My wife and I will be taking the 10:20 Campania Express from Sorrento to Naples at the end of October to catch a 12:40 Trenitalia train to Florence, but I’m having a hard time deciding if I should buy the ticket online now or if I can just wait till we’re in Sorrento and buy it at the station a day or two ahead of time. My concern is if we wait till we get to Sorrento, there may be no tickets left for the 10:20 train, but whether that’s a realistic possibility at the end of October I have no idea. If we can’t get on the Express, we could of course take the much more frequent Circumvesuviana, but that train has no place for luggage and, even more important, is notable for its delays, and we can’t afford to miss the 12:40. Any thoughts on buying the ticket now or in Sorrento would be really helpful. Thank you.
Posted by
CA, USA
1227 posts
it doesn't sound like there's anything to lose by buying it now, one less thing to worry about and one less errand to do while on vacation.
we can’t afford to miss the 12:40
This is the part that concerns me. There are plenty of connections from Naples to Florence, practically hourly. If you've planned some specific activity or (worse) are catching a flight then you're running a sizeable risk. You'll get to Florence that day if there's no strike, that's all I would count on.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
1742 posts
The Circumvesuviana trains run from Sorrento to Naples every 30 minutes starting at 6:09am. In a pinch, you have that as a backup, so I think you may be overthinking how critical it is to take the Campania Express. It might be preferred— but it’s not imperative.
A shuttle from Sorrento to Naples costs about the same as the Campania Express. There also are frequent buses from Sorrento to Napoli Centrale You have many options.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thank you John and Kenko.
Kenko, could you let me know the names of some of those buses that go between Sorrento and Naples? Thanks.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
1742 posts
Flixbus and Ente Autonomo Volturno are two of the bus companies running buses from Sorrento to Naples.
For tickets: www.GetByBus.com
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.
Posted by
Michigan
12 posts
We bought tickets ahead of time for when we went in September last year. However, I wasn't impressed by it. I was expecting a nice, quick, clean train that was better than the Circumvesuviana one we took to Pompeii a few days before. The Campania Express was incredibly crowded and did not run on time. We had to stop for at least 20 minutes to wait for the Circumvesuviana trains to pass because we were running late and didn't get priority. The area for the luggage was basically cramming a bunch of suitcases together on the floor at one end of the car that was designated for luggage. We did have a seat on the train, but there were many who didn't. It wasn't a huge cost in the grand scheme of things, but it definitely was not what I was expecting.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
1742 posts
Erin, Thank you for your post. It’s confirmation of the adage: Just because something costs more, doesn’t make it better!
Cheers!
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thanks for the info about the Campania Express, Erin. It's similar to what I've read elsewhere and makes me think it might be easier to just pay the €100 or so extra for a driver to Naples and not have to deal with the hassles.
Posted by
San Diego, California
5407 posts
Agnetina, great conclusion. We used Aldo Limos, very professional and prompt. Of course, you will have traffic congestion, but you can just sit back and relax. Safe travels!