Staing in Sorrento 4 nights. I have heard the city buses are easy to use but can't find info about tickets or passes. Can we just tap our credit card like in Rome? If not, where do we purchase tickets or a tourist pass? Thanks.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1026 posts
Hello suzeegee, and welcome to the forum!
Unless things have changed a lot recently there are not an automated bus systems in Sorrento and you have to buy a ticket before you get on board. You also need to validate that ticket by punching it in the little machine so it gets a time and date stamped on it. I believe they are still 1.20e a ride.
The traditional place to buy buy bus tickets are the blue "T" signed tabac shops that are scattered around every city in Italy. This is become less true in places where you can buy the tickets onboard the buses but in most places this the dependable place to get tickets. Assuming you come into town on the Circumvesuviana you can purchase tickets there since it also the Sorrento bus stop downstairs. If you think you will be taking the bus just buy a bunch when you get into town since they are cheap enough.
Note this is for local buses in and around Sorrento and not the Amalfi coast buses which is a different discussion.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you. This is very helpful.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7750 posts
This is ten years old, but in Sorrento the Circumvesuviana station is mostly unstaffed, and you buy your tickets at the newsstand on street level. This is also the practice at the busy Ponte Mammolo bus station in Rome. So it's not just a Campania thing. The Herculaneum Circumvesuviana station has the air of a ghost town. So don't forget to validate your ticket before boarding.
From May to September, there may be more people on line in Sorrento for the Positano-Amalfi route than will fit on the next bus.
Posted by
Kamloops, BC, Canada
456 posts
We were in Sorrento in late October last year. If you are planning to take the bus from Sorrento to Amalfi, be at the bus stop before 8 am if you are planning to do a morning trip. Lineups were very long. We opted to take a ferry from Sorrento to Amalfi....more expensive but the views are priceless! You get a view of Positano en route.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for all of the advice.
So, you buy the ticket and then must validate it before getting on the bus or after getting on the bus? If before, what about when we board the bus at the stop near our hotel?
We have a pickup for our Amalfi Coast boat tour. Really just wondering about getting around Sorrento. Our hotel is a 15 min walk from the town center but late evening we may not want to walk.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7750 posts
There is no crime problem in Sorrento. Street crime is much lower in Europe than in the US.
We walked back to the Ambasciatori (1.2 km) every night. Are you staying in the level, busy part of town, or in a bus-tour hotel up on the hillside, to save money? Some of those run their own shuttles.
You need a bus, or the pay-elevator to get to the marinas, but not to eat or go shopping. A few streets become pedestrianized in the evening. Most bus use is to get to other towns that the Circumvesuviana train does not reach. As noted, the line for the bus to Positano is always more than will fit on the next, half-hourly, bus.