Sorrento Advice Please
 

Good Afternoon, all. Planning 4 nights in the Sorrento area next May and would love some advice. We'll be traveling from Rome and on to Tuscany afterwards. How difficult or easy will it be getting to places like Capri, Pompeii and Positano without a car? We're going to rent a car when we get to Tuscany but would like to get around by train and bus beforehand. Also if anyone can recommend a B&B, it would be most appreciated. Thank you!

All easy-

Capri- take a public boat from the Sorrento harbor.
Pompeii- train
Positano- either a public boat from the harbor or a bus from in front of the train station.

For the harbor, you can either walk or take a small bus from Piazza Tasso.

Pompeii - take the train to Pompeii Scavi (rather than the main town of Pompeii). The train stops at the site.

Yes indeedy - simple by public transit like zoecat says. I have done all those places from a Sorrento base - frequent boats to Capri - Pompeii is just a short train ride on the CircumVesuviana train line (Pompeii-Scavi station, right at the entrance to the ruins).

for Positano go one way by boat (though boats run infrequently and are kind of seasonal I think) but take the world-famous Amalfi Coast buses - a thrilling ride - one way back for the hair-raising experience.

For lots of good info on trains, boats, buses, etc check out these IMO info-laden sites: www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com. The trains to Naples are local trains - just buy a ticket before boarding - no reservations possible - no need to buy in advance nor is it even possible I would think (trains to Pompeii-Scavi).

Great info - thanks!

Here is the schedules for the ferry between Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. They run (depending on weather) from April through October.

Did you forget to post a link, ekc?

As of this year there is another option from getting from the main areas of Sorrento (up on the cliff) to the harbor (and back up again) besides walking or city bus. There is a lift. Goes from the park down to the waterfront for 1€.

It's not a B&B but we stayed here (twice, two different trips) and really like it. www.ulissedeluxe.com/ It's a medium size hotel.

It's not a B &B , but we've stayed twice at the Hotel Antiche Mura in town and loved it. Well located for the bus and train,wonderful breakfast, great service, decent prices (not waterfront but great in town location).

It won't be difficult at all. You might be interested in reading my trip report where we got around by train and bus. It's a pretty detailed report and the hotels and B&B we stayed at. All were get choices for us.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...i-orvieto-rome

Have a fabulous trip!

OK, so you have 3 days in the area -- 1 for Capri, 1 for Pompeii, and 1 for Positano and (I'm guessing) Amalfi and maybe Ravello (if you have time). No time for Naples' incomparable archeological museum? Or any other part of incredible Naples? Or Ercolano? Or Paestum? Or anywhere else in the region? If you can add any time to this part of your trip, I think you'll find much that is worth seeing.

Enjoy!

don't know what your budget is, but one of the best views we've ever had was from our bed at 'hotel minerva' in sorrento. at the time, it was dark and falling apart and quite inexpensive. i see that now they are a 4-star hotel... and their rates listed as 50 to 150E pp. don't know whether it fits your budget, but it was just a short lovely (5 minute)walk up the hill from the main town and perched at the edge of the world!

We had the same itinerary Rome-Sorrento-Tuscany and found Sorrento to be a great base for touring the area. We stayed 4 night at Hotel Antiche Mura which is well located, but not a B&B.

Pompeii - local train (Circumvesuviana)
Positano - bus there, ferry back
Capri - ferry there and back, since there were for of us we took a taxi instead of bus to anacapri

We drove to Tuscany instead of taking trains since it seemed the easiest (and most economical) option for us. We picked up our rental car right from Sorrento. It was a long drive, but very nice and easy. We had planned on stopping at Orvieto, but continued on because it was pouring when we got there.

You'll have a great time. enjoy!

Thanks for all suggestions, I will look into all of them. Would love a day in Naples but not sure we can manage it this trip, unless we skip the one night in Rome. This is our second trip to Italy so we have spent some time Rome, but just wanted one more day there. But there is time to reconsider!

Whoops - would be helpful if I posted the link!

www.coopsantandrea.com

We did a similar visit in 2012, basing in Sorrento after Rome. One day was Pompeii and Herculaneum, one was Naples, and one was Capri. You can read too much about it on my trip report (click my name for the link).

There was and probably still is a card that is just what you may need, the Artecard Tutta la Regione 3 day card. It covers three days of transit including the Circumvesuviana which you need to get from Naples to Sorrento, the regional buses, the Naples subway, 2 site admissions (we did Pompeii and Herculaneum) and half off sites after that (Naples archeological museum for us). It didn't cover the ferry to Capri, but the bus drivers on Capri accepted it. Bought it at the Naples train station before getting on the Circumvesuviana (cash only).

Error: No link. Wrong website. Sorry.

agree with so much above. don't overnight in naples unless you really want to explore.. seems like a waste of energy.

agree with getting to positano in 2 different ways (depending on schedule). it will give the kids something different to see... and the bus ride is really spectacular.

as you face the ferry landing in capri, there is a beach that we really liked about a 15 minute walk to the right. it's nothing 'spectacular' but we loved that it was mosty local families on the beach. (it was super NOT fancy). it was a nice balance to the fussy high-end shopping and such up at the top.