Train vs. rental car--Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento
Feb 5th, 2002, 09:17 PM
#1
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Train vs. rental car--Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento
Greetings Fodorites,<BR><BR>We are traveling to Italy for 6 days at the end of April. We will spend the first three nights in Rome (last fall I stayed at the lovely Hotel Santa Maria in Travestere and will happily return there).<BR><BR>Then, off to see Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the archaeological museum in Naples. I think that we would like to stay in Sorrento. Question: Approximately how much extra time would it take to use the train system to get to these destinations instead of driving? We rented a car last year to go north to the hill towns and Florence, so I am really not phased by driving in Italy (although they do tend to tailgate dreadfully at speeds approaching warp). <BR><BR>Thanks for your help and insights.
Feb 6th, 2002, 07:34 AM
#4
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Pam:<BR><BR>Staying in Sorrento is a good choice as a base for visits to the places you mentioned. We took Eurostar from Rome to Naples and then the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. Travel time from Rome to Naples was about 2-1/2 hours if I remember correctly and the trip to Sorrento about another 45 minutes to an hour. <BR><BR>It was a fairly easy trip. On arrival at Garibaldi train station in Naples (watch for pickpockets) you walk downstairs, buy a ticket and just be sure you take the train going in the right direction. Sorrento is the last stop. You will pass the stops for both Pompeii Scavi (there is also a Pompeii stop for the town) and Ercolano (Herculaneum).<BR><BR>Sorrento is wonderful. Save some time to spent looking around there. A hydrofoil trip to Capri is very easy from Sorrento as well.<BR><BR>j<BR><BR><BR>
Feb 6th, 2002, 07:52 AM
#5
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Rome-Sorrento<BR>If you don't get lost finding your way out, the drive should take roughly 3:00 hours. <BR>To take the Eurostar to Naples (1:45 hours) and Circumvesuviana to Sorrento (1 hour) plus time between trains, allow roughly 3:30 hours.<BR><BR>You'll need 2 days to visit the sites you mention: one for the museum and Herculaneum and another one (or the better part of it) for Pompeii. Pompeii may eventually be visited enroute, from Rome to Sorrento, if you leave Rome early, BUT: by train you'd have to leave your luggage at the concierge; by car you'd have to make sure nobody suspects that you have a loaded trunk. <BR><BR>IF you'd know your way in Naples, the drive from Sorrento to the museum would take one hour. As you don't, and considering you have to look for a place to park, I'd say that at best it would take 1:30 hours, the same time it would take by train + taxi (if one doesn't count eventual train waiting time in Sorrento). The same applies from Naples back to Hercolaneum. Between Herculaneum/Pompeii and Sorrento, the drive would be faster (25/20min) in April, specially because no train waiting time would be involved.
Mar 11th, 2002, 10:24 AM
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I don't know how much experience you have driving in Italy, but we drove from Assisi to Sorrento and found the most nerve-wracking to be going through dozens of tiny towns, just north of Sorrento. Not only was the traffic horrible and more out-of-control than in the big cities, it's also kind of scary to drive so close to the edge of the mountain that your on. It is beautiful, don't get me wrong, just take into consideration the time of day that you're going to attempt the drive....try to avoid when commuters are going to and leaving work.
