Arriving in Rome 2 days before tour starts, is Sorrento a good choice?

Jenny ~ Sorrento is definitely a possibility as the travel time is not bad. To get from Rome to Sorrento you will need to take a train from Rome to Naples. Transfer in Naples to the Circumvesuviana train line, which goes to Sorrento. Travel time will vary depending on what type of train you take from Rome to Naples. The transfering of trains may seem complicated, but it's very easy. The Amalfi Coast is a MUST! I stayed 2 weeked on the Amalfi Coast last summer... rent a scooter in Sorrento & drive the coast at your own pace... it is breath-taking! If you need hotel info let me know. Check out the following website for details: http://goitaly.about.com/od/rometransportation/qt/rome-sorrento.htm Happy traveling!

Joey, Thank you very much for your help!

My pleasure Jenny. I have stayed in several cities along the Amalfi Coast... Sorrento is nice, but Positano, Ravello & Amalfi are much more dramatic & breath-taking in my opinion.

Jenny, you could go to Sorrento (I've been there, great place) but you should ask yourself if its what you really want to do. IMHO it may be one of those things that sounds great from a distance, but loses luster when you take a closer look. I suggest thinking thru what each day (Sun, Mon, Tue) will be like and asking yourself if its still right for you.

You're going to arrive after a flight from the US in Rome at 10am, and now you're adding a couple of hours of travel taking at least 3 different trains (or 2 trains & a ferry & a taxi to the ferry dock). Since you ask "how would I get there" I'm guessing you haven't been to Italy before. So jet-lagged and possibly sleep-deprived, you're going to have to figure out how to work the Italian train system. May not be what you want to start out your trip.

Keep in mind that you won't be in Sorrento until the afternoon on Sunday; by the time you get off the plane, get your bags, and go to the shuttle train to Termini you're not catching the 10:22am train so its the 10:52. You get into Termini around 11:25 so you can take the 11:44 train to Naples (buy the ticket at the airport when you buy the shuttle ticket), get to Naples around 1pm, then take the 1:45pm train to Sorrento arriving at 2:30pm.

And if you have to be back in Rome Tue evening then the swim part on Tue might not work; if you check out of your hotel at 10am they'll be happy to hold your bags at the desk but you'll need a place to shower and change.

Mike, Deep down, I guess I know you're right. Like so many "first timers" on here, I'm pretty sure that I will never be able to afford to get back to Italy. And I'm getting old. (64) Time is running out for me.

I'd be willing to "go" till exhausted, but I'm not traveling alone. I have to take my partner's desires into account as well.

One other traveler suggested Orvieto instead of Sorrento, but I really want to spend a couple of days on the water.

If you think Sorrento is too much on the day of arrival, can you think of any other destination that might be closer to Rome, or maybe traveling part way to Sorrento the first night and then on Sorrento the second night?

I REALLY appreciate your help!

Although not been there myself the seaside towns south of Rome like Sperlonga and Anzio are very popular with Romans. However, you will be there during the height of the Italian holiday season when Italian folks leave the cities and head for the mountains and the beaches.

I would expect that accomodation would be at a premium. On the other hand a good opportunity to see Italy at play!

I don't know if you already have your tickets or if this is the only travel day open for some other reason. However if you could fly on Fri nite you'd arrive in Rome Sat morning, giving an extra day. Flying out Thu would be even better.

Also I'll throw out (and I know this goes against the grain of this board) that you can buy time. Not literally, of course, but pretty close. You could look for excursions from Rome to Sorrento; then all you have to do is pay the fee, but someone else does all the arranging and transporting.

BTW is your tour a RS tour? If so, they usually meet in the hotel around 3-5pm, which compresses your Tuesday even farther.

I hate to seem like I'm throwing cold water on your plans and I can sense your disappointment, but on a recent trip I tried to do too much too quickly and realize in retrospect I should have planned differently. From what you write if you don't know if you'll ever be back to Italy -- if you & partner would be satisfied with one solid day on the coast (even if it takes almost 3 days of your vacation to do it) then Sorrento is do-able. But from my personal experience I figured you might have been thinking something along the lines of "arrive Italy Sun morning, back to Rome by Tue nite, that's 2 1/2 days I can spend on the coast less a little bit of travel time". Which isn't likely to happen, at least not traveling by public transport.

As for ocean alternatives near Rome, I regret that I don't know of any.

I wanted to let Mike know that his thoughtful and sensitive replies re Jenny's questions have been noticed. His efforts are in the best tradition of the Helpline, where people who have never met try to help each other by answering questions about Europe travel. And the same can be said of all of you out there who regularly give your time to share your knowledge, experience, and judgment to try to help others on the Helpline forum. Thank you to each of you.