I continue to read recommendations for hiring a private driver for transport from Naples train station directly to hotels in Sorrento. Is it really worth the significant price difference?. We are coming from Rome and looking at the Campania Express.
If we do take the Campania Express,; how much time should we allow for transfer?
Thank you!
Take the Circumvesuviana. It runs much more frequently:
https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule
Why not take the ferry Naples to Sorrento? Less hassle & probably less crowded. Train Rome to Naples, taxi to ferry? There are lots of trains Naples to Sorrento.
Mary, I would say this depends on a few factors. How many people? How much baggage? How far is the hotel in Sorrento from the train station, or ferry port? Are you traveling from the Naples train station, or from your lodging? I remember once arranging for a taxi from my B & B in Naples directly to my hotel outside of Sorrento, and it was the best splurge of my trip. I had the full morning and lunch in Naples, my taxi arrived at my B & B at 2 pm, and by 3:30 pm I was checked into my hotel and off exploring Sorrento. Otherwise, I would have needed taxis before and after the train, and would have been lugging my bags around throughout the trip, no doubt sweating up a storm. I think the ride cost me €100 and was worth every bit.
Larry has it right, Mary: which choice is better depends on multiple factors which are or are not important to YOU.
For me, the Circumvesuviana works. It's a battered and bare-bones commuter (think the "L" in Chicago) but cheap, runs frequently, and departs from virtually the same location as "Fast" trains coming in from Rome (Garibaldi is attached to Napoli Centrale). I'd allow a 30 minute cushion if unfamiliar with the layout of the stations + time to purchase your Circ. tickets. Others may do it in less time but I'm personally more comfortable with giving myself more versus less time for stuff like this.
Yes, some people enjoy the ferry from Naples to Sorrento but it involves a transfer from train station to port, and another transfer from Sorrento's port to hotel (most are in the upper town). It's not so much fun in rain, either.
My issue with the Campania Express is that it runs so infrequently: only 4 times daily. It works if you can time your arrival in Naples to reasonably coincide with one of those departures, otherwise you can waste a lot of time waiting for the next one.
Our hotel in Sorrento was not a lengthy walk from the train station so we didn't need a taxi transfer from one to the other. Yours may be a different story.
All this advice makes sense. On our return from 5 nights in Sorrento, we are spending a night in Capri and then a night in Naples before flying home to the U.S. We will obviously be taking a ferry for that part of our trip.
In Sorrento we are staying at Hotel Continental. Rome2Rio indicates an 11 minute walk from the train station. We will not have a large amount of luggage as we travel with carry on bags only.
I have been scared off by negative comments about the Circumvesuviana but perhaps that is our best option. The hotel offers taxi transportation for 125E which seems to be the going rate. I am having a hard time convincing myself that it is worth it.
There's not much more to say; This is a better than usual description of a perennial question. Sometimes it seems like experience with urban public transportation is a factor in opinions of the Circumvesuviana. I don't agree with the Chicago L comparison, because the degree of crowding and lack of air conditioning can be so much worse to Sorrento. Some riders feel threatened by musicians and potential pickpockets, because they haven't read our host Rick's belt pouch rules.
For me the worst part was the difficulty of handling and retaining supervision of two large rolling bags on a train where the crowding almost supported you without holding onto a pole. We got seats, but that makes handling a bag almost worse. The cars and aisles are narrow. (I grew up on the NYC subway.) At age 71, I see a big difference between a three-seat ride and a one-seat ride.
We happened to walk two miles from our Naples hotel to the train, so maybe we were tired already? But we cheerfully ordered a car service for the return trip from the Ambasciatori to Naples train station.
The ferry is also a three seat ride, sealed in a box with no outside seating, and the experience is often falsely romanticised. It's another form of mass transit, you'll have other shots at a water view, and Sorrento is built on a sheer cliff that isn't that gorgeous from the water.
