and arrived on time. Our local tour guide, Vincenzio ('Enzio'), escorted us to our large bus (even though our group was very small), where we had plenty of room to stretch out. Enzio is from Naples, and related fascinating stories of the city. He turned us over to another experienced guide for the Pompei tour, which was fabulous. Without the detailed knowledge of the guide, we would not have experienced the full impact of life in Pompei before the eruption. We were then joined once again with Enzio, and got on the bus for a 45-minute drive to Sorrento, where we had lunch at a lovely restaurant overlooking the city. Enzio showed us a couple of special shops with outstanding products, including a cameo shop that had been run by the same family for 3 generations, and a delicious lemon shop with the best limoncello ever. We had over an hour of free time to browse the other shops and even dip our toes into the Mediterranean See on the beach. This is the only way to go for your Pompei tour, even though it is more expensive than most (because of the train ride, which took just over an hour - less than half as long as driving would have been). The expertise of our guides and bus driver was worth every penny.

We made our way to the train station early in the morning to be greeted by City Wonders. The first part of the tour was the bullet train to Naples where Claudio our City Wonders guide met us and proceeded to take the group to Pompeii. Claudio kept the groups interest with his knowledge about the history of the Amalfi coast and Pompeii. Once the tour of Pompeii with a local guide finished, we continued our journey to Sorrento. Claudio again gave us informative history about Sorrento and the surroundings areas. The day included a visit to the Limoncello and Cameo factories after a beautiful lunch overlooking the coastline (own expense). After a few hours of free time in Sorrento to sightsee, we then returned to Rome using the bullet train again. Although the day included alot of travel, I would recommend this activity to anyone visiting Rome.