Best Way To Get From Salerno to Sorrento and from Sorrento to Naples?

I would take ferry both transits

Hi Andrea, Just wondered what you're going to do while you're in Sorrento, is this for day trips to Pompeii / Herculaneum or Capri, or just to relax?

If ferry is not going to be your choice--not always weather-conducive-- from Salerno to Sorrento you take the Trenitalia train to Naples Centrale, transfer same station (but either up or down) to the Circumvesuviana commuter train to Sorrento station. Or you take the SITA bus to Amalfi-town, switch to another SITA bus that takes you through Positano then across the peninsula to Sorrento.

Sorrento to Naples you'll take the Circumvesuviana, but some think it's kind of dangerous with a few beggars and itinerant musicians that get on & off at stops. During the day it's fine, but could get a little rough at night.

Or hire a driver which would be very expensive...could be as much as 100 Euro or more.

Pick your poison...

Driver will be closer to 200 euros

Thanks everyone. Since we will have luggage I would want to avoid the SITA bus and take the ferry or train.

Sandancisco, we will have 3 full days in Sorrento and plan to go to Pompeii/Herculaneum and weather permitting to Capri for a day trip.

In Salerno we have one day less than originally planned, so just 2 full days. We will go to Paestum and see some of the Amalfi Coast from there. In Naples we will have 2 full days and we will also have 9 full days in Rome after that.

Be aware that on the Circumvesuviana, you’ll need to have your luggage with you at your seats. If it’s crowded (once while we were on it, going from Sorrento to Naples, it got more and more crowded as we neared Naples), you could get aggressive passengers who don’t like your luggage taking up space on “their” train. I still remember the nasty guy who confronted us, while we and all the other passengers were just trying to endure the packed train and get to Naples as best we could. Could potentially be standing room only, but if you get on a Sorrento, you’d likely have a seat all the way to Naples.

We will have 3 full days in Sorrento and plan to go to
Pompeii/Herculaneum and weather permitting to Capri for a day trip.

Soooo, I just wanted to suggest an alternative route - You could base yourself in the town of Pompei (one i), close to the less crowded entrance to the Scavi to visit Pompeii. That way you would skip the crowded Circumvesuviana from Sorrento. If you take the Regionale train from Salerno to Pompeii, it's only a 5 minute walk to Hotel Forum, a cheaper but 4-star alternative to Sorrento, (where we stayed on the advice of Forum member Estimated Prophet). I would highly recommend an Askos tour of the ruins, and others have raved about their tour of Herculaneum & Oplontis. You could take the day trip to Capri from Naples instead. Here's our Christmas Dec 2025 TR - (sorry, it's quite long!) https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/great-trip-to-pompeii-naples-over-new-years-december-26-january-2nd-2026

I agree with the suggestion to stay in Pompei. Perhaps add a day to Salerno. I would not count on the ferries for required transportation. We were in Salerno 23-27 Oct. 2025 and the ferries were cancelled every day due to weather, which seemed fine to us but was a little choppy on the water. We took the bus one day to Amalfi town and it was very crowded (go to the first stop, it's 10 min walk from the bus stop at the train station, more likely to get a seat or even make it on to the bus, half those waiting at the train station didn't make it on). We did our day trip to Pompei from Salerno which was easy, but if you stay in Pompei then you can use it as your base for Herculaneum as well. Also, doing a tour of Pompeii is best, we chose to do it on our own using the RS audio tour and it was a bit overwhelming. I think a tour will really put it all into context and give you the best experience.

Thanks so much for the additional advice and information. I had changed our Salerno reservation from 4 nights to 3 and booked a hotel in Rome for our arrival day. Maybe I should add that day back and consider Pompei for 3 nights. It’s really the transportation that is concerning me. Maybe it is too early to look at trains for October?

Sandancisco, thank for linking your trip report. It will be very helpful.

I don't disagree with previous posts, but I want to point out that it is less of a project to go to Pompeii (or even Naples) from purpose-built resort-town Sorrento than it is to buy a Trenitalia round-trip, and train to a modern city center on the way. That is, the hot, gritty Circumvesuviana is more like a subway or commuter train than like a long-distance rail system (as long as you are not carrying your luggage). We spent five nights in Sorrento (which is also much closer to Capri than Salerno or Naples) and went on a daytrip almost every day. That was, for us, a perfect plan.

Our main "Sorrento" activity other than nightly dining was walking back to Sorrento (downhill) from Sant' Agata sui dui Golfi. I should mention that we happened to have fireworks outside our (premium priced) Vesuvius-view cliffside windows one night, and we also chanced on a very ancient-looking religious procession (with statues and staffs held high) Maybe (?) near St. Francis church.

