I plan on staying in Sorrento for 4-5 days in November. Would it be better to stay in Naples one night before I go to Sorrento? I fly into Rome and will stay there 3 nights. Any info would be great. First timer! Any advice would be great.

I don't like changing hotels any more than necessary so I would stay in Sorrento and day trip to Naples. Naples is a short ferry or train ride from Sorrento so it's easy to day trip.

Thanks for the quick reply. Have you heard of Hotel Il Nido? www.ilnido.it/
It seems like a great place. Only 80 euros a night in November. Any other ideas about the area would be great.

I posted about Il Nido on the Sorrento/Venice thread. I have stayed there. Any questions?

Great! Do all the bedrooms have a view? The web site looks great. It it all it says it is? Easy access by their free bus? Was wondering if we should stay one night in Naples and then onto Sorrento or just go to Naples by train in the day?
Thanks!

I agree with KY re a night in Naples.

Hi,

My recommendation would be to leave Rome on a early morning train (7 or 8 am). When you arrive at Naples Centrale station, store your luggage while touring Naples.

The baggage check room is convenienly located to the left,front of the station. When you get off the train, walk to the end of your arriving platform and turn left, walk to the last platform, and then bear right down the hallway.

To the immediate right of the tourist office in Centrale, is a flight of steps that takes you down to catch the underground street car that will take you within one block of the Archealogical Museum. After visiting its amazing collection of artifacts, it is a downhill walk to all the areas of Naples that make for an "interesting day" visit.

Rick Steves has a good walking route in his book, along with other "don't miss" attractions.

You can see the museum, walk the medevial sections, have lunch, do some shopping, take the funicular up the mountain for a view of Vesuvius (if its clear), and easily be on your way to Sorrento by 4:00 or 5:00pm.

Once back at Centrale, the Circumvesuviana train for Sorrento leaves from the same level as the underground tram.

We have visited Naples and the Amalfi Coast twice in November. Be prepared for the possibility of heavy rain, wind and colder temps. The weather seems to fluctuate daily. One day its brilliant sunshine, and the next it can be storm conditions.

Also, should you want to venture over to Capri for the day, do it when the weather is clear. When the seas get rough, the hydrofoils from Sorrento to Capri stop running. If that happens, you only choice for returning to Sorrento would be the car ferry to Naples, followed by the long journey back to Sorrento by train. (It unfortunately happened to us!!)

Georgine, are there not car ferries directly back to Sorrento if the hydrofoils are not running? I ask because we will be in Sorrento next week (November already!!) and hope to take a day trip to Capri. Thanks, Deborah

The hotel shuttle just runs a few hours in the morning and from about 5 to 11 at night. They will pick you up at other times for $5 per trip not person. They will also pick you up from the train station. There is a path through lemon groves if you want to walk down the hill to town.

You will need some Italian to buy a phone card in the train station in Sorrento so you can call Il Nido. No one in the cafe in the station spoke English and the person that answered the phone at Il Nido didn't either. The phone card we bought needed the corner broken off to work.

There have been several positive reviews for Il Nido on this board and one negative. It seems the negative review didn't think the rooms were upscale enough, the beds were hard and that the staff wasn't friendly which is the opposite of my experience. This is a 3 star hotel and stars in Europe are for amenities just as AC, elevator, restaurant, etc.

We had three rooms, two with full views and one with a side terrace and partial view. We were traveling in June and weren't able to book all rooms with views. None of my group complained about hard beds and I don't remember the beds being hard (unlike my recent Spain trip where the beds were like rocks).

The rooms and bathrooms were spotless. One of the view rooms had a small shower only so if a tub is important, I would e-mail and request one. I took the room without the view as I was the trip planner and felt I should let others have the view. My room was supposed to be a double but was a triple. I didn't expect to have a terrace since it wasnt' a view room but I had a small terrace which was on the side of the building. My bathroom was huge with one of those long soaking tubs with handheld shower. The rooms also had mini-fridge you could use.

Sorry - my computer punted me and this posted before I was finished.

When we arrived at Il Nido (3 pm)we were starving because we had missed lunch. The restaurant is open from 5p-10p for dinner. Gianni said "no problem". Everyone was having trouble making up their minds what to order because everything sounded wonderful. After several attempts to take our orders and us asking for a few more minutes, Gianni showed up with plates of hot appetizers (no charge).

Another night, my daughter and I got back to the hotel at 11 pm and she was hungry. Once again "no problem", they let her order a cheese plate and sauteed porcini.

Anytime we asked for something the answer was always "In Italy no problems, only solutions".

We chose this hotel for the views, ac (we were traveling in June) and to be out of the very busy Sorrento town center. We were also coming from Rome and going back to Rome so we wanted something quiet.

Thanks for the info. I will be staying in Sorrento for 5 nights at II Nido. It sounds wonderful.