I realize some people have to travel with a rock bottom budget. Other people may be bothered by the idea that they are displaying their wealth by taking a black car. It might help to ask yourself if you would pay $50 more each to take a transatlantic flight at a more convenient time of day, or on a more familiar airline.
Edit: Your hotel is just under 1km from the station:
https://goo.gl/maps/KQ4QpvYdHTt4qung7
But you have to consider the chance that it is a cobblestone-trip for your rolling luggage. You are also fairly close to the 2 Euro elevator up from the marina where your potential ferry (multiple companies) is likely to dock. Will you have cheap advance-purchase Frecciarossa train tickets to Naples? That's really fast and comfortable.
For the physical transfer in Naples, see this recent thread:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/changing-trains-in-naples
OK, I'm going to throw out another option.....
There is coach (upscale bus) service from Rome to Sorrento. The trip takes about 4 hours, and tickets are inexpensive. Coach buses are usually quite comfortable and safe; we've used coach shuttles from Fiumicino > Rome and Milan > Malpensa. Take a look?
Marozzi:
https://www.marozzivt.it/home
Flixbus:
https://www.flixbus.com/bus-routes/bus-rome-sorrento
If you take a ferry from Naples to Sorrento, there is a public elevator from the marina up to a park at the top of the cliff. Hotel Continental is about 5 minutes walk to the west. The Hotel may also have an elevator from the Marina level but I didn’t personally check it out. You should contact the Hotel for clarification.
Depending on when you travel there are numerous ferries, some direct Naples to Sorrento and others Naples-Capri-Sorrento. The direct ferry is quicker than the train and seemed less crowded than the train which caters to those going to Pompeii or Heraculaneum including reported pick pockets. We used the train to go to Ercolano for Herculaneum & Vesuvius and back to Naples with no problems.
We took a morning ferry from Naples to Capri for 2 nights, ferry to Sorrento for 4 nights then ferry to Amalfi for 4 nights.
Another vote for the ferry here. I like arriving by water and it was easy and cheap. I have also taken the Circumvesuviana and encountered no problems. With the money you save by using public transport you could have a very nice dinner somewhere. At least that's how I look at it.
I took the ferry because it was closer to our hotel in Naples than the train station. It was easy and cheap but
The bus sounds like the simplest solution from Rome to me.
....the train which caters to those going to Pompeii or Heraculaneum
including reported pick pockets
Here's the deal on pickpockets...
Can some of them be riding the Circ.? Yes.
Can they be found on some regionale trains as well? Yes.
City buses, trams and metro? Yes.
Be hanging out at train stations, piazzas and other places lots of tourists frequent? Yes.
But they will be looking for the people who are careless with their valuables; the ones with easily accessed backpacks, unsecured purses, wallets in back, front or other pockets all too easily "picked" by talented fingers. The ones who hang their bags off the backs of outdoor cafe chairs and lay their phones on the tables. The ones who give away the bodily location of their valuables by hauling them out willynilly where just anyone can see.
Take any of a host of precautions discussed at length on these forums and you can pretty much relax, OK?
So much kind advice--thank you!
The limited # of trains and being able to time it is a definite concern.
The bus seems like a viable option except:
1. Marozzi website is only in Italian so a little difficult for me. Also I read somewhere that it only operates through September. I did not mention the detail that we will be going to Sorrento in mid-October.
2. I only see one time leaving Rome on Flixbus on October 12. Leaves Rome @ 8:00 and it may take us some time to get to the station from our hotel (Hotel Splendide Royale).
So--still weighing options and rereading through all of your comments about Circumvesuviana vs ferry vs. private transfer.
I did email Hotel Continental to ask about accessibility to bus, train, and ferry locations and am waiting for their reply.
Hotel Continental responded very quickly with helpful info including this about arriving in Sorrento via ferry.