I had places like Positano high on my list, but except for Ravello, I found the big-name sites on the AC to be missable. I mention that because you might want to experience Sorrento just because it is such an iconic destination, with seemingly unlimited demand. Because I live on the East Coast USA, I would much rather go to the Caribbean in the winter than to Sorrento. (Yes, I know that October is in the hurricane season in the Caribbean!)

I'm not proud to say that I crossed off Paestum during the vacation, because it was just too hard to get to from Sorrento. At least we have been to the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento!

I have not been there in October, but note that ferries depend on daylight and wave height for departures. Try to look up the date they will institute off-season schedules - it can be hard to find at other times of year. Both ferries we used Sorrento-Capri were jammed, and had no outside seating or standing locations. One of them carried cars and trucks. This is a long, open sea (well, open gulf) ride, which might be the reason.

Andrea, You're so welcome! The TR is very particular to our circumstances & how much we wanted to focus on Pompeii & the MANN museum in Naples. (I had visited 30 years earlier & still had vivid memories of how amazing it was.) There is no right answer, only what works best for you!

I would add to what Tim says and agree that most of the A.C towns--especially in high season--are not worth the trouble. A year ago April, and it was our 3rd trip to the A.C., we visited Vietri sul Mare in the morning for its ceramics--it is underrated and flat out beautiful. Also--if you can get there--the Sal De Riso pasticceria in Minori is worth the trip. Phenomenal pastries.

And yes, add a night to Salerno. Hope you're staying at the Hotel Plaza! Inexpensive and right across from the train station. Next to Rome, it's my favorite city in Italy.

Just back from Italy trip and stayed in Sorrento to be closer to Naples. Travelled as much by NLG ferry as possible (Naples to amalfi, amalfi to sorrento, sorrento to capri)

However, our last ferry Sorrento to Naples (to head to the airport) was cancelled due to weather. They emailed the night before and it went to junk mail - so be sure and check that before bed. We ended up taking the commuter train from Sorrento to Naples for about 3€ each and a 25€ taxi to the airport from the Naples train station stop (2nd last one). There were buses but we needed to get there in a timely way.

NLG has easy online bookings, we never felt crowded and having the boarding passes helped us get into the right lines more easily. At least the ferries in Italy use and respect lines at boarding times. Buses do not and are a pushy yelling free for all.

konvomn, your experience with a cancelled ferry is a big worry of mine. I’m also wondering if luggage is allowed on ferries? I definitely don’t want to take crowded busses while relocating with luggage. If there’s not a real advantage to booking train tickets much ahead it would allow the option to choose between a ferry and a train.

Yes of course luggage is allowed on ferries. As I recall it is a few euros per bag, pay when you buy the ferry ticket

You can’t pre purchase Circumvesuviana train but there are regionals and fast trains from Salerno to Naples. Regional doesn’t need to be booked in advance, they can’t sell out and price never changes
Fast trains can be booked in advance but not necessary, I doubt that line sells out

Hi Andrea! I can’t help with Salerno to Sorrento. How much luggage are you taking? My girlfriend and I had a carryon each and sat facing each other. I went backwards and saw forward! We had our bags with us. It was cramped but we did it. The Circumvesuviana definitely gets crowded the closer to Napes you get. I personally enjoyed the musicians on the train. We also stayed in Sorrento and visited Pompeii. I don’t remember the guide but I read recently that several sites in Italy are cracking down on tour groups. Not sure what that means. Hopefully it won’t be hot in October. I just about died in July. No shade there so prepare! I’ll be in Slovenia and Croatia second and third week in October. I have a terrible layover in Istanbul (6 hrs) and I’m dreading it. I get there 3AM CA time and have to stay awake!

Andrea, we were just in Naples April 24 for 6 nights. We walked by the port to check out the ferry situation and glad we did. During off season, which includes April, the ferry to and from Sorrento only runs once per day. May 1 started the summer Season. Our ferry was at 10:00. We purchased our tickets while we were there just to avoid a line that morning. The bags were just a little bit more. It came to 50€ for 2 people with luggage.
We got there early and were on the ferry with the first group. We sat just opposite the luggage rack so we could see our luggage and get it just before we docked.

Thanks ChristineH!

Hey Diane, we will each have a suitcase (probably carryon, but possibly slightly larger) and a personal bag backpack. I’m hoping that by the time we travel from Salerno to Sorrento on October 15 the hottest weather will be over. I hope you have a great time in Slovenia and Croatia. Are you going on a tour?

Hi Barbara, thanks for the ferry information. I suppose I shouldn’t worry so much until we get there, but I don’t want to be stuck hiring a private driver.

Andrea, yes on the Rick Steves tour. Will spend extra days there before it starts. I’ve been to a few places there before but want to see more.