sleeping in Naples or Sorrento?

We did have a car, so your situation might be a bit different, although we used the Circumvesuviana train to get to/from Naples. Although we visited Naples for a long day (museum, strolling, & pizza), and lots of people call Naples home and sleep there every night, it was pretty intense and that one day was plenty. Staying in Sorrento (actually Piano di Sorrento, right next door, reachable by walking, train, or bus) was less hectic, and still gave ample opportunity to visit Naples, Capri, Pompeii, and also the fascinating ruins at Herculaneum, buried in the same eruption as Pompeii. If you have the time and inclination, visiting both Pompeii and Herculaneum are very worthwhile.

We'd visited Sicily for a week prior to reaching Sorrento/Naples, and are looking forward to returning some day. If you're not already planning on visiting the following there, hope you can see the following: Town of Erice on the far west coast of Sicily, Greek temple and theater at Segesta, Greek temples at Agrigento, mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale outside of Piazza Armerina, more Greek civilization at Siracusa, chocolate and an inviting town at Modica . . .

Like the other poster, I just visited Naples for a day and stayed in Sorrento. Its a very pleasant place, very walkable, lots of cute shops in the narrow lanes selling all things lemon, and excellent connections to all the area attractions. Be sure to take a bus or ferry along the coast to Positano and Amalfi!

Napoli is intense but I love it. Most people who post here are content staying in Sorrento. The Circumvesuviana is so inexpensive you could do two short daytrips to Napoli (combined with Pompeii an Ercolano), or one long day.

If I was returning to Naples/Sorrento, I would stay in Sorrento. We had used the train from Rome and stopped in Naples to take the smaller train there.

Since we were unable to get reservations at the hotels in which we were interested in Sorrento, we stayed just outside there in Sant'Agnello. It was the last train stop before Sorrento. We really liked our hotel, the Majestic Palace. We had a balcony that could seat four and looked towards gardens and the water. We used the restaurant in the hotel and also easily walked to some other places.

If I remember correctly, we only had three or four days to see things. One of our days was spent going to Pompei which was a must do for our small group of four. We used the train to get there. My husband and I also did a commercial bus tour to the Amalfi coast area. We really enjoyed that even though I might have liked a little more time for shopping. My husband would disagree. On this tour, we went to Ravello for lunch. We were picked up within three blocks from our hotel so I wouldn't consider that we were "in the sticks" in Sant'Agnello.

The reason I would try to stay in Sorrento the next time would be to see the lemon orchards and visit the limoncello stands. I think there would hotels with better views of the sea.

I think it depends on what is available and the price. Regardless...have fun.

Naples and Sorrento - it's hard to imagine two more different places. Naples is not only a big city, but a very intense one. My favorite comment on it was from an old Cadogan Guide - "the only thing subtle about Naples is its charm." It did indeed grow on me, and I would certainly return, but I'll agree it's not for everyone. It's certainly not for anyone who wants to relax. But the food is delicious, and the lack of tourists is a nice change of pace after places like Florence and Venice.

Sorrento is a small town, heavily dominated by tourism (much of it from England). It's user friendly and relaxing, and geographically the most convenient base, since you can see sights in all directions easily (Naples, Pompeii, and Herculaneum to the "north" by train; Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello to the "east" by bus; and Capri and Ischia to the "west" by boat).

If you're not sure, definitely stay in Sorrento and take a day trip to Naples. Then, if you like it, you can stay in Naples on a return trip. There is a bus that goes directly from Naples Airport to Sorrento, so unless you have a very early plane, you do not have to change hotels to catch your flight to Sicily.

At the end of a three week Italy trip we were four nights in Sorrento and a final night in Naples to catch an early morning flight. Sorrento was pretty, easy, designed for tourists, and I'm glad I visited. But Naples! That's where I want to go back and see more. We were there on a Tuesday when not just the archeological, but all the art museums are closed, so I found a wonderful young guide and we walked the side streets and back streets for hours. Beautiful Jesuit church, the streets of the prescepi, the crumbling landmarks, the lovingly maintained altars built into each neighborhood's walls, the street food, the pizza, the restaurants! Naples is gritty and unpolished and wonderful!

My opinion

Sleep in Sorrento-check out Hotel Sorrento City- close to train and bus station and even boat stop. Visit Naples.

Ciao

Mike DC

I would push on to Sorrento and get settled there for 4 nights.
You then have 3 full days at your disposal.
1 Naples - about an hour journey on the Circumvesuviana train
2 am Pompeii
2 pm Positano
3 Capri

Good plan for a day in Naples ...
0900 Duomo (Naples Cathedral)
1000 Head left out of the cathedral on to Via Duomo, then right into Via dei Tribunali for San Lorenzo Maggiore Church
1030 Turn left into Via San Gregorio Armeno – Naples Street of Nativity Workshops
1100 At the end of Via San Gregorio Armeno turn right into Via San Biago dei Librai – Spaccanaploi – The Centre of Naples
1130 On to Piazza San Domenico Maggiore and San Severo Chapel / Coffee stop – pastry from Scaturchio
1200 From Piazza San Domenico Maggiore take Via Benedetto Croce to Santa Chiara Monastery and Church
1330 Lunch – Pizza (has to be Margherita), need we say more
1430 Metro Art Stations - From “Dante” Station take metro 2 stops to “Materdei”, then back, 3 stops to “Toledo” Station
1530 Walk down Via Toledo, passing Galleria Umberto I (shopping arcade), Teatro San Carlo (opera house),
Piazza del Plebiscito (huge square), Palazzo Reale (royal palace), Basilica Reale San Francesco di Paola (church), Castel Nuovo (on the waterfront)