From Sorrento’s harbor to our hotel
Facing the mountain follow the narrow street on your right that goes from the parking space along the beaches: once you reach Leonelli’s beach there is a small lift in the beach club that will bring you directly in our lobby area (the beach club is open from 08:30am to 07:00pm), if you arriving outside these times, before you reach Leonelli’s beach there is a public lift that will bring you up and the you just need to walk out of the public gardens and turn right (we are 200mt after them).
In that case I’d opt for ferry from Naples, otherwise you’ll need a cab from Sorrento station
You will need cab to ferry
So either way it’s a “3 seat” trip although Circumvesuviana is cheap the cab from Sorrento station won’t necessarily be.
Nominally, most tourist trips in Naples taxis fall under the Fixed Price tariff sheet. This being southern Italy, it hasn't been updated lately, and is often hosted on non-government websites. Here's one of them:
https://www.napoliunplugged.com/naples-taxi-services
I see the fare from the Station to Molo Beverelo (Porto) is 13 Euros. And the sheet says that luggage is included in a fixed fare trip. "The pre fixed fare includes all extras ... ". However, not a total surprise, our airport driver tried to collect bag charges, and I had to wave a printout of the fixed-price sheet at him. I don't think you have given your month of travel-some things can be very crowded from May to September. Ferries are more likely to be cancelled for rough water in shoulder season.
It would be quite unfair to suggest that you are overstressing or obsessing about these choices. Like any travel decision, there are plusses and minuses to any selection of options. I personally think the bus is a horrible idea, but that's an opinion. No matter how cheap the bus may be, four hours for a trip that can be completed in about 2.5 hours, it's a bad deal. Whether or not there are toilet stops.
As I think I said before, your personal experience with public transportation has a big weight in how you look at this, and how you experience it when the trip comes. I rode a subway to high school for three years. Everyone where I live now is driven by a parent until they are given a used SUV in their senior year.
I asked for input and have received a diversity of opinions--all helpful. Regarding our comfort level with public transportation, we live in a suburban area and public transportation is not part of our daily routine by any means. Having said that, we have traveled through various European countries via train as well as Singapore, Australia, etc. By the time we reach Naples & Sorrento, we will have spent a month in Switzerland and Italy mostly via train. Yet-- the simplicity of private transfer is starting to look more appealing. I believe we can manage by public transportation but if it becomes too complicated, maybe we just don't want to add stress to our lives.
However--your comments about ferries not running in shoulder season does prompt uncertainty about our plan to spend a night in Capri on our return to Naples. Certainly our options for travel from Sorrento to Capri and then from Capri to Naples are limited. Maybe we need to add another day in Sorrento or another day in Naples. We originally planned a day trip to Capri while in Sorrento but our flight home was changed by the airline so we thought it would be fun to spend a night in Capri. Maybe not such a great idea...
Well, it's very hard to get performance records for Bay of Naples ferries! (ironica typeface) Those to big islands (like Capri) and big towns (like Sorrento) cancel less often than tiny ferries that are needed to get into places like Positano. One of our Capri ferries had box trucks and a dozen cars, in addition to hundreds of passengers. It was so big that it left from a ferry slip 1/4 mile from the one where we arrived in a pedestrian-only ferry. I trust there's a signboard I should have looked, for before walking to the "arrival" slip, which was wrong.
There certainly are in-season and off-season ferry schedules, which are sometimes hard to find, especially six months in advance. And I don't know the names of all the companies serving Naples and Sorrento. But weather cancellation is a separate issue. You have still not given your month of travel.
I hope you will not miss out on Capri. While I don't agree with many (!) that it is the most beautiful place in the world, it is a very attractive visit, and an overnight (find out about luggage transport in pedestrianized areas to your hotel ... ) visit is a big plus. I take it you are flying home FROM Naples airport. A busy day in Capri can involve five miles of walking, leaving you happy but exhausted. I suppose Pompeii and Capri (daytrip) were the highlights of our five nights in Sorrento.
