Hi everyone! My daughters and I are planning to travel in July to Munich for 4 days, then Venice for 2 days. Then we are taking a nite train to Sorrento for 3 days. After that we want to go for 3 more days to Nice and home from there. We are buying rail passes but we wondered if anyone could tell us if there indeed is a train that goes from Sorrento, Italy to Nice, France and, how long it takes? Or, is it worth it to take one of the cheap flights from Sorrento to Nice? Would appreciate help as we are trying to plan everything now with hotels and dates!
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
Sorrento lacks airports and night trains. The closest airport is in Naples. The train from Venice will go through Rome and deposit you in Naples, where you'll need to transfer to the same commuter train to get to Sorrento.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
First and always, do don't need a railpass for Italy. P2P tickets are much less expensive. Second, your railpass will not work on the Circumvesuviana railway which is the only train system between Naples and Sorrento. Third, the closest airport to Sorrento is Naples. It will take you about 90 minutes to get to Naples airport from Sorrento by train. Fourth, there are no inexpensive flights from Naples to Nice. Blu-Express flies to Nice from FCO (Rome) but you're almost 3.0hrs by train away in Sorrento.
Finally, yes you can go by train from Sorrento to Nice. First, it will take you about an hour to get to the Naples train station on the Circumvesuviana train from Sorrento. Then, you go upstairs in the same station and change to the Trenitalia trains. There are train runs from Naples to the Nice Ville station. The fastest run departs Naples at 8:54am and takes 11hrs 18min. It costs $133 for 2nd class. There is one train change in Milan. Other runs take more time (up to 17.0hrs) and have 2-3 train changes. A railpass won't save you a dime.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
From Venice you could always visit the Cinque Terre instead of Sorrento. It's located along the Italian Riviera right on the sea. It would also place you much closer to Nice.
Posted by
OP
19 posts
Thanks guys for your help. I may have to rethink Sorrento, though one of my girls really wants to see Sorrento and of course, the other really wants to see Nice! If we can't come to an agreement on what to do I guess I will have to pay for a flight (expensive or not) from Naples to Nice. Thanks for the tip also about not getting a railpass for Italy. Maybe saving that money will allow us to take that expensive flight. I just want everyone to be happy - we have been saving for a long time to get back to Europe and I'm sure we won't be getting back there again for a while!
Posted by
St. Louis, MO (formerly, Windermere, FL)
340 posts
Hi, Linda,
A few years ago we tried to plan a similar trip with our 2 teenagers (not sure how old your girls are). We found that it was actually more cost effective to take 2 separate trips, focusing on areas that are closer geographically on each. We did Italy first for 9 days plus travel to/from the US. Then we did France/Germany/Austria on another trip 6 months later. This way we really got to see all that we wanted to and were not spending so much time or $ traveling from place to place. We visited Italy in December, which made airfare more affordable and crowds non-existent. (Although this wouldn't be the best time of year in Sorrento.) Then we visited the other places in the summer. Everywhere you