Hey friends,
On 1-October, I'll be taking the high-speed train from Rome to Naples, then heading on to Sorrento (Grand Hotel Riviera). I was hoping to book a transfer service that might include quick stops at:
- Pompeii
- Herculaneum
- Mt Vesuvius
on the way to the hotel in Sorrento.
I'd love to hear if any of you have done similar, have suggestions and/or like a specific service? Thank you in advance!
Jim
Just go directly to your hotel. What you are suggesting doesn't make any sense. They are not in a straight line so you would be driving all over the place with a lot of extra time in the car. Second, nearly impossible to do a quick stop at Pompeii or Herculaneum. Unless you are more interested in waving as you drive by - Yep !! saw that. And for Mt Vesuvius you can drive by the base of it. Most try to hiking to the rim and so they can look down inside. Those sites are good day trips from Sorrento.
Jim, I'm in Frank's camp: to try and do all of that on the way to Sorrento is much too much. You might be able to do Pompei or Herculaneum but neither are or should be "quick stops". Pompei is a VAST excavation, much bigger than most visitors expect, and can be an all-day excursion...or was for us (from Sorrento) anyway. You can also see Mt. Vesuvius very clearly from there, and it seemed to be more poignant when viewed looming over the city it destroyed than from the top.
A "quick stop" at Pompeii is 2hrs
Vesuvius you just look at from wherever you happen to be.
I have not been to Herculaneum, but as already noted its not a 'quick stop' either.
Frank was very kind and gentle when he said what you propose "does not make sense". Meaning no malice, but your plan is closer to loony tunes crazy than anything else.
What you propose is like going from Orlando to Tampa and stopping at Disney and Universal Studios, just long enough to do one ride at each.
Please reconsider your plan so you can enjoy your visit to either one or both.
There are many drivers listed on TripAdvisor to take you from Naples to Sorrento if you don’t want to take the commuter train.
We used Marcelo Maresca from SeeSorrento.com to take us from Sorrento to Naples airport.
As noted, these sights are easy to make daytrips to from Sorrento; That's one of the main reasons for staying in Sorrento. Each of them is at least 2.5 hours, and they can all be hot on a sunny day. They are all very physical, especially Vesuvius (which I think is a waste of time, but I didn't go there. You can see the volcano from everywhere it ... ravaged.) You should do general research on the individual sites before going to them. Note that drivers are not usually "guides" as well.
If you don't want to take the Circumvesuviana train for a few Euros, know that this transfer is about 95 Euros by car, and and 8 hour car and driver service might (?) be 250 Euros. I would call your hotel and use the company they recommend. That's what we did with the Ambasciatori nearby. They have a big incentive to give you a good referral! And you might be able to put it on your hotel bill.
Thank you, everyone. That's why I asked. Didn't know how much/how little I could squeeze in...haha. I tend to be an ambitious traveler, trying to squeeze everything I can out of a day/trip. I'm definitely going to hit at least one stop on the way to the hotel. I did reach out to Maresca. So, thank you for that suggestion. And, I'll take a peek over at TripAdvisor. We're going to be bouncing all over the place:
So, the whole trip will be trains and waves, haha
It would make far more sense to go Florence to Sorrento to Rome than to put Rome ahead of Sorrento. You are waste precious travel time unless you like spending extra time on trains. What you are proposing is not very efficient. You should look at a map and put some pins in it to see your proposed schedule.
In March 2017, we did the opposite for what you propose (except for a stop at Mt. Vesuvius). We hired Sorrento Silver Star to take us from our hotel in Sorrento to Pompeii, where they had arranged a 2-hour private tour with a guide. After a quick lunch, we then went on to Herculaneum, where we explored on our own for about 90 minutes. We were then dropped off at Napoli Centrale (main train station) to catch our train to Florence. I would definitely recommend Sorrento Silver Star if you are wanting to book a private driver.
Flying in to Venice for two days
Dropping down to Florence for two days
Stopping in Rome for three days
Finishing up in Sorrento for three days
Flying home from Rome
I second Frank's recommendation to do Rome last. Florence-Sorrento-Rome is more efficient routing
I second Frank's recommendation to do Rome last.
Florence-Sorrento-Rome is more efficient routing
And a third vote from me. You'll want to be IN or much nearer Rome the night before your flight home so this is an oft-recommended order for that scenario.
We're heading up to Rome the night before and staying close to Termini for a last night of dinner/drinks close to the trains to the airport....haha