I'm sorry--not trying to be evasive about travel dates. This is our plan for this part of the trip:
October 12--travel Rome to Sorrento
October 12, 13, 14, 15, 16--Stay @ Hotel Continental in Sorrento
October 17--travel to Capri and stay @ AirBnb near Marina Grande (Aquamarine Relaxing Capri Suites)--owners provide transportation from the port
October 18--travel to Naples and stay at Holiday Inn
October 19--fly back to US
“I have been scared off by negative comments about the Circumvesuviana but perhaps that is our best option.”
I saw similar reports on this site. Iv taken it several times and only once was it super crowded. Avoid commute times.
October 12 is definitely the off-season Ferry schedules. I'd suggest that you work hard to get the October, 2022 schedules, because you may not find the October, 2023 as early as you would like to. (I mean, for comfort. I doubt that you absolutely must have them. Naples is a big port. But you want an ... idea.) It's not like you can buy the ferry tickets on the internet, like you can the Borghese Gallery tickets.
I don't remember when the Frecciarossa rail tickets go on sale, but I think you want to get them 1-2 months out for the lowest prices, non-changeable, non-refundable. (Presumably you're not flying from anywhere on your Rome departure day, or otherwise uncertain of meeting a fixed train departure.)
On the plus side, things will be a little less crowded in October. (We were there in May, and there were always more people waiting for the Sorrento SITA bus to Positano than would fit on the next, half-hourly bus. That's why we paid something like $265 for an 8 hour car and driver, a/c Mercedes sedan, to see the AC in one day.) I think the reason our Capri return ferry was so big a vessel is that it was the second-to-last (read that again ... ) boat on a summer day. We were strongly urged by the agent (commissioned ???) at the Sorrento port to buy both legs upon departure. Since that huge boat was standing-room-only, it was good advice.
I should add that our Ferry agent did not tell us that we could leave 25 minutes sooner for Capri by going around the corner for another ferry company!
You might find a few off-season reports here with the search box top center, but most people on this particular newsboard go in season. Sun seeking Brits come to Sorrento all year long, AFAIK. Note that the probability of precipitation seems to be 31% for all of October:
https://weatherspark.com/m/76507/10/Average-Weather-in-October-in-Sorrento-Italy
Of course there are other climate record sites. I chose this randomly.
We did the Campania Express, which looks like it will still be running till the end of October.
We planned for 4 hours in Naples to get Pizza, and stored our luggage at the train station so the schedule worked out really well for us with plenty of time.
We chose the Campania Express due to fear of pick pockets, we traveled in June so air conditioning was important and comfort as with the regional train you are not guaranteed a seat and standing on a more rickety train with luggage for a longer period of time was a no-go for us (we do carry on only but still).
I will say in all our travels around Italy, the only time I felt like I had to look over my shoulder and clutch my purse extra tight was at the Naples train station. My Spidey sense was on full alert and I did not have the overwhelming sense of danger in any other train station, and we are super vigilant during all our travels, our legs hang over our luggage if sitting and waiting, we never let go of our luggage, we stand back to back if taking cash out of an ATM, we never take our phones or expensive camera equipment out on public transport no matter the country etc.
I am now getting nervous about the ferry for our return:
October 17--ferry to Capri, spend the night
October 18--ferry to Naples, spend the night
October 19--fly to U.S.
Instead of going from Rome to Sorrento for 6 nights, maybe this would be a better plan?
October 12--train from Rome to Naples, ferry to Capri, spend the night
October 13, 14, 15, 16, 17--stay in Sorrento
October 18--train to Naples, spend the night
October 19--fly to U.S.
Thoughts?
I personally think the bus is a horrible idea, but that's an opinion
Wow, I'd never pass along something I thought was "horrible". There can be reasons what doesn't work for you or me might work best for another; maybe someone who might be using this thread for their own trip, and have a bit more time than budget.
