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Sorrento to Paestum Drive

Has anyone driven from Sorrento to Paestum on the cross country route, not the coastal route? Is it easy to navigate (we will have a GPS), is traffic a problem and is it a scenic drive?

Posted by
15560 posts

I drove it, more or less, in February last year. I stayed in Salerno and once drove that route from Positano via Sorrento to Salerno and on another day drove from Salerno to Paestum. I didn't go into Sorrento's center. The signs were pretty good but I also used GPS. I recall being in rush hour traffic to Pompeii, but that was evening. From Sorrento, the road is a limited access highway with a lot of tunnel driving to Pompeii. I don't remember it being scenic, though maybe some mountain views. The coastal road from Salerno to Paestum is mostly 2-lanes, and was pleasant, sometimes tree-lined, a some views of the sea, but it's flat, so easy to drive but not very scenic. I stopped on the way to Paestum at Vannulo Buffalo Farm - the best cannolo ever - simple buffalo ricotta filling to die for. The gelato was also excellent. I believe the inland highway is a little faster, and certainly easier if you want to stop at Vannulo, and maybe the hill views are more scenic than the coastal route. I went to Paestum on Sunday so there was no traffic going, but quite a bit after sunset heading back north - I guess locals going back to Salerno or Pompeii after a day out in the country.

Posted by
32519 posts

I think that Chani may have been hinting, as do I, that it may matter for the traffic portion of your question when you intend to take the trip.

All around the Bay of Naples and both sides of the area from Sorrento to Salerno is either busy or very busy most of the time.

My most recent trip by car there was a few years ago in April. The area around Pompei was very busy and the bit from Castellammare di Stabia to Sorrento on the north coast of the peninsula was either a little busy or very busy. That stretch of road is quite scenic, or you can go up in the hills (though the direct route to Sorrento is by no means flat or straight) but the problem is that between the traffic, the high fences, and the steep and winding road only the passenger gets the best view.

The views from the road along the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento to Salerno are gorgeous but again and even to a greater degree they are for the passenger not the driver. I only ever have seen it either very slow and very busy or slow and busy and I've driven it various times of the day and various days of the week.

The highway from Pompei to Salerno is fast, with tunnels, not straight, especially when coming out of the tunnel just north of Salerno, but straightforward. Absolutely not scenic.

The roads from Salerno to Paestum - there are two and I've driven them both - are not especially fast, not particularly (or really even a little) scenic IMHO. The one along the coast is two lane, by small industry and farms, with small towns and lots of heavy trucks.

Inland the road is a little faster and a little straighter and a means of getting from A to B. A fair number of trucks there too.

I imagine that the traffic on all these roads will vary depending on time of year.

Loved Paestum.

Posted by
180 posts

Did it two years ago. Easy but the 5 miles in and out of the peninsula to Sorrento can be slow with traffic.

Try to stop by the Tenuta Vannul farm if you have time. Its on the way.

Posted by
104 posts

I’ve driven the coastal road and it was quite pleasant. Paestum is a remarkable place. A visit in January meant my daughter and I had the entire site to ourselves.

Posted by
227 posts

We plan to make this drive in mid October 2019. I hope traffic and shoulder season has diminished. Thanks for all your tips.

Posted by
4105 posts

Mid October in the last 3 years has been very busy on the Amalfi Coast road. If yo want to avoid some traffic on your way to Paestum, check with your lodging about taking the road up to Angri to bypass some of the Pompei traffic. It won't save any time, but the drive up in the hills of Monte Lattari is much prettier.
Both routes will connect you to the E45/A3.