Rick mentions "the world's great bus rides: The coastal trip from Sorrento to Salerno." Anyone know how often these buses run, how long the trip is, and how much it costs? I will have 1 full day in Sorrento plus another morning. I was hoping to do Pompaii , Herculaneum, and Vesuvius on my full day and the bus ride the next morning. Is this unreasonable? Thanks!
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
There are frequent buses (at least hourly) along the Amalfi Coast in season. According to schedules, it takes 1 hr 40 min from Sorrento to Amalfi and 1 hr 15 min from Amalfi to Salerno. You must change buses in Amalfi. According to the UNICOCAMPANIA website, the 6 euro 24 hr ticket should cover the trip. If required to buy separate tickets for each bus, the cost would be 18 euro round trip. You may want to consider going only to Amalfi and spending some time there instead of going on to Salerno. The coast between Amalfi and Salerno is much the same as from Sorrento to Amalfi, and Amalfi is a very interesting town to visit. You can find bus schedules at www.sitabus.it. Website is only in Italian, but is not difficult to figure out.
I did Pompeii, Herculaneum and Vesuvius in same day during my last visit to Sorrento. It takes planning to fit it all in. I went to Herculaneum early, then returned to Pompeii and took the bus from there to Vesuvius, then toured Pompeii after I returned. There is an 11:00 bus from Herculaneum train stop to Vesuvius, but I missed it. With planning you could take that to Vesuvius and a return bus to Pompeii. Do your homework in advance, and plan for a long day.
Based on what you plan to visit, the Campania ArteCard would be a good deal. It will get you free admission to Herculaneum and Pompeii (first 2 sites you visit) and includes a 3-day UNICOCAMPANIA pass. Confirm what transit is covered when you buy the pass, as there was some confusion when I used it. In hindsight, I think I bought tickets for trips that were actually covered by the pass.
Posted by
San Francisco, CA, USA
125 posts
We also took the bus from Amalfi to Salerno because we had the 24 hr pass, but would not do it again. It just wasted about 3 hours of the day riding from Amalfi to Salerno, and back to Amalfi. Spend your time visiting Ravello, Amalfi and take the walk to Atrani, the next town over from Amalfi.
Posted by
Chicago
2876 posts
If you want to go to Salerno, another option is to take a bus or taxi over to Positano, then take the hydrofoil from Positano to Salerno. IMO much more fun - not to mention faster - than Sorrento to Salerno on a bus.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
To expand on Tom's suggestion, you could take the bus one direction and the boat back. That gives you the best of both worlds. I believe you can also take a boat between Sorrento and Amalfi, with a stop or change in Positano.
Posted by
OP
Philadelphia, PA
8 posts
Hey Guys, Thanks for the info. I only have one morning... so I think stopping at Amalfi would be a good idea. Is there is a boat leaving Amalfi for sure? Anyone know how often? If we take a 8-9 am bus and maybe a 10-11 boat ride back... I should be back by 1, right? We need to leave Sorrento around then.
Also, is this the best way to spend our time in Sorrento? We arrive around 6 pm, then will walk around, have dinner, go to Pompeii ect. the next day and have another night in Sorrento. Then the next morning do the bus ride/boat ride and then leave?
Posted by
Los Angeles
425 posts
Look up the schedules: