Good Day Fodorites,

Based on all your experiance, would you suggest a "home base" of Naples and "day trips" to Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi, Ravello or "home base in Sorrento and day trips to Naples and the other places mentioned above. Which would be the most economic. I am thinking 6 days in the area. Early to mid September 2011. I will use public transportation and could take advantage of the Campania Arte Pass.

Thanks for the advice.

I presume you know the quirkiness of the Campania Arte Pass if you are using one of the two popular regional pass: http://www.campaniartecard.it/site.cfm?id=26&i=6#

Tutta la Regione 3 days includes public transportation
Tutta La Regione 7 days does NOT include public transportation

And then the question: economic in terms of time, hassles, money, or something else? All the place mentioned can be connected by public transportation included in the Tutta La Regione 3 days pass. Starting from Sorrento, going to Ravello as a day trip requires careful planning. If you also want to stop by at Positano or Amalfi, you pretty have to take the first bus out of Sorrento and near the last bus back. If you start from Naples to go to Ravello, I suspect it would be faster to go to Salerno and enter the coast from the east side.

I wondered the same thing, and spoke to friends who were recently in the area...and of course I read a lot on this wonderful forum. Note that i have not been there myself (going in June).

I chose Sorrento, as nearly all research showed it is easier to get from there to other areas of interest, than it would be from Naples.

Sorrento is the better choice in terms of convenient public transportation to the areas mentioned in your original posting above. Naples is the better choice if you're seriously interested in museums and churches, and don't mind a heavily urbanized, noisy, sometime dirty, and always bustling, setting. Sorrento will be slightly less expensive as well.

Yay, a new post! And look how quickly some good info.

This past spring, we had 5 nights in the area. Since I was interested in both the Amalfi Coast and the sights between Naples and Sorrento, we decided to split our stay to two locations: two nights in Amalfi and three in Sorrento.

On the AC, specifically we wanted to do the hike from above Positano to Praiano called Sentieri degli Dei, or Walk of the Gods. I chose Amalfi over Positano for the less expensive hotel we found at that time of year. (FWIW, I use hotels.com to find prices/availability, then Trip Advisor for recommendations/ratings.) We really enjoyed the low-key flavor of Amalfi and had some good meals there. It was not complicated to take the Sita bus to Positano to begin our hike, and catch it in Praiano on our way back.

I had been to Naples before and enjoy it, but decided for this trip that staying in the city wasn't necessary. With our base in Sorrento, we ended up spending two days in Naples and one at Herculaneum; no issues with the Circumvesuviana train even later at night. (For Naples, one day spent to wander around and see some churches and the other - a half day actually - to tour the archeological museum.) With our other priorities, we didn't feel we had enough time to see more than one ancient site, and I had been to Pompeii before.

We found Sorrento a convenient base for our needs: it's both the terminus of the train line that goes around the bay, and the start for the Sita bus around the peninsula. We thought we'd go to Capri as well, and it would be a good place from which to take the ferry... but we never got out there!

My only complaint about Sorrento was that, after Amalfi, it felt much more touristy. Cruise ships dock there, so there's an influx of additional visitors. We had some decent meals, but nothing that particularly wowed us.

Our hotel in Sorrento was near the water but still only a 15-or-so minute walk through town to the train station/bus stop. And the town is cute to walk through and do some shopping, don't get me wrong!

We were in the area last month and chose Sorrento as our base. It was very convenient and easy to get to the Amalfi Coast, Naples, Pompeii, etc. It is also a quick trip from Sorrento to Capri but we stayed for 3 days on Capri rather than taking a day trip.

Thank You All,

Greg, Economic in money because I have two kids in college but like to reward myself from time to time with travel.

This adventure is 14 days total. 11 days with on feet on the ground. Rough Draft itinerary. Fly from US Pacifc N.W to FCO. 5 nights in Rome. (second visit to Rome). Rome to Sorrento via train and ferry. Sorrento as base for 6 more days. 2 Day trips to Naples (train), 1 day trip to Pompeii (train), 1 to Positano, (train and ferry), 1 to Amalfi & Ravello (bus or ferry and bus). Back to FCO, fly home. Thanks again for the help and links.

Regards,

Rolo

Rolo, you might want to go Rome -> Sorrento by train only: connecting from the Rome train to the Circumvesuviana IMO is very easy/straightforward; to the ferry, not as much. The Circumvesuviana is inexpensive, but if you want to have that initial ride be part of the Campania Arte Card, there is an "info point" in Centrale.

Or even: upon arrival from Rome, put your luggage in the checked luggage at Napoli Centrale, then go to the archeological museum first... If you'll have already been to Rome and yet to go to Pompeii, the timing might be good to see those Roman treasures!

Additionally, after Sorrento you might consider switching hotels and staying in Positano or Amalfi for those days there. At that point for the end of your trip and return to Rome, you can take the Sita bus continuing along the peninsula to Salerno, then the train from there (maybe even direct to Rome?).

Ggreen,

Thanks for the good suggestions. I will give them strong consideration. For me. a fresh view and ideas is one of the benefits of this forum

>>>1 to Positano, (train and ferry), <<<

There is no train to Positano. You can bus or ferry.

We found Sorrento charming, especially at night. The downtown is relatively flat for easy walking, while Amalfi and Positano are very steep. In September, you can take the high speed ferry from Sorrento to Positano, or to Capri or Naples. I suggest a local cab to get to and from Ravello. Many of them lined up in Tasso district. We used a gentleman named Aldo who spoke very good English and had a Mercedes wagon. Not as cheap as a bus, but it conserves your precious time and you can spend the day as you like rather than checking your watch so you don't miss the bus.

Easy train ride from Sorrento to Pompeii also!

Ggreen,

I like the "economy" of your, "put your luggage in the checked luggage at Napoli Centrale, then go to the archeological museum first...", consider it adopted.

kybourbon, Thanks for the attention to detail. I should have stated bus. I have been on the SITA site for cost and scheduling research.

Glad to be of help!

Don't know if you saw it, but A_Brit_In_Ischia today made a post complete with links to photos for navigating Napoli Centrale:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-or-pompei.cfm

He didn't post about the left luggage area, but I'm sure you could ask. When we were there, the station was under complete renovation and the left luggage was a temporary office, so I don't want to misguide you as to location!

After leaving our luggage, we took the Naples "subway" to the stop closest to the museum. I put subway in quotes because the train cars themselves look like, well, a commuter train rather than a subway! (But subway it is, since it's subterranean.)

There's a very useful site, run by the train operators, which covers all the major railway stations...
http://www.grandistazioni.it

Change to English and for each one there are details of things like the Left Luggage office under the "Station services" heading..

For example..
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD

As far as I'm aware, everything at Napoli Centrale is back where it should be - and the new shops are quickly filling up!

Peter