Train from Palermo to Sorrento
 

I am planning a trip in the Spring and will be flying into Palermo. I want to either fly or take the train up to Naples and on to Sorrento. I see the train trip is over 8 hours. I would like this if - and only it - it offers lots of views of Italy. Otherwise I would rather fly. Could anyone tell me about the train trip?

Well the train IME offers a lot of views of Italy but ones that are basically the same - not nearly as much seaside as you may think. There is also an overnight train to Salerno (from which you take Amalfi Coast buses to Sorrento - the quickest way by rail i think from Sicily). And there is an overnight - i think overnight - but at least ferries going between near Palermo and Naples.

The views on the north coast of Sicily are nice, as are the views in Calabria. The crossing at the Strait of Messina is fun. Not too many places you can sit in a train as it's loaded onto the barge for a water crossing. The rest of the way is ok, but in my opinion not worth the long ride. I like to take the night train. The Gattopardo leaves Palermo at about 6:40pm and arrives in Naples about 5 am where you catch the 1 hour train to Sorrento. You could also take an overnight ferry from Palermo to Naples then a hydrofoil to Sorrento. I prefer the ferry to train or flying. It's fun and restful. They have cabins with private bathrooms. The food is also very good. It is really beautiful (but sad) to watch Palermo fade off into the night, and it's great to wake up to il Vesuvio and the bay of Naples. This way you don't waste day time sight seeing, and you add something new and different to your trip.

There are normally two ships every night from Palermo to Napoli:
www.tirrenia.it
www.snav.it

Also looks at flights from Trapani which is very close to Palermo.

thank you all so much