I am taking my 14 y/o son to Italy for 10 days in August (I know it's hot and crowded! But it is the only week we can travel together due to work/school/sports). We did Florence/Venice/Tuscany in 2022, this time we are flying into Rome for 3 or 4 days and then want to head south a bit to see Pompeii and . . . ? We are flying out of Naples - so it makes some sense to have that be our 2nd home base, but I'm not sure - it's an area of Italy I'm totally unfamiliar with - would Sorrento be a better hub? We would be interested in Capri, Amalfi, any of those areas - he's a great traveler, loves to explore and eat and hike and beach and eat some more. Pompeii is a must - we are otherwise open to ideas. We just don't want to stay in more than 2 hotels/flats the whole trip - it's too much hassle to pack/unpack/check-in and out. So we would be doing day-trips from wherever we are.
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
4626 posts
If Capri and the Amalfi Coast are on the list then Sorrento makes more sense as it's closer to those two. Pompeii is about halfway between Naples and Sorrento. Having said that I highly recommend a visit to the Archaelogical Museum in Naples to tie everything together that you'll see in Pompeii. Depending on the time of your flight home, you may want to be in Naples the night before anyway. Transportation in that region is chaotic and unreliable and I wouldn't want to risk not getting to the Naples airport from Sorrento on time.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1147 posts
Hello mbdaug, and welcome to forum!
Sorrento is a great base for Pompeii, Amalfi and Capri as well as hiking so it is logistically a good choice. But I think is also probably preferable to Naples in terms of chaos and crowds. Naples can be a challenging city and with a teenager in tow and a limited timeframe I think the smaller and more resorty Sorrento after Rome is a solid choice.
Pompeii is larger than you expect - especially with the heat - so plan on dedicating a full day to it. The Circumvesuviana you'll probably take from Naples to Sorrento will take you back to Pompeii and stop just near the entrance to ruins.
https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule
Take the ferry to Capri and the ferry or the bus to Amalfi coast destinations. And check out the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi coast for possible hiking.
I would get onto looking for lodging ASAP for anywhere in Amalfi for this year.
Have a great trip,
=Tod