will be in italy in june 2016. spending five nights in venice and would like to see the sorrento-amalfi coast area for four days also if possible. in an effort to save time, has any one flown from venice to naples? what was your experience? thanks for any feedback.

Looks like easyJet has a non-stop that takes 70 minutes. That will save considerable time.

I don't think that you will save any time by flying. The (direct) train ride takes just 5 hrs.
If you really want to save time, you may take a overnight train (cabins with beds and couchettes): Venice dp at midnight - Naples ar 8.45; change at Rome (6.35/7.35).

I would find it more comfortable to fly, but others wouldn't. Personally, "just" 5 hours on a high-speed train would be at least 2.5 hours more than I would enjoy. I wouldn't enjoy an overnight train either.

I haven't flown from Venice to Naples, but I have flown from Naples to Milan and enjoyed it, whereas hours on a high speed train is not all that pleasant.

If the overnight train sounds feasible check these info-ladensources for lots on night trains and what to expect: www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com. Go to www.trenitalia.com for fares and booking- night trains can be neat - the ultimate time saver for daytime travel time and save on the cost of a night in a hotel - that said midnight departure from Venice would be a tad too late for me even though that train should be standing there for boarding much earlier than that - probably.

At 5 hrs station to station, it's impossible for anyone but you to know whether a plane or a train - between any two European points - will be faster from hotel to hotel.

Which of the two experiences will be the more unpleasant is utterly subjective - though I find it impossible to get inside the head of anyone preferring the terminal experience of unnecessary short haul flying.

When one point is Venice, you have to add about an hour to all flight times, because that's how long it'll take to wait for the bus to the main railway station, take the journey, then walk to the vaporetto stop to get to your hotel. Add the time wasted checking in at an airport, going through security, getting from plane to terminal and waiting for bags, and it's practically impossible to get from Naples airport to a Venice vaporetto in less than 4 hours. And the likelihood is it'll take you longer to get from a Naples hotel to the train (just walk on) than to the airport

Personally, for me this would be a complete nobrainer: with 5 clear hours to read a book, research Venice, snooze, catch up on work or chat to neighbouring passengers, time on trains is never wasted. By plane on this kind of short journey, practically every single second is pointless - and at best, mildly purgatorial. Others might value the effective use of their time less, and that's their decision.

Don't delude yourself you'll see Italy by train: on fast trains you get little more than a blur, and a lot of that is the inside of concrete culverts. Oddly, the best scenic experience - though it's costly - is by plane: few cities on earth (possibly Liverpool, London in the early days of Eurostar, Shanghai by ship and New York by helicopter) has an entrance as spectacular as a water taxi or direct waterbus from the airport to your hotel (or nearest waterbus stop). This works only if you arrive before sunset.

If you have that opportunity and are unsure about which transport method, I'd say the plane plus direct water taxi or water bus is worth the additional cost and substantially greater pain.

I've done both. It's up to you. I find getting to Marco Polo and waiting in line adds significantly to any time saved in the air. If you're on Easyjet you need to pay extra for checked bags and wait to check them in - and at Marco Polo it's always a long line. Not everyone can afford water taxis to Marco Polo so you're on the Alilaguna 'airport bus' which does what a bus does - and stops here, there and everywhere. It's a nice way to get to an airport I must say, but it adds to time. There are also the usual security checks, metal detectors - which you don't have to do on a train. The trains in Venice are on the Grand Canal so at the most you either walk or take a vaporetto.

Then you get off at Naples Capodichino and have to wait for your bags again - whereas if you're on a train you pick up your bags and walk away. It's easier to get to the Amalfi Coast from the train station as well. The airport involves a road connection to the train station which also adds to your time.

In the end it's up to you but having done it, I just take the train - it's productive work time (for me), rather than time wasted in transit to and from airports and waiting for bags and all that stuff.

I make it a practice to ignore travel advice from people who cannot imagine other people traveling differently than they do, and advise others to do the same. I especially think it is brainy to ignore the advice of those who think no-brainer is the optimal way to go about things when making travel plans.

If you are dithered by airports and can't read in them, or can't afford comfortable transportation to airports (water or otherwise) with your luggage, then there are all sorts of good reasons to take the train.

I live in Italy and take the high-speed train lines more than a dozen times a year. At the highest speeds, I find they give me headaches and sometimes nausea. They are also no more comfortable for getting up and walking around than an airplane.

I prefer taking comfortable transport to the airports, checking in, reading until the plane takes off, and spending 70 minutes reading on the plane stuck in a seat (if you can't afford a water taxi, you probably can't afford 1st class on an Italian high-speed plane either) -- and being done with it.

For shorter distances, I like the train very much.

I've seen people on Fodor's mock people who won't take buses or other forms of transport because of motion sickness, but it is not an uncommon problem on high-speed trains, and sitting face forward does not always relieve headaches and feelings of nausea over long hours on a train.

http://www.motion-sickness-guru.com/train-sickness.html

<in an effort to save time, has any one flown from venice to naples? what was your experience? >

The OP is asking for the experiences of others - which have been offered. I have actually done this trip more than once and I see the train as being a time-saver in terms of the distance and procedures at an airport versus a train station. She may prefer to fly and airports procedures are not concern. It is just an opinion which she asked for. Others have offered their opinions too. It is a democratic forum.

<(if you can't afford a water taxi, you probably can't afford 1st class on an Italian high-speed plane either)>

No idea what this is about, Sandralist - a high speed plane? They all go at high speeds last time I checked and if you actually meant train - then the OP did not mention taking 1st class. So your point is ... what exactly?

IMO, "in an effort to save time" you should get on a train.

If you intend to stay on the Amalfi Coast, rather than in Sorrento, you also have the option of taking the train from Venice to Salerno and then riding the ferry to your final destination or hiring a driver to take you on the last (scenic) leg. There is a morning train from Venice that connects at Bologna which IMO is easier than changing trains in Rome or Naples, but it's still 6+ hours on the train.

I think only you can decide whether saving an hour or two is worth having to deal with two airports, checked luggage, etc. It wouldn't be for me.

The train is inexpensive - fares from €29, or from €39 in 1st class - and relaxed, city centre to city centre. www.trenitalia.com or competitor www.italotreno.it

It's chill-out time with a good book and a glass of Chianti, watching the Italian countryside fly by.

If it was at all possible to avoid 4+ hours of a shlep to a remote airport, security hassle, cramped flight, airport, and another train ride, replacing all that with just one relaxed train ride, I'd go for the train.

Saving minutes by frantically jetting around is what you'd do on business, paid to be stressed, not on vacation! ;0)

thank you all for your thoughtful responses.