We come from Pompeii to Sorrento and stay overnight, the next morning we want to take a bus along the Amalfi coast, then go to Orivieto by train for the night. Question: should we take the Amalfi coast bus down & back, then depart Sorrento by train (if so where should we turn around?) or should we go by bus to Salerno, then hop a train north?
Posted by
In the Mountains, USA
689 posts
I think it makes more sense to go on to Salerno and then take a train to Rome and on to Orvieto. Be prepared for a very long day!!!
Posted by
Bromley, Kent,, UK
1829 posts
IMO it would be a good idea to catch your train North from Salerno rather than backtrack. You will have to change buses at Amalfi to travel on to Salerno. Here are the timetables, save the link and it should update itself for the new timetables due from 14 June.
http://www.sitabus.it/sitabus/campania/orarioCAMPANIA/QUADROXV.pdf
Allow a bit extra time for the bus journey as the coast road can get congested at peak times/months. Also, if you intend to travel on the earlier buses to Amalfi get to the stop at Sorrento railway service in good time. Those buses fill up and leave standing room only.
PS there are frequent trains (journey time varies from just over half an hour to over 1 hour) from Salerno to Naples where you could catch one of the direct services to Orvieto. Otherwise train to Rome and change for Orvieto. Either way faster than backtracking to Sorrento and then on to Naples etc etc.
Posted by
Coraopolis, Pa, USA
1018 posts
IMHO, you are in for a LONG day. To go from Sorrento to Roma you are looking at 1/2 day travel time and then you must transfer to a train in Roma for the 90 minute ride to Orvieto. I, personally, would not do this excursion.
Buon viaggio,
RB
Posted by
OP
Kurikka, Finland
92 posts
OK, I'm getting a lot of "long day" warnings. I will try to book a 2nd night in Sorrento and do the coast as a day trip. If we want to be ambitious I can ask if the teenagers want to go all the way to Paestum on a day trip. Thanks to all for your help & advice.
All in my group want to see Pompeii, so Sorrento is close. From Sorrento I don't think we should miss the coast because we're so far south we might never get back. We also tend to like natural scenery more than city sites.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
Going from Sorrento to Orvieto via the Amalfi Coast bus is actually doable, provided you don't plan to make stops along the way. You could complete the journey in about 8 hours by taking buses to Salerno and then trains to Orvieto, maybe a bit longer depending on connections. That said, I think you'd enjoy the Amalfi Coast more if you stopped and explored Positano, Amalfi and Ravello along the way. No need to go all the way to Salerno on a day trip. Day tripping also means you won't have luggage to drag along. As for Paestum, I did it as a day trip from Sorrento. I took a bus to Amalfi and explored it, then buses to Salerno and Paestum. After visiting the temples, I took the train to Pompei, walked to Pompeii Scavi (there's also a local bus) and took the Circumvesuviana back to Sorrento. The excursion took about 12 hours. It was a long but enjoyable day. Your teens would probably be ready for a nap instead of dinner when they got back.