We are staying in Sorrento and have three full days to explore the area. Besides enjoying Sorrento, we planned to visit Pompei, Capri, a bus trip down the Amalfi Coast and finally visit the Greek ruins of Paestum. Initially we planed to combine visiting Pompei and Capri in the same day, but realize this is a bad idea. Therefore, we can only see three of the four desired locations and would appreciate any advise on which of the four to delete from this trip
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16209 posts
I would choose between Pompeii and Paestum, both are ruins. If you don’t have a car, I’d probably ditch Paestum.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12049 posts
Its going to be hard to have a better suggestion than what Roberto proposed. At least it eludes me.
Posted by
Jasper, GA, USA
117 posts
You are looking at really different things. I agree that the things that have the most in common are Pompeii and Paestum in that they are both archaeological sites, but if you are interested in archaeology at all, they are both worth seeing as they are pretty different from each other. It's been a while since I looked, but I seem to remember tours being offered that combined both the Amalfi Coast drive and Paestum into one long day?? There are also tours that combine Paestum with a visit to a mozzarella factory which sounds cheesy (pun intended) and perhaps some of them are, but we did a stop at one on our own with a car and loved it. If it were me, I would cut the Amalfi Coast drive or, if it's the off-season, Capri--but I am a classicist so I am highly, highly biased and that's probably a minority opinion.
Also--what time of year are you looking at? If it's not during summer, be aware that winds can cancel the boats out and that can force your choice!
Honestly, though, you are looking at four great choices--any three of them will be a great choice!
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
8042 posts
Some crucial items missing from the OP are the month of the year, and your travel style: Do you mean independent daytrips or guided packages? I think by three full days you mean three nights in Sorrento as well, rather than, say, having to be at the Rome airport by 2PM on the last day? You also have to confront the decision as to whether to spend hours on the Blue Grotto, or concentrate on walking around Capri.
Since we had a similar list for five nights in Sorrento, I can easily say that you should forget about Paestum. Although apparently a great, UNESCO WHS location, it is just too far from Sorrento. In other words, this decision is not driven by the merit of the site, it's driven by practicality. Out of season, maybe you could combine it with the Amalfi Coast, preferably with a 12-hour car and driver, if you could afford that. But you'd have limited time at each stop. We crossed off Paestum and the Blue Grotto.
In season, May-September, the busses (... and the ferries) from Sorrento are heavily crowded, and will require waiting for more than one bus to board. Can you afford to hire a car and driver recommended by your hotel? That's what we did, for about 240 Euros for 8 hours. Don't overlook that Pompeii is such an easy trip from Sorrento that you'll have plenty of time to walk Sorrento in the evening and have a leisurely dinner back there. IMHO, there's not that much that "must be seen" in Sorrento, besides the cliff views.
Posted by
Washington DC
28450 posts
I cannot imagine staying in Sorrento and skipping the Amalfi Coast.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Take a look at Mondo Tours.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15798 posts
I've been to Sorrento and to Salerno on separate trips, explored the Amalfi Coast, Paestum, Pompeii and Herculaneum but haven't been to Capri.
I would never compare Pompeii and Paestum. Pompeii was a Roman city. Paestum has Greek temples. . . . apples and oranges, though some of the artifacts in Paestum's archaeology museum are probably similar to some of the artifacts in Pompeii. The scenery along the Amalfi Coast from Positano to Salerno is beautiful. Since I haven't been to Capri I can't compare it to the scenery there.
You could take the bus from Sorrento to Amalfi, then the bus from Amalfi to Salerno, then the bus or train to Paestum and back to Salerno. Then from Salerno, take the ferry along the coast. I think you could take a ferry all the way back to Sorrento, but you may have to change in Amalfi or Positano. If you don't stop to explore any of the coastal towns, this might just be doable in a long day. The views are different by bus and by ferry, the main reason to take both. The overland ride between Positano and Sorrento is not very scenic though.
Posted by
24 posts
We took a bus south, the a boat back to Sorrento. See the coast from the road and from water level.