Mary, I meant well. :O(
@ Kathy--Of course you meant well. I appreciate all the feedback. I'm not sure the bus will work for us b/c of the month we are traveling and the limited schedule on the day we will travel. I am happy to explore all the options because many of them are ideas that never occurred to me. I am grateful for everyone that makes the time to address my questions. We all need to figure out will work best for our individual needs. Please continue to share your thoughts!
Kathy, my sentence had both the words "I personally" and "opinion". Those words are commonly used to soften statements ... for the sensitive. You are not correct in suggesting that I am cruel and insensitive, in the warm world where everyone agrees. This is an internet newsboard , where people give their opinions for the benefit of others.
I stand by my opinion.
Again--thank you to everyone who weighed in with ideas to answer my questions. I learn so much from every comment and honestly don't feel any hostility from any of them. This is one of the most helpful resources I know of--far more willing to help than most of the social media groups I see.
Some of the insights have come more or less as a unintentional side note: e.g. realizing that spending the night on Capri in mid October so close to our flight home may not be very smart. Taking a chance on missing a flight home because sea conditions cancel ferry service sounds like a very bad idea. I'm re-evaluating and still thinking about options from all your suggestions in regard to Naples to Sorrento.
You guys are great!!
Mary, a wise decision not to stay on Capri the night before a flight. While rare, there IS that possibility of a rough-sea day cancelling ferry service. IMHO, staying at least one night on the island is better than doing it as a day trip simply so one can experience it during the hours when the day trippers are not around.
However it shakes out, you're going to have a wonderful time! :O)
We were not actually planning to stay on Capri the night before our flight home. No matter what--we will stay in Naples the night before our flight home on October 19 but the reality is that with a 9:55 AM flight, we need to come back to Naples sometime on October 18.
As much as I really want to stay 1 or 2 nights on Capri, it may not be feasible at that time of the year. I have looked at going directly to Capri after our train trip from Rome to Naples but it really messes up our hotel stay in Sorrento. Plus there is added uncertainty of paying for lodging on Capri which we might not be able to use if the ferry cancels and then having to find last minute accommodations in either Naples or Sorrento.
Sadly, I thought I had things well organized for this 5 week trip and did not expect to be stressing out 2 weeks prior to departure. I have read that October is a great month for travel to Italy but failed to take into account that ferries can be unpredictable by then. Ugh
P.S. I also have some concern that skipping the night in Capri means spending 6 nights in Sorrento. I wanted it to be a relaxing endpoint in a beautiful spot. I doubt that we will go to Pompeii because my husband although mobile has some orthopedic issues (chronic foot and back pain) which would make the walking involved challenging for him. We have been to the Amalfi Coast on a day long cruise excursion. I thought we would spend a day or 2 on the water with boat trips but if that doesn't work out, we may be bored.
I've looked at an extra night in Naples (2 nights) before flying home but am having a hard time convincing myself that we would like it. We are not museum type people and have been to more than enough churches & castles in other parts of Europe so those are not appealing to us. I found a nice AirBnB near the port but not sure if there is enough in Naples for us to do and/or whether we would enjoy it based on its reputation for not being particularly clean or safe.
Hey Mary, every poster is different. I lean towards "teaching a woman to fish" rather than "giving her a fish". So I never meant to tell you what to do. I imagined that you would download some Naples and Sorrento ferry schedules to get an idea of what the schedule might be like when you are using them.
I also never meant to imply that they cancel an entire day of ferry runs just because of rain. That's one reason the ferries have sealed, dark-tinted windows. It's more a matter of wave action, at the time of the ferry departure. I did imply that I would never plan to use the last ferry of the day, which is related to sunset.
I have not attempted to download a ferry schedule, but I don't see a lot of risk to planning on a 1PM ish ferry the day from Capri to Naples, preceding a night in Naples. Yes, there's some risk of getting wet while seeing Capri. But lots of tourists want to do their thing, rain or shine. You cannot make your Capri decision without knowing how many ferries a day there are likely to be, by multiple companies.
