Best way to get to Sorrento from Naples

Easiest is Circumvesuviana train- at Napoli Centrale- down stairs.
https://www.positano.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule?timetable_route=sorrento_napoli

Boat would mean you have to get to the dock across town from station- so a cab- then you are dropped at marina in Sorrento- town is up a steep cliff- so bus or cab again from there to your hotel.

Yep. The Circumvesuviana is the way to go. Easy, straightforward, not expensive. Not the prettiest trains in Italy, but like a NY City subway, gets the job done. Watch your belongings - it's a notorious pickpocket venue, but as long as you have your wits about you, you'll be fine.

Are you sure, between Italotreno.it and Trenitalia.com, there isn't a direct train from Firenze to either Napoli or Salerno?

To take the ferries you must get to the docks by M1 metro, it's just 3 stops but the Circumvesuviana station is under the main building used by long distance and high speed trains.

Yes, the train mentioned just above is the cheapest, a separate company and station located a couple floors down below the Naples Centrale train station. This is like a commuter line, think old subway cars. It can be very crowded at times, and is not so easy to navigate with baggage. There are frequent trains and the line ends at the Sorrento train station. Then you would need to take a taxi to your hotel, unless it is so close you can walk.
A nice splurge is to take a taxi or car service from the door of the Naples Centrale train station direct to the door of your lodging in Sorrento. Taxi drivers have a card listing a fixed rate for the run, somewhere around €100. It is more expensive but saves you lots of time and hassle, and gets you out seeing Sorrento and having dinner, much faster and more relaxed. Best splurge of my time in that area. Mine was door-to-door from my lodging in Naples to my hotel a ways outside of Sorrento in just over an hour.

Thank you so much for your input. Dario thank you for mentioning direct train from Florence to Naples. I thought we had to change trains... It's very overwhelming putting the trip together, but this forum it makes it much easier. Thank you for your all your tips!!

If arriving in Naples by train, the Circumvesuviana is the most convenient but hold on to your belongings. If arriving at the airport, take the airport bus to the port.

“T” from the RS organization posted this link earlier today https://www.italotreno.it/en/destinations-timetable/italobus. Italo runs a train/bus combo that will take you from Firenze to Sorrento, no Circumvesuviana required,

The Italo train / bus combination mentioned in the earlier reply would be a good one to consider. The alternative would be to take either Freccia or Italo high speed trains from Florence to Naples, and then either Circumvesuviana or Campania Express from there to Sorrento. The latter train only operates at certain times of the year.

ld, you wrote easiest, not cheapest. The easiest way is to have your hotel’s land partner pick you up in a car service at the Naples rail station. That might be around 100 Euros per car. If your hotel is not walkable from the Sorrento Circumvesuviana station, the taxi will be a minimum of 15 Euros just for that. Get the idea?

You need to give the month of the year when you post on a travel site, so we can advise about heat and extreme crowding, problems on the Circumvesuviana. We took the Circumvesuviana for arrival, but splurged on a car service on tge way out, after five nights.

To follow up on Laurels post. The Italo train. I just picked random dates and times.

ITINERARY

This choice includes a bus route
1 Change. 4:42
10:43
Firenze SMN
Train 9919
Stops: 2
Roma Tib, Roma Termini
13:25
Napoli Afragola

minutes bus connection. 20m
13:45
Napoli Afragola
Bus 1323
Stops: 1
Pompei
15:25
Sorrento

Why change trains in Rome----we took the high sped train from Naples directly to Florence. Easy and fast

We did take the ferry from Naples to Sorrento. It was walking distance from our hotel while the train station was further. BUT

1. It is like an airliner with no views. It goes fast and you can't sit on the deck
2. You arrive below Sorrento and then need to take a bus or other transportation to the town.

It wasn't crowded like the train and was pleasant enough. I had thought we would have views so I was disappointed by that.

It would not be as convenient for you arriving by train to take the ferry. I would guess you might want to take a taxi.

Beth, thank you so much for providing a contemporary report on (one) ferry from Naples to Sorrento. It matches my experience of both ferries we had between Sorrento and Capri in 2014. There are multiple ferry companies, and each company owns multiple, different boats. One reason month-of-the-year is essential in all travel queries is that frequency (or even, existence) of service, boat size, and demand, all affect tourist ferry trips.

It could be said that there are advantages to a modern, sealed, tinted-porthole, airline-seating, air-conditioned ferryboat: passenger comfort, more resilience to cancellations due to rough seas, and higher capacity for peak season. I suspect (?) that many past posters here who describe, rapturously, the ferry from Naples to Sorrento may be talking about ships that have been scrapped long ago.

I don't know about Naples, but in Sorrento, there are multiple ferry companies, and their ticket windows cannot be relied onup to say, "Hey, why wait two hours for our next ferry, our competition has one in 15 minutes ... "

I'll add that there is also a 2 Euro elevator that accesses the marina area of Sorrento. But there are only a certain number of hotels (downtown) within walking distance of the elevator building.