Venice to Sorrento by train
 

We will be in Venice for 3 days in late October and are thinking of taking the train to Naples, then onto the Circumvensia to Sorrento for 4 nights before heading off to Rome. How practical and easy is it to make the trip from Venice to Sorrento in one day?

It's a 5 1/2 hour train ride and the commuter train from the Naples basement is about an hour.

Depending upon which train you take there's a big difference in the cost.

For instance, the 9:25 (change in Bologna) or 10:25 (no change) trains cost a little over 100E while the 11:25 (change in Bologna) and 12:25 (change in Bologna) train cost 53E.

Sitting on a train is relaxing. Better than driving.

You can also fly Venice to Naples. easyJet serves that route now so it's worth considering. Perhaps there's a quicker way - airport shuttle? - to get from Naples airport to Sorrento than getting into town and picking up the Circumvensia.

Entirely possible, but it will take most of the day. It will probably take about 7 hours.

If we take the two trains in late October, leaving Venice at 10:30, would we arrive in Sorrento before sunset? And is it difficult to carry a piece of luggage on the Circumvensia?

You would arrive in Sorrento about 5:30PM. It should be light then.

You shouldn't have a problem with a piece of luggage.

Really, the commuter train cars aren't much. They're not fancy train cars. In summer no a/c.

It's a commuter train with normally a lot of graffiti. Unless that has changed.

woodstockguy, you can look up the sunset times for Sorrento (or Naples) on one of the almanac websites to see the exact time of sunset on the day you would arrive. I do this often when I travel (I take pictures at dusk/sunset and like to plan for the times).

You can also look on the Trenitalia website for exact schedules for the train from Venice to Naples.

Circumvensia is like a light rail train. I know I took luggage on it (this was 2007) and don't remember any problems, though as I recall it's more of a commuter train than a train designed for people with luggage, so don't expect luggage racks or anything. Expect to keep your bag with you. I seem to recall the ride from Naples to Sorrento was about 45 minutes but you can look that up, too.

But it sounds like about 6-7 hours for the trip door to door if you go by train and Circumvensia.

Thanks everyone. All of your input has been great and helps us better plan the trip.

Next, I will post a question looking for suggestions for 4 nights in Sorrento

<<<They're not fancy train cars. In summer no a/c.<<<

No, not fancy, but there are some newer trains and they do have AC.

Easy Jet might be cheaper than the train, even paying to check luggage (they are very strict about carry on and checked luggage along with check in times). You can take the Curreri bus from the Naples airport to Sorrento (10€).

>>>If we take the two trains in late October, leaving Venice at 10:30, would we arrive in Sorrento before sunset?<<<

You can depart earlier if you don't mind changing trains in Bologna. Depart 7:37 and arrive Naples at 12:50, depart 8:47 and arrive 13:50; depart 9:37 arrive 14:55. You would have 20 minutes to one hour to change trains in Bologna depending which option you select.

The clocks change on Oct. 27th. Before the change, sunset at about 6:10p. After the change, at 5:10p.

Circumvesuviana ride is 66 minutes. They have both modern train with cushion and older graffiti trains with plastic seats. The plastic ones were 66 minutes of PIA literally all the way. I sat on my airplane pillow to get comfortable. A flight plus Curreri bus sounds more attractive after having done this by train.