After my stay in Rome I plan to take the train to Sorrento. What is the quickest way to make that trip?
After sightseeing the Sorrento area for four days I need to return to Rome to catch a plane home.
Can someone tell me the best way to make this trip? And should I buy any kind of discount train pass ahead of time or when I am in Rome?
The way to get to Sorrento is to take the train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale. From there you have to take a different local commuter train called the circumvesuviana OR make your way to the marina and take a boat or ferry to Sorrento. Yes you can buy the Rome-Naples segment in advance to get some really cheap fares.
can I get the train pass online or when I get to Rome???
You can buy tickets in advance at trenitalia.com or buy at the train station.
To add to Angela's reply, you don't want a train "pass." You want individual tickets. Rome to Naples will be cheaper if you can buy it in advance on-line, and these will non-refundable and may be non-exchangeable. Or, if you don't mind the full ("base") price, you can buy them when you get to Italy.
Naples to Sorrento is on a separate train line, the Circumvesuviana, so you need a separate ticket. It's cheap and advance purchase is not possible, so just buy it in Naples at the station.
All the details of how to make this trip are in Rick Steves Italy and Rick Steves Rome.
It is not possible to leave Sorrento and make a plane from Rome back to the US that same day. Well, maybe if you leave at 4 or 5 AM, have a relatively late departure, and have hired a car for the whole trip Sorrento-FCO (costing several hundred euros). Otherwise, you will need to leave Sorrento the day before. The train from Sorrento to Naples is 70 minutes; the train from Naples to Rome is 70 minutes; and the train from Rome Termini Station to Rome Fiumicino Airport is about 35 minutes. And, of course, these trains are not synchronized, so you have to allow for time between trains. And, you want be at FCO three hours before a flight nonstop back to the US (and at least two hours before a flight connecting in Europe back to the US).
@bremail, there are trains from Naples Central station to FCO without going into downtown Rome. You could stay overnight before your flight home at an airport hotel or in the community of Fiumicino. Have a great trip.
We will be going from Rome to Sorrento but have been alarmed by all the comments and warnings regarding the pickpockets on the Circumvesuviana train, so we have booked the bus from Rome to Sorrento. It is about a 3 hour trip according to the literature and more relaxed than the train but since we haven't gone yet I really don't know.
I used to take the Circumvesuviana from Naples to Sorrento but it has gotten ridiculously overcrowded and filled with teams of thieves. I recommend the bus.
I didn't find (May, 2014) the Circumvesuviana to be any worse than any other overcrowded urban transportation. Pickpockets are everywhere, including New York City. I did find the Neapolitan accordionists to be too assertive in passing the hat. But the local citizens using the Circucumvesuviana are as helpful as New York subway riders are. And the train is very convenient, if overcrowded. The real problem is the same as in London or New York: large luggage on public transportation.
Thank you all :-)
I agree with Angela and Harold. I have taken the train from Termini to Naples Center then the commuter to Sorrento. Be careful in Naples and on the commuter. Just be aware of your surroundings as if you were in LA or New York. Remember the commuter was designed for commuters not tourists. You should not have any problems taking the train. I have not taken a bus but would be willing to explore that option as well.
Lorie
