Well, I had a "gypsy child" reach into my pouch for my wallet in Rome, but didn't have the slightest trouble in Naples. Have you ever been in the large cities of the world? All kinds of people are there. Are you also aware of how much art and history are in Naples, not to mention great food at reasonable prices? You certainly have to take Trenitalia to Naples in order to get another means of transportation onwards to Sorrento.

If you choose to let other people decide what you'll do, then skip Naples and head for the Spring Break-like destination of Sorrento! (OK, that's harsh, but we did spend five nights in Sorrento. I'm entitled to an opinion.) It sounds like you should not ride the Circumvesuviana. They let, anyone, on that train!

It can be harder to download the correct ferry schedule "out of season", but yes, there should be ferries in November. Note that several companies run ferries in this area. The ticket sales booths can be confusing, but I think not as much in November as in high season. Note that the water is more likely to be rough in the winter. Most likely, you'll use the subway/Metro in Naples to get from the rail station to the port. Pack accordingly. But you could also download the fixed-rate taxi prices in case you decide to spring for a cab. (You want to have a copy of the rates handy.)

Thanks, Tim, for your quick response!

Yes, We have been to quite a few places. Milan, Venice, Florence, London, Amsterdam, and other places in between.. We usually take the usual precautions that are normal to take, I just thought it looked that Naples might need a bit more precaution than normal. I am always up for taking it all in. I'm the first one in line for a new adventure. We have enjoyed trains and subways all over.. I will continue to research my itinerary. I lean toward overnighting in Naples anyway. I just like to get other opinions of folks that have actually been there. Thanks again and I welcome all advice.

Have you already visited Rome? If not, then it makes sense to stay there first. There are so many people who fly into somewhere only to leave it right away (why not fly into the airport that's closer to where you actually want to be? are flights to Naples that much more expensive?) No way would I skip Naples. I don't mind the grit. It's a real city and not sugarcoated for tourists. It takes flexibility and tolerance to be open to places like that. I'm happy I visited, no regrets whatsoever. It was stressful a bit, but I like being able to navigate all sorts of environments. It really helps not to have luggage with you to weigh you down. If some gypsy or other kid (or adult) is bothering you or getting in your space to relieve you of your valuables (happened to me in Naples and Istanbul), feel free to be harsh and firm with them. I have no issues doing that if someone gets too close and I know is up to no good. I would say that it really does help to walk with confidence like you know where you're going...I did everything to not stand out like a tourist (that means not being overburdened with luggage or standing around looking at maps and not watching my stuff, etc.)

Christy, I loved Naples. I was there in September, so I don't know about November. I think it's a shame that everyone calls it gritty right off the bat. It is a big city, after all. But I loved the vibe of the city and there are so many different parts to it.

The Sansevero Chapel with the Veiled Christ - amazing. The cloisters of Santa Chiara and the majolica tiles there - stunning. The Archeological Museum and the Capodimonte museums are spectacular. Great food, interesting art installations in the metro stations, great food and gelato (hey, it's never too cold for gelato). And I was only there for 1 1/2 days. I'm sure there is so very much more to discover. It was one of the highlights of my trip (I took the Rick Steves Southern Italy tour).

I did love Sorrento too. So please decide by what you'd like to see, not by the inclination that it's going to be gritty and you'll get pickpocketed. That can happen anywhere-just wear your money belt and be situationally aware.

Enjoy your travels!

Thank You Agnes and Barbara, This is what I needed to hear... No, have not been to Rome.. The plan is as follows: land Rome, train to Naples (1 night) to recuperate from the trip. Train to Sorrento for 4 nights, with day trips while there. The last 4 nights will be spent in Rome.. I have just begun to do in depth research, so just beginning to pull it together. The only thing I know for sure is that we have plane tickets to Rome on November 3rd and return to the US on Nov 12th...

My vote is to very definitely experience Naples! You very well may leave there thinking "dirty and gritty", but as others have said, it is a large city and that is not uncommon in large concentrations of people. I went along with the descriptions that I had read before arriving in Naples, but I left with a different impression. Dirty, somewhat, gritty, maybe, a need to watch out for your valuables, just as you always should, but Naples is a vibrant exciting place with so much to offer. It has wonderful art, beautiful views of the Mediterranean, great food, and some of the best people watching

Edit: I don't know why part of this message appears large and blue, and don't know how to change it. Maybe the powers-that-be determined that these were especially good ideas!