You could also say there's an emergency fallback of the shorter ferry ride back to Sorrento, and a pricey black car to Naples. (Just an idea, I haven't done this. But Capri is not the far side of the moon. Ischia, maybe.)
I'd comment that even before your most recent comments about "relaxing endpoint", I tried to convey the idea that Capri is beautiful, but that a comprehensive day is an exhausting amount of walking. Now that you have revealed that your DH has walking issues, everything is different. It's hard to see Naples, and impossible to "see" Capri without walking. Sitting by a nice pool in Capri is not much different that sitting by a nice pool at the Ambasciatori, or taking the elevator down to the private boardwalk Gulf swimming platform it has. This new fact changes everything, including a measure of the (Naples station) walk from the Frecciarossa to the Circumvesuviana, and from the train station to the hotel in Sorrento. Why pay 15 Euros for a Sorrento cab and decline to pay 115 Euros for a black car from Naples that day?
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/changing-trains-in-naples
I do not agree that Naples is dangerous for daytime sightseeing by conventional tourists. It's true that northern Italy has starved the south for generations of infrastructure and business development. But Naples is no scarier than, say, Athens, where they also park on the sidewalk and drive in a scary way.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/surviving-naples
After you evaluate (Google maps) the local walk from the Circumvesuviana, you might consider a past comment I have made on this board, that Oplontis might make a decent substitute for Pompeii for someone with limited mobility. Of course, I don't mean an academic substitute, I mean a swell ancient place experience for an hour or two.
Have you done some searches with the blue box top center yet, for additional thoughts?
Edit: I agree that the hard, rutted, un-even stone streets of Pompeii are a challenge, even for someone simply with weak ankles who can twist their ankle on good cobblestones. I don't think Herculaneum is a good substitute for Pompeii because it's a steep 15-minute walk from the Circumvesuviana station. Consider also Ostia Antica, easy daytrip from Rome.
If museums are not your thing, consider Caserta Palace, train from Naples. I have not seen them, but I would have liked to see The Cave of the Cumaean Sybill and "Virgil's" Tomb. Are you interested in the Naples path of "That Hamilton Woman"? Don't forget Naples pizza and baba au rhum. In fairness, there are plenty of Naples-certified ovens in the US now. But the flour is not the same, like in French Baguettes.
@ Tim--You have been amazingly helpful to me and I am beyond grateful that you take the time to respond. Of course, you have opinions but they are based on your personal experience and more knowledge than I will ever have. When I ask for help, I am actually asking for people's opinions because there aren't many hard and fast "rules" that apply equally to every person and every situation. To clarify, I never expected you to check ferry schedules on my behalf. I did look briefly mainly to confirm that ferries would be running in October but did not look at details because the thought of missing a United Polaris business class flight back to the U.S. was scary. I actually did naively think ferries might be cancelled for an entire day. I will go back and look more carefully at the number of departures on that day. Also--I never gave it a thought that returning to Sorrento and traveling back to Naples by land might be a back up option.
I think I either exaggerated or you misinterpreted my comment about my husband's walking. Does he have foot and back (primarily that) pain--yes but it doesn't really slow him down. My point was really that due to what I've read about Pompeii, it might not be particularly enjoyable for him. Some people can't imagine going to southern Italy without visiting Pompeii but for us, it would be interesting but not a must-do. I read the post about the train station in Naples and have no concerns about our being able to navigate that. Again--this is not a disability or even what I would define as limited mobility but more about making choices that are enjoyable. My apologies if what I said was misleading.
Re: safety in Naples. I don't doubt that it can be quite safe if you pay attention (like pretty much everywhere else we will be going). I have read several articles about things to do in Naples in 1 or 2 days and not a lot jumps out as me as the emphasis seems to be on museums, churches, castles--just not what this trip is about for us.
I have never heard of Opiontis but I will definitely check it out. Thanks for mentioning it!
I actually have done the searches you mentioned and read those posts.
I am still sorting things out but hope to figure it out quite soon so that I have a plan and can concentrate on packing!
