travel advice - Pompeii (anywhere!) on my own

[lloydjam]

Bit sad this but I'm recently separated and want to go away in December on my own on what would be my 25th wedding anniversary. Ive always fancied Pompeii but just wondered if anyone could recommend any guided holidays as I'm not too keen to go on my own (plus it would be nice to meet other people). Im not quite 50 so am trying to steer clear some of the tour companies for older people (no offence meant ). thanks

Pompeii is amazing!!!

I don't have any tours to recommend I'm afraid but I'm just posting to say GO GO GO!!

Doing stuff on your own can actually be quite liberating. I left after 11 years... was due to be married but called it off before I made that mistake. So by no means as amazing at 25 years but I felt such freedom. I didn't even go abroad. Just being able to drive my own car wherever I wanted was fucking fantastic!

Pompeii is amazing. Mount Vesuvius is worth a walk too. Italy holds a special place in my heart.

How about Rome? So much to go and see there.

Try not to focus on the sadness OP. I think it's such a good idea to do this. Focus on the excitement and the new possibilities. Shed some tears definitely, but try and look forward.

Sending super hugs for you.

Thanks Plink - thats really kind of you ! yes all horrendous at the moment but I've really wanted to go to Pompeii and so will make the effort however daunting.

Remember no matter how awful it feels right now, it will get better. I promise xx

I've picked the most expensive option there is, OP, so that whatever tour you do decide on in the end will seem quite reasonably price I've done a number of tours with Tauck (in their Bridges range meant for families) and the Italy one in particular was absolutely amazing.

This is their small group tour which includes Pompeii in a two week itinerary (hence the cost) and it also includes - as many of their Italy trips do - an after hours trip to the Vatican Museum, which is breathtaking. We had half an hour in the Sistine chapel just us and another Tauck group, with an expert guide explaining all the paintings to us, it was staggering.

However, this tour doesn't run in December, although Tauck do have their classic Rome, Venice and Florence one (which also includes the Vatican). I see that this day tour does, but on a limited number of days per month. So you may have to be patient looking for a tour that covers that exact dates you need in the off season.

One thing to note about a tour is that, although it's great that someone else does all the thinking and you just have to follow the herd from place to place, there is a bit of a social aspect to it so group meals may well be included. This might suit you - and I've never had a problem of being there as a lone adult with just my ds, someone will always invite you to join them (in Italy our tour group had a large party from one family so they were mad keen to talk to other people as they already knew each other so well!). I'm sure it'd be no problem if you wanted to do your own thing, however - esp on the night of the anniversary itself, when you might find you want the distraction of company, but you might not.

Hope you find something to suit - there is a very detailed description of how you do a DIY trip on the train to Pompeii, I will find that and post it in a minute. In my experience in Italy (and Belgium, Germany and Norway!) the high speed trains do their announcements in English as well as the native language, so it is surprisingly easy to do the train thing by yourself.

Ah-ha, I should have known. Seat 61 to the rescue, it includes a of how to navigate from Naples station to Pompeii.

Thank you all very much !

I did Pompeii as part of a voyage Jules Verne package. It was really good and took all the stress out of the travelling. We were based in sorrento which is pretty and toured around amalfi coast.

Pompeii is on my to-do list, I've been living and working in Italy for the last 3 years, steadily working my way north. Started in Taranto in the south, then Pescara (same latitude as Rome) and am now in the North near the lakes.

Depending on what you enjoy, you have two main options;

1. If you like sightseeing/big cities/iconic monuments etc then all of the big cities will have things to do. Pompeii, Rome, Venice, Milan... all very possible and very easy. If you do this then I would HIGHLY recommend doing all your external viewing by night. If you want to see things like the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum etc (using Rome as an example) then it is blissfully peaceful after about 10pm. Everything is lit up beautifully, it's cool, and there aren't hordes of sweaty people waving selfie sticks. The internal stuff of course has to be done during opening hours, but try to get in early in the morning or 45 minutes before closing time to avoid the aforementioned hordes. However this kind of schedule will be impossible if you want to go around with a tour.

1. If you don't want to see big cities and monuments, then the best of Italy (to my mind) are the little cities and towns that are a 30-45 minute train journey away from the major cities. Less tourists, more peace, more natural beauty, less people trying to sell you stuff.

Some general tips:

• Use the trenit app if you plan on taking a train at any point in your journey. It has times, stops, platforms and fares listed. It's better than the information boards in the stations themselves.

• Most people have at least a smattering of English. The further south you go, the less English capability people generally have. If in doubt, talk to people in service industries like waiters in cafes or taxi drivers.

• If you want to know the word for something in Italian, you ask:

"Come si dice questo in Italiano?" while pointing at the object or thing.

(Pronounced "Com-eh see deechay quest-oh in Italy-ah-no")

If you want to learn a few words before you go, the duolingo app is very easy and useful.

For directions, "sinestra" is left, and "destra" is right.

Good luck!

I went to sorrento on my own, on my very first holiday abroad on my own. Loved it. Took trips to pompeii, herculaneum, vesuvius and capri. Went to amalfi on the bus and did a boat trip into the grotto on the way. Also went to ischia on the ferry.

You should have a lovely time 😊

Go. Pompeii from Naples station is very straightforward. Direct train. Around 20 mins. Not sure where you live and what used to but just be sensible in Naples with cross body bag etc. If you are travelling on your own Naples is easy for eating with lots of small food shops, lovely informal restaurants etc. Recommend Herculaneum even more moving than Pompeii. Real walking city vibrant and fascinating. Have brill time.

Thank you all so much !!