Christy, I'll share my experience and perspective, then offer a couple new alternative approaches. In May 2014, I spent 3 nights in Naples, then 4 nights in Sorrento, and loved it all. Yes, they are very different. I'll offer these suggested approaches, starting with the recognition that you may be jet-lagged and very tired on the first day you arrive from a long flight, from the USA it seems. Also, one night hotel stays can be frustrating and draining of energy, getting to and from your lodging, checking in and out, with very little visiting time in between. So, the approaches, not necessarily in order of priority.
1. Arrive in Rome by air, train or taxi to Termini station, train to Naples, and go directly to Sorrento for 5 nights. My own recommended splurge is to arrange a car service or just take a taxi from Naples Central Train Station directly door-to-door to your lodging in Sorrento. It should cost about €100, give or take. Obviously if you are more than 2 people, the economics make even more sense. But the savings in hassle and time, especially when you are arriving tired, is well worth it I think. Then you can take one long day of your time in Sorrento to make a day trip to Naples, fresh and rested, without baggage, and see the Museum and some other sites, wander the streets, sample the cuisine, etc.
2. Arrive Rome by air, train or taxi to Termini station, train to Naples. Then spend 2 nights in Naples and 3 nights in Sorrento. I can highly recommend the wonderful Orsini46 B & B in a nice area of Naples, great quiet place to rest and enjoy the city. Only 3 (excellent) rooms of varying size, delicious breakfast delivered to your room on your schedule, lovely hosts. But, it is small, well-reviewed and popular, so you may or may not find a vacancy, even now. This would give you a day plus your arrival day to explore Naples, and then moving by train to Sorrento you could stop in Pompeii on the way, there is baggage check at the entry of the ruins, or you could arrange a door-to-door car or taxi to Sorrento, as described above.
Both of these approaches avoid the 1-night stop in Naples, and the unnecessarily complicated and tiring end of your arrival day.
Hope you find the best solution for yourselves.

There are nice hotels right outside Napoli Centrale; an overnight in Napoli would give you time for the Archeological Museum (metro from the train station to Museo stop).

(When I have a one-nighter upon arriving in a city, I put a complete wardrobe change in the outside zipper compartment of my rolling carryon, then I don't even have to unpack. Just pull out toiletries bag from my personal item, and ready for the next day and departure.)

Thanks Pat, Larry, and Zoe, I will definitely consider all these options. Certainly, none I had considered! I am just so happy to be returning to Italy! At first, our trip was to France Then , I had a complete itinerary planned for Spain. I have been watching airfare for a while. My heart actually leapt with joy when I saw that airfare had dropped so low, non-stop ATL-FCO.. Of course, price was the deciding factor. I still intend to make the other trips eventually, but Italy is just special to us!

Just wanted to second Larrys recommend on BnB. Great location, wonderful hosts.
Take a taxi to the Bnb to save yourself a hike to the bus.

Have done 13 trips to Napoli and still haven't seen everything.

Check out the Campania Arte card, 3day tutti la regione, will give you an idea of just how many sights there are to visit, includes transportation.

I just checked the B&B that Larry suggested, Orsini 46 It looked fantastic! Unfortunately, completely booked for my date. Any other suggestions for B&B's/ hotels?

larry

If you use the # sign, you get the huge font.

We stayed at the Palazzo Decumani, which is a mid to high-end, gut renovation of an historic building. We enjoyed the luxury and strong air conditioning (which you won't need in November.) I would worry about street noise in downtown Naples with the window open, however. It was rather a long walk, but we enjoyed walking from this Decumani to the Stazione Centrale. (See Google Maps if needed.)

If you go to the Archaeology Museum, don't overlook either the brothel fresco room or the Farnese Marbles (the latter are not connected to Pompeii.) I had some trouble following Rick's book's "Naples Walk", and I don't consider myself directionally challenged. We had to wait almost an hour for a seat at Pizzeria Sorbillo for lunch, but that was in May.

Yes it is dirty and gritty but as they say, "grime doesn't equal crime". I think if you exercise the same caution you would in any other city, you will be fine. I got nervous my first afternoon when I was taking a picture of a shrine on an empty side street when some young guys came walking right up to me. But they wanted to explain the significance of it and ask what other sites I'd seen so far, and then asked if they could get in a picture with it and could I post it on facebook for my American friends to see. And no one came within 3 feet of me so they were not pulling any scams.

I spent 5 days there last year (as a solo female traveler) and never once felt unsafe. I was out in the evening walking off late dinners as well. The last night I was there, I walked back to the historical center from the opera house (~25 min walk) at 11pm and it was entirely uneventful. Lots of kids still out playing soccer in the streets and parents walking with their babies in trams. I felt comfortable enough to check the map on my iphone regularly and walk with headphones in at night.

I stayed at B&B Nilo (28 not 32) and would absolutely recommend it. I would say at least 2 days in Naples as there is a lot to see. The owner at the BB met me and immediately gave me a half hour history of Naples from their rooftop, pointing out the best things to see. There are only 4 rooms I think, and breakfast is actually a coupon for a pastry and coffee across the square (typical). The best sfogliatelle is right downstairs from them as well. It's a typical centro storico building; they are very cool with this gigantic (20 ft tall?) arched metal door that is open during the day to the courtyard, and at night you open a teeny door within the door to go through.

Naples can definitely be off-putting at first, there is a lot of trash and graffiti, but give it a chance, it's a great city.

Thanks to all! The decision is made.... Naples it is!

If u decide on Naples then have an itin in mind. Yes it is gritty but it has alot of history an imp sigts. If that doesnt interest u then by all means go straight to Sorrento. A wonderful picturesque tranquil town on the water.i lovr Sorrento as a base an a spring boRd o the gorgeous amalfi coast.

