Hello - for the last week of our vacation (we fly out of Rome and taking direct train to Naples from Sicily) Since train goes directly from Sicily to Naples and then we can go direct to Rome after 5 nights there - we are considering staying in Naples and doing Day trips to Pompeii, Capri, Sorrento and/or Positano. is this a good plan - we are trying to minimize moving from one hotel to another but fear that 5 nights in Naples might be overdoing it?
Posted by
6512 posts
How do you want to spend your days? That will tell you where to stay…
I like to make a list and cross reference where I can visit from where and compare it to where I want to be at night, how early I want to get up, and how long I want to travel each day. With five days, you could conceivably have two stays if you just can’t decide.
Also, who is we and what month?
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
8626 posts
Some people find Naples too "urban", but it's a very historic place with lots to see itself. Have you been to other crowded, disobedient places before, like Athens downtown? In the daytime, Naples is quite safe, but you do have to watch for unruly drivers whenever you cross the street. It's like a slice of medieval italy, maybe. We only spent one night there, on the way to Sorrento, which is the usual answer to your question. As a factual matter, Naples is a good base for the named trips. You need to do a little more research, maybe with the Search box top left of desktop-view page here.
Posted by
9755 posts
When we visited the area we stayed in Sorrento and loved it.
Naples, not impressed except for the museum.
Posted by
Washington DC
30094 posts
I spent about a week in Naples in March 2023. It is not a cute, pristine little town--not at all. It is a vibrant city with a lot of worthwhile sights, including the excellent archaeological museum where a lot of original decorative elements from Pompeii are displayed, as well as other things. Naples has ferries to Capri. The Circumvesuviana links Naples to both Pompeii and Sorrento. For Positano you'd need to connect (I'd guess in Sorrento) to a ferry or a bus.
If you spent 5 nights in Naples, that would give you just 4 full days there. Capri would take up one of those days. Pompeii would require more than half a day, and for some people it might be nearly a full day. (Probably not if this is a summer trip, because the unrelenting heat could be unbearable.) Herculaneum is on the Circumvesuviana rail line between Pompeii and Naples, but that might not be a great one-day combination of sights.
I haven't been to Sorrento, but it has never sounded to me like a destination itself. It's basically a postwar town, not historic. However, it can be a reasonably convenient base for seeing the places you want to see if you prefer not to stay in big-city Naples. Note, though, that to visit the Amalfi Coast while staying in Sorrento, you are dependent upon ferries (which could possibly be canceled in bad weather), very expensive taxis/private transportation or slow, overcrowded buses some people find extremely unpleasant due to motion sickness.
Another possible base for that area is Salerno, where I spent 4 nights. It's much less touristy than the little towns on the Amalfi Coast and a great deal less expensive for lodging. It is not good for side trips to Capri or Sorrento, but it should work well for the Amalfi Coast. Salerno has good train service from Naples, but those trains don't stop at the Pompeii Scavi station. You end up at a different station some distance away, from which you'd need to walk, take a taxi or perhaps a bus; I'm not sure about buses. I really liked Salerno, which is a real city with Italian residents and restaurants patronized by them.