Nikki1984

Hi,

My brother and I are going to be staying in Sorrento mid-September. We'll be in Italy for 2 weeks, and will have done Rome, Florence and Venice before going on to Sorrento. Our plans changed slightly and will now be spending an extra night in Rome and taking the train through to Sorrento the next day (a Sunday). I thought of stopping in Naples, doing a hop on hop off bus in the morning, then going on to Pompeii for the afternoon. I know people say that you can spend the whole day in Pompeii but I highly doubt my brother and I will survive it (we're both fair and will look like tomatoes if we had to spend the whole day in the sun), and then heading on to Sorrento late afternoon. Do you think this is too much to squash into a day? We have such limited time that we'd like to do as much as possible.

We then have the next day free, was thinking of either going to Capri or taking a bus/ferry through to Amalfi and try get out to the temples at Paestum. We fly out of Rome the evening of the next day (Tuesday) so thought we'll relax in Sorrento for the morning and then start making our way to Rome early afternoon.

Any advice would be welcome.

adrienne

Rather than the HOHO bus, use your time in Naples to visit the Archeological Museum where items from Pompeii are housed.

By the time you get to Naples, you'll only have a very short time on the HOHO bus (perhaps an hour). It's not worth the money. For the $60 you could get a taxi to take you around Naples for an hour and have money left over. I'm sure any taxi driver will be happy to point out sights in his town. You won't have all the stops and waiting for people to get on and off the bus. A taxi can zip through traffic easier than a bus.

You'll want to get some lunch and then back to the train station for the train to Pompeii and spend 2 to 3 hours at the site. Then on to Sorrento.

Wait until you see what the weather is and then decide on Capri or Paestum.

adrienne

<< we're both fair and will look like tomatoes if we had to spend the whole day in the sun >>

Well...don't expose yourselves to the sun. Long sleeved shirts and long trousers, lace up shoes with socks, hat or umbrella, plenty of sun screen.

sandralist

This is what I would do if possible: Flip the plans around to travel from Florence to Paestum and spend the afternoon and night there. Then then next morning go from Paestum to Capri (take a ferry from Salerno) and spend a night on Capri. Next morning, a ferry from Capri to Naples and a train to Pompei ( stow your luggage at the entrance) and then to Rome to finish the trip.

If that is not possible or appealing, then I think you need to make a choice about what you most want to see south of Rome. It is easy to go to both Pompei and Sorrento in one day, but once you get to Sorrento it is not easy to get to Paestum. It's not the worst plan in the world to leave from Sorrento to catch a flight the same day in Rome, but it would be slightly better if you left from Naples. Keep an ear out about possible strikes (which never affect trains from Naples, but do affect trains and buses from Sorrento.)

sandralist

Also, if you decide to go to Naples in the morning, book a walking tour rather than take a bus, since a bus cannot get into the most interesting parts of the city. You can leave your luggage in the train station. It is possible to talk a good 2 hour walking tour plus spend an hour in the archeological museum and still have time to spend hours in Pompei later in the afternoon (when the sun is less powerful too.)

Nikki1984

Thanks for the advice Adrienne and Sandralist. I'll look into a walking tour for Naples, not sure how I feel about a taxi, a bit weary of Italian drivers

After some research today I'm thinking of skipping Capri altogether, and just going up the coast. I think that I'll get more out of that type of experience personally.

Any advice on booking the train between Rome and Naples? I'm on a budget so thought of taking an Intercity, but should I book in advance or wait for the day?

adrienne

<< not sure how I feel about a taxi, a bit weary of Italian drivers >>

Are you never going to cross a street? You'll have to deal with them as a pedestrian.

PalenQ

Any advice on booking the train between Rome and Naples? I'm on a budget so thought of taking an Intercity, but should I book in advance or wait for the day?>

Well check fares on www.trenitalia.com and also its competitor on that route www.italotren.com - often cheaper it seems and easier to get to work that a fickle trenitalia.com that never ceases to seemingly flummox first-time uses as folks often complain about here on Fodors.

If you book far enough in advance you may find fares as cheap on the fastest most comfy trains as on the slower older IC trains - but on a walk-up basis I think the IC train would be much cheaper. And it does not take that much longer (but you've packed so so much into that day every minute counts!)

Anyways for lots of great info on Italian trains I always spotlight these IMo superb sites: www.seat61.com (great info on discounted tickets); www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. If you wait until the day to buy an IC train ticket you will always IME be able to get on trains - the worst case scenario being you'd have to go first class if for some reason all the zillion of trains on that route were sold out in 2nd class (and yes IME first class is much more relaxed than a good 2nd class - especially for folks hauling around typically way too much luggage -usually lots of empty seats in first class IME - I invariably can put my bags on an adjoining seat and not have to fend for space in a perhaps already overcrowded overhead luggage rack in 2nd class.

And with discounted tickets sometimes first class discounted ones can be nearly as cheap as the remaining discounted 2nd class tickets - if not much more go first class - bigger seats, fewer seats full, free drinks and pastry en route and a free Italian newspaper.

ekc

IMO it would be a stretch to visit the Amalfi Coast and Paestum in the same day.

But, to do so, you would have to take the Circuvesuviana to Naples, then Trenitalia to Paestum. You would then return via train or bus to Salerno, where you could catch a train or ferry to Amalfi. Explore Amalfi, then take the 4:30 ferry to Sorrento. If you wanted to squeeze in a stop in Positano, you could ferry from Amalfi to Positano, but you would then have to SITA bus from Positano to Sorrento (last ferry to Sorrento leaves Positano at 5:00).

PalenQ

But, to do so, you would have to take the Circuvesuviana to Naples, then Trenitalia to Paestum.>

Paestum can also be reached by train from Pompeii - the modern day town of Pompeii - a short train ride to Salerno and then on by train to Paestum - or by bus.

To get to Pompeii's Trenitalia station take the CircumVesuviana train to Pompeii Scavi station (at the ruins) and then walk or taxi about a mile to modern-day Pompeii and hop frequent trains from there to Paestum -may be quicker than backtracking to Naples.