Naples-Sorrento

Herculaneum is an easy day trip from Sorrento. Pompeii may be easier from Naples, not sure as we've only done Herculaneum. We love Sorrento.

They are both very interesting and very different. I think you won’t regret 3 days in Naples. Yes, it’s a grittier city but lots to see and great little streets and neighborhoods to explore. Many great restaurants and of course pizza. Sorrento is a lovely area and day trips give you evenings to stroll the old town and soak in the sites.

We loved Sorrento and stayed in a hotel on the cliffside overlooking the Mediterranean with its beautiful sunsets. I would spend 2 nights in Naples to get adjusted and then 5 nights in Sorrento. If you are flying home from Naples it would be good to spend the last night there. We saw the Archeology museum on the afternoon before our flight home from Naples. It meant more to us to see the Archeology museum after we had been to Pompeii. Another option would be to stay the first 2 nights in Naples, then 4 nights in Sorrento and 1 night in Naples at the end if you fly home from Naples.

I like the plan. I don’t think that 1st day is “wasted” in Naples for certain. Aside from the major sights, Naples has plenty to enjoy. Wandering around at your own speed that first day sounds right. Your days only get more full from there.

There is nothing wrong with your itinerary, but we cannot know if you are more interested in the weight of world-history and art in Naples, or in the fresh air and sunshine of Sorrento. Sorrento is the right place to stay for the second part of your intinerary, but you may not understand how gritty and urban (despite lots to see) Naples is.

OTOH, Sorrento is, at the end, a purpose-built, postwar, reinforced-concrete resort town. It has only one tiny beach, that is not particularly attractive. I am not slamming Sorrento, we enjoyed our five nights there. I just think you may have imprecise expectations.

We also don't know how often you have been to Europe. The differences between Naples and Sorrento have little to do with jet-lag. You can recover equally well in either place, and it's not that hard to get from one to the other.

Have you read up on the two places? Examples:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/naples-to-sorrento-train-or-private-driver

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/amalfi-coast-for-7-nights-itinerary-help

EDIT: I might have added that the fact that some places, like Herculaneum, are closer to Naples, while Pompeii is closer to Sorrento, is not really important. Many people on this newsboard don't use "public transportation" at home. But once the sketchy Circumvesuviana leaves one of those two end-cities, you can be confident that is going to stop at both Herculaneum and Pompeii in the same 1:20 (or whatever the running time is, I didn't look it up.) The big issue is actually that Herculaneum is a 15-minute downhill WALK from the Circumvesuviana station, so you don't want to go there with luggage. Pompeii is directly opposite its Circumvesuviana station, and with no change in pavement level. (Both have reliable luggage storage near the "excavation" ticket booths.) We went both places from Sorrento, as well as Oplontis, with our luggage at the Sorrento hotel.

What are your priorities? Naples is well worth a few days, but Sorrento is a good hub for the Amalfi Coast. If Pompeii, Herculaneum and the museum in Naples are priorities, then Naples makes more sense for at least 2 days. If Capri and the Amalfi Coast are a priority then Sorrento makes sense. With that short of time you don't want to waste part of a day in transit getting to Sorrento, because Capri and Amalfi Coast each require a full day. We did a 9 hour tour of the AC from Sorrento and 4.5 hours were still in a car getting to and from.

And as has been mentioned, unless you have a late afternoon flight home you want to be in Naples the night before. Don't trust transportation in that region to be reliable or efficient.

We will have a 2:00pm flight from Naples to Malta. If we catch a 9:00-10:00am train from Sorrento, will we be able to get to the airport in time from Sorrento?

That's plenty of time, just confirm in advance that there are no strikes or train maintenance going on. That region is full of surprises.