We are in Sorrento right now, have 2 more nights here. It's been raining pretty much the last three days, but in between the rain we took the SITA bus to Positano, in which we inadvertently got off two stops before the Sponda stop and had to walk down the cliff road--unbelievable scenery--to find something open to have lunch. We did, right at that stop, and were told that down by the beach is still closed up until Easter.

The day before we took the CV to Naples and the Archeological Museum. There was an orderly line and a 30 minute wait because 1st Sunday of each month was free. Treasure trove of Pompeii relics, art and mosaics--incredible.

Tomorrow Ercolano and maybe a return to Pompeii. BTW, food in Sorrento is reasonable and top notch, every bit as good as Rome. Calamari is the star here--fried, grilled and in red sauce.

Naples can be a hot button topic.
Plenty on this forum rave about it but it doesn't have much appeal to me.
After Rome I really don't want another congested city experience, am I missing some great sites?, I am sure I am but I am not losing sleep over it. Italy is filled with amazing sites so any vacation there is a compromise.

Would prefer to get to Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast and bypass as we have done in the past and will do so again.
using the airport for the trip home though is a good idea.

This is why I love this Italy forum.... So much great input.

Also recommend the Artecard - you can buy one in the tourist office in the Centrale station. If you do one other thing aside from Pompeii and the Archaeology museum, it will pay for yourself plus you can skip lines and not worry about train tickets.

I kept my Artecard book (comes with the card) and there are 228 sites/museums listed. So yeah, lots to do in Naples :-)

I'm glad you have decided to try Naples! They do say, see Naples and die, right? ;)

My first time there, me and a friend took the train from Gaeta to Naples and in one day, did alot of walking: down the Via San Gregorio Armeno to see the nativity scenes; trying the pizza at Pizzeria da Michele; and walking to see the beautiful views of the city from Castel Sant Elmo. I never once felt unsafe. And we were two females exploring into the evening hours! The scariest thing I experienced were the "scooters" that drive recklessly throughout the city!

In July, Naples was our home base as we explored the coast (Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi). I can't speak of the fairy schedule off-season. We stayed at the Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo. I believe it is a Marriott hotel. It has a beautiful pool/seating area on the roof and our stay there was wonderful. It is really close to the ferries and Castel Sant Elmo. Lots of shopping as well, a few streets over. Once again on this visit, I never once felt unsafe or threatened.

Have a great trip!!

I would get it done with on your arrival day and head to Sorrento for 5 nights. Who can be bothered with a single night stay first up?
You will have 4 full days to enjoy from Sorrento, so relax into it.
1) Capri
2) Positano & Amalfi
3) Naples
4) Pompeii & Herculaneum

We just got back from 5 nights at a B&B in Sorrento, after 6 nights at an apartment in Rome. Tim/New Jersey had warned me upfront that Sorrento was not all it's cracked up to be. And you know what? He's right.

The good--really solid restaurants, even the cheap ones. We never dined at the high-end Il Buco or the big hotel trattorias on the Marina Grande, mostly because they weren't open this time of year. There is a sameness about the fare, but it's done professionally and with care. Had a lobster with linguine that was outstanding, also great soups, calamari, lemon shrimp.

Also, logistically, Sorrento--IF you stay close to the bus and train station--is a great strategic launching point for Naples. We took the Circumvesuviana, then a taxi from Garibaldi to the Archeological Museum--fabulous. It being late Sunday afternoon by the time we got out of the museum, we didn't stay to knock around there and took a taxi back to the station, then rode the CV back to Sorrento. Interestingly about that, we had been told that the train would have more 'ruffians' closer to Naples, but we had the opposite. Some drunk musicians--accordion and bongo, and not good players--got on at Castelammare di Stabia, and were begging all the way to Sorrento. Nothing we couldn't handle, however.

Taking the SITA bus to Positano was also cool. We were supposed to get off at the second stop--Sponda, and walk down to the town. But note that people push the buzzer all the time, and get off wherever, so consequently we made a mistake & got off two stops early, and had to walk the winding cliff road down to Sponda, probably 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile all told. Fortunately it was nice weather, about 55-60 F., and the views were absolutely spectacular on foot, much better than from the bus--I would actually recommend doing this on purpose, although it was happenstance for us. At Sponda, we were told that down in Positano-town it was still pretty much closed, so right near the stop there was a tiny cafe that was open. As it happens, we had some of the best food of the trip there, sitting outside with those views. And then we simply walked the few steps to the Sponda stop and caught the SITA bus going the other way back to Sorrento.

But back to what I was saying. Sorrento itself is...soulless is a good word, I guess. And for the time of year, it was damned crowded too. Only thing I could figure was that if folks were going to the A.C. this time of year, our part of Sorrento was it, baby. Everything closed down by the marina. And every A.C. town on the other side buttoned up as well. Plenty of tour groups and students--not aggravatingly so, but certainly there. I think it would be just brutal in high season. And also, my preconception of Sorrento is that it was touristy, clean, sparkly, like an Italian version of Carmel, CA or Ogunquit, ME. To me, Sorrento is Naples without the massive graffiti--old and not that well kept up.

Me? I'll take Napoli next time. Just my .02.