Hi,
On our last day in Sorrento, we plan to visit Positano via car service (taxi) in the morning - lunch, and take a taxi (maybe bus) back to hotel. We then want to go to see Pompeii and then take a 5:00 - 6:00 pm train in Naples to Rome. What would be the best transportation for 4 adults with luggage to Pompeii and then to Naples Train Station. Can you easily contact a car service or taxi from these locations. Advice greatly appreciated.
Ummm I don’t think this is possible.
It takes roughly an hour each way from Sorrento to Positano. Plus then I presume you’d wNt to spend a bit of time exploring or walking around the town before you head off?
Have you considered catching boat or ferry between Sorrento and Positano, by the way? It a lot more scenic and means you don’t have to climb all the stairs up and down through Positano, which are very steep,
After returning to Sorrento, it’s a further hour (roughly) to Pompeii and again, you do want a bit of time to explore, you don’t want to just see the front gate then leave.
There IS luggage storage at Pompeii but even so...,, and you can probably allow at least a further hour to get from Pompeii to Naples,
I do wonder whether you’d be better choosing just one or the other?
On our last day in Sorrento, we plan to visit Positano .....
How many days are you spending in Sorrento, how are you getting there, and from where? Depending on your itinerary, it may be easier to do Pompeii on the way TO Sorrento versus the other way around.
i don't think your time line works very well. It is simply too much travel for a limited time period. It is slow drive to Positano from Sorrento. -- maybe an hour or more with tourist traffic. So even with an early lunch you would hard pressed to be back in Sorrento before one or so. Train to Pompeii - another hour including getting luggage from hotel to the train station, etc. Even with a driver to Pompeii it would take time. Pompeii is not a quick hit. You can stick you head in, make a quick walking loop in an hour or so and go. You can say you were there but what did you see? Still an hour by train from Pompeii to Naples.
Personally I would go to Positano, have lunch, and take the train from there to Rome. Save Pompeii for another time when you can spent the time to see it well. You would a nice, leisurely mid-day visit, lunch include in Positano and then to Rome.
And you might find these comments useful ------
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/transportation-from-naples-to-positano
Advice greatly appreciated.
Pick ONE.
Frank, wha? ... ? ? There is no train in Positano. That's the whole reason this plan is un-doable.
hgerhard02, it would be helpful to have the month of the year, but you still won't get a Yes from us. I'm not in favor of the plan, but you could book a car and driver for 8 hours for about 250 Euros (ballpark estimate.) That's the best way to accomplish your exact plan, even though it will short-change both Positano and Pompeii. On the plus side, when you exhaust the same-old-international-retail-boutiques in Positano, you can find your driver playing cards with the other drivers, and get to Pompeii sooner than you expected to.
Edit: I can understand not wanting to take four people and their bags on the Circumvesuviana. We paid our hotel car service 90 euros to take us from Sorrento to the Naples rail station. But a major reason for sleeping in Sorrento is to have the best possible daytrip transit access. It's entirely practical to be at Pompeii one day when the turnstiles open, and do something else in the afternoon. And you avoid the worst of the sun and heat in Pompeii that way. I'm not telling you what to do, only suggesting that you seek some alternate solutions to your problem. The Circumvesuviana stops directly across the street from Pompeii's Porta Marina entrance (which has bag checking, BTW.)
I should also say that we paid for an 8 hour car and drive to see Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, and a bit more of the AC on a single day out of Sorrento, pickup/return from our hotel lobby. I'm not saying you must spend that much time to appreciate the AC, not at all. I'm trying to illustrate other ideas.
Opps -- Tim - that is correct -- No train. It was early. I was think of Paestum and Salerno at the other end of the coast. Either way it doesn't make a lot sense because of the time travels. Might consider going on to Salerno and the train from there. That probably would be quicker.
