We’ll be taking a day trip to Herculaneum from Sorrento at the end of October and are planning to take the Campania Express both ways, catching the return train to Sorrento at 2:41. This will leave us around 3 hours to see the site, which I think is enough, but if it isn’t or we just miss the train because we didn’t leave enough time to get back to the station, the backup is to take the Circumvesuviana to Torre Annunziata and change there for a train to Sorrento. This leaves me with a few questions. First, I read somewhere that the ticket office at Ercolano Scavi is unstaffed. If that’s true, I assume the only way to buy tickets there is by using a ticket machine. Is that true? Second, if I buy a ticket at Ercolano, can I get a through ticket that I can use to get on the train both at Ercolano and Torre, or will I have to buy one ticket at Ercolano and another at Torre? Third, is the transfer at Torre complicated, i.e., will I have to spend time hunting for the platform that the Torre to Sorrento train runs on? I’ve tried to get this information online but haven’t found anything. Anything that anybody knows about this would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7750 posts
Note also that the Scavi is a 15-minute downhill walk from the Circumvesuviana/Campania stop. AFAIK, all conventional Circumvesuviana trains at Herculaneum go to Sorrento.
Edit: In Sorrento, the station has no ticket clerk. You buy your ticket(s) at the newsstand right beside the station. I would presume it's the same at Herculaneum. We bought our Herculaneum and return tickets at the Sorrento newsstand in one transaction.
When we did this, the line used zones, so your payment covered a certain amount of distance, not a certain number of stations, seats, or vehicles.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
6991 posts
Why not just take the Circumvesuviana from Sorrento?
The train originates there so you will get a seat
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
4425 posts
First, a warning, policies, schedules, information in that region change more often than I change my underwear. You'll have to experience it to understand.
I typically bought my return ticket in Sorrento at the same time as I bought my ticket to get to Ercolano or any of the other stops because you can't expect a ticket agent to be at the stops, or a machine to work. However;
In Sorrento, the station has no ticket clerk. You buy your ticket(s)
at the newsstand right beside the station.
This wasn't my experience in Spring 2023. In Sorrento, at the top of the stairs and to the left is a ticket counter that was always open when we were there. There are a few Circumvesuviana trains each day that do stop at Ercolano Scavi station. If none fit into your timetable for the return trip then switching trains at Torre Annunziata is easy. It's not a big station. You'll hop off your train and take the stairway under the tracks to get to your track. I think there are only 4-6 tracks. there will be signage...somewhere...you may have to look.
As for buying tickets at Ercolano, Since I bought my ticket in advance I didn't bother looking for a ticket desk, but all of the stations do have a ticket terminal. You should be able to use the same ticket as you won't be going through gates again. *In our 2 weeks in Sorrento, not once were we on a train where anyone came around asking to see tickets.
**If you have time, I highly recommend you stop at Torre Annuziata anyway and take the 5 minute walk to the Villa of Oplontis. It's spectacular. https://pompeiisites.org/en/oplontis/
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7750 posts
Allan, thank you very much for your update. We stayed five nights in Sorrento, in the last week of May, 2014. I never saw ticket sales inside the Sorrento station, or any other stations except Naples and Pompeii Scavi. Maybe we were just lucky, but we never had to change trains at Torre Annuziata (where we did think Oplontis was a superb visit. And the walk is shorter and more level than Herculaneum, if a smaller ancient site.)
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thanks all for the very helpful information.