javert8817

I will be driving into Naples, and returning the car. To get to our hotel in Sorrento, is it better to get a taxi (and how much?), or train?

AJPeabody

Take the Circumvesuviana. It's a commuter train, has frequent times, and gets you right into the center of Sorrento. The fare is very low. Just be careful to take a train that goes to Sorrento, as there are several Circumvesuviana lines and the others go elsewhere. A cab or limo will cost 20 times as much.

The distance from the Sorrento terminal to most of the Sorrento hotels is easily walkable. You can check out the walking route on Google Earth street view.

nytraveler

Check into the location of your Sorrento hotel. There are a number on the hills above the town and you don;t want to have to haul your luggage a mile uphill.

ggreen

Hi again,
For a taxi or private driver, this post might help:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...r-services.cfm

Also, click on the author's name to see her trip reports on Italy. Very informative! On that same thread, the poster GAC posts often about train information in Italy. And A_Brit_In_Ischia provides links to all sorts of timetables and other useful stuff in that area of Italy. Here's his post about navigating Naples train station (updated bits at the end):
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-or-pompei.cfm

I myself have never taken a taxi from Naples to Sorrento, but agree that as long as you confirm you're on the correct train line, the commuter rail to Sorrento is very straightforward. And since Sorrento is the last stop on that line, no way to miss it!

You can always catch a cab from Sorrento train station to your hotel if you find it's too far to walk.

Jean

Have you checked to see if you can return the car in Sorrento?

ggreen

Jean, the OP has already been through that:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-443718-2.cfm

javert8817

Jean,
The issue is being afraid to drive on the edge of cliffs. Someone else has emailed me and told me that there there is a low wall the entire time going from Naples to Sorrento. Can anyone verify that? Am I over-reacting? Has anyone here actually driven it, or is very familiar with it that can tell me in more detail? Because, if so, i'd rather just drive to Sorrento.
Thanks everyone.

bobthenavigator

You are totally over reacting. The drive is a piece of cake--as I told you days ago. Sorrento is on the Bay of Naples, not the Amalfi Coast, and there are no cliffs.

Jean

There is one very short segment that 'might' qualify as a cliff. Less than 2 miles long, interrupted a few times with small parks on the water side of the road.

Yes, you are totally overreacting unless you have a truly serious fear of heights, in which case you should skip this area of Italy.

cw

There is absolutely nothing to fear in driving to Sorrento. I found the traffic to be thick and slow and completely non-stressful.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Javert - hi!

We've only ever used the train and can't tell you about the road... but if you haven't already done so, try looking on YouTube for video clips of driving the local roads there?

Not the bit you're perhaps most concerned about but, for example...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC1AI7fy2iA

And this, I think, is the stretch of the SS145 near Seiano...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK5p6zZ7OUs

Hilly, and drops, but little chance of going very fast!

Peter

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Otherwise, perhaps arrange to return the car at Naples airport - avoiding the city's huge ZTL area:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/142204079

... and then take the Curreri Viaggi bus directly to the centre of Sorrento - tickets €10 or so, 11 departures per day at present..

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop..._Campania.html

Peter

kybourbon

>>>The issue is being afraid to drive on the edge of cliffs<<<

You should be much more afraid of driving in Naples than driving to Sorrento.

That 2nd video doesn't appear to be driving into Sorrento. It looks as if it's heading from Sorrento (via Nastro Verde?) towards Amalfi which is a cliff drive. Not the same type of driving. You are on autostrada until Castellammare di Stabia and then the road is more at the base of the hills, not on top of cliffs, and meanders through the little towns.

Italorbust

Hey curious hows the whole garbage crisis in Naples now? I can't imagine it has totally gone away. I hear dying of cancer in Naples is more prominent now than ever from toxic waste. Should I go or shouldn't I?

ggreen

Peter, good as always to see you chime in!


<i>You should be much more afraid of driving in Naples than driving to Sorrento.</i>

ky, the recommendation to the OP was to drop the car at the airport - no driving in Naples necessary.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

No matter how it may appear to some.... quite apart from the video clip's title, and a "Seiano" sign beside the road, passing the "Grand Hotel Moon Valley" in Vico Ecquense, and the frequent SS145 road markers, it's very simple....

... the views of Ischia are not those you get on the journey to Amalfi, and Vesuvius would have to have moved!

Plenty more footage taken on that same road, with the same look down to Sorrento, in this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQuJ8SH5YMU

Perhaps going by sea, or on the CV trains, has its advantages?

For either, from the airport, start with the Alibus into Naples:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/alibus

Peter