Driving From Rome Airport to Sorrento

Hi Linda,

What time of year (and time of day) are you planning on traveling? I ask because I think the last part of the drive (a bit south of Naples) is mostly on the coastal road, which can get rather congested during peak season. This could add quite a bit of time to the driving estimates, which is something to keep in mind.

we drove from fumicino to pompeii and stayed overnight just below pompeii, near sorrento. unfortunately, we were driving at night from pompeii to the hotel, and to make things worse, it was the night of Easter monday and half of italy was driving in the other direction, headed back to work in rome. the roads hug the coast and are narrow. not as hazardous as the twisting roads along the amalfi coast past sorrento, but stressful. try hard not to be on the roads at night. they are not well-marked and the motorscooters and trucks race by at high speeds.

I'm sure it's a matter of luck, but we did the drive from the Rome airport to Sorrento about 3 years ago and it wasn't that bad. Most of the drive is on "A" highways (like our interstates). It took us about 4 hours. According to viamichelin.com the distance is 292 Km of which 260 Km are on "motorways."

If you do decide to drive, you might want to buy the Michelin regional map #564 "Italie Sud" before you go or at a gas station along the way. Or print out the directions from viamichelin.com

As you are already at the airport why not fly down to Naples.

Done this drive--got stuck in traffic too. We had a car because this was only a short 4-day visit before heading off elsewhere. Seems like a lot of trouble to rent a car just to go from one point to another, and traffic can really be horrendous. I would think efficient would be by train. Hope you enjoy your visit as much as we did.

Devra

OK, I have done this 3 times, but from Napoli, not Roma. You will add a couple of hours, but no big deal. Recently Italy has put traffic cams on the Tangenziale or ring road that runs through down town Naples as you come from Rome. My wife and I were amazed as to how people drove compared to previous visits. It was like heaven. No lane changes and all at the posted speed limit. OK, not you got past Naples. The Amalfi coast highway is narrow. Since it is so beautiful, you will be tempted to look here and there as you drive, DON'T. Pull over to one of the many overlooks and stop and take photos. When you get to Sorrento, you can use the car to visit near by towns, and enjoy your self. We went all the way to Calabria to catch the ferry to Messina in Sicily and never had a problem.

If you can drive in LA, Boston, or NY, you will have no problems.

Tom: Thanks for the tip about viamichelin.com. We are planning to buy the Michelin road map for Italy ahead of time if we decide to rent the car. The idea of driving at our own pace after we fly through the night rather than taking the Leonardo Express, then the EuroStar, then the Circumvesuviana just seem more relaxing than hustling to all those trains.

Angela: We're going the last week of May. Might we beat the summer Roman holidays?

I wish I could help you, but I haven't been to Sorrento at that time of year so I'd best leave it for the May experts (who will hopefully be coming along shortly...).

But I know what you mean about not wanting to deal with all those trains/transfers after you arrive in Italy. We did the reverse from Sorrento to Rome a few years ago to catch a flight back to Chicago, and it was an awfully long day. Then again, we were sadly trudging home, trying to pry ourselves from Italy. At least in this instance, you'll be just arriving!

Italians (and other Europeans) decamp to the coast mid July to August for their annual holidays. Other than that fine weekends will also be very busy on the roads for the same reason.

The road to/from Sorrento and along the Amalfi Coast can be very busy on Fri/Sat/Sun from about the end of April ie the Liberation and Labour Day holidays.

Linda,

I'd also suggest travel by train, especially as you indicated that you'd "really like to use our time efficiently". Travel by car will take longer and with only four days, I'm not sure that will be as "efficient" and fast as going by train. As you'll basically just be using it for a one-way trip from the airport to Sorrento, train seems like a better option.

Keep in mind also that each driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit for driving in Italy, which must be used in conjunction with your home D.L. Driver's can be fined on the spot for failing to produce one if requested. These are very inexpensive and can be obtained at AAA offices.

A GPS unit along with a good Map would be advisable also. There will likely be some ZTL zones in that area to watch out for, but I have no information on where they are.

Happy travels!

I'm not sure that renting a car and driving is going to save you any time whatsoever. You have to figure on waiting to collect your car and to return it (they get in no hurry), traffic getting out of the Rome area (you have to drive into Rome anyway to get to the Autostrada so you might as well just take the train), getting lost at some point and then trying to get back on track (it will happen), traffic in the Naples area (horrendous!), and driving in and around Naples is not recommended by anybody. It would be far less stressful and time consuming to just take the train. IF there were any time savings by driving, the hassle makes it not worth it.

Ken: Don't we have to take the Leonardo Express from the airport to Termini, then the EuroStar from Termini to Naples, then the Circumvesuviana? Is there a train the departs from the airport going to Naples? If that's right . . . that may make the difference.

Linda,

The Italian Tourist Board publishes a lot of great information about driving in Italy, including license issues. You can find the info here:

http://www.italiantourism.com/transp.html

One thing about the GPS's I've used in Europe: I've found that they're not very good with one-way streets. For example, a number of times a GPS has told me to "turn left" onto a street that was marked "no left turn." Since one-way streets are ubiquitous in Europe, this became a big headache. Maybe the newer units are programmed better. So based on my experience, I'd say get a GPS if you want, but bring a good map too.

The easiest may be to fly from FCO to Naples if you have carry on luggage. Check out Mobissimo.com for one way flights from Rome to Naples. There is a bus right outside the Naples airport that goes directly to Sorrento for about 10 euros (Curreri Bus-a coach type bus, luggage goes under the bus.) I have done this several times-I bought the FCO to Naples ticket separately. You may be able to fly to Naples from the USA on one ticket-have also done this on American from ORD-BRU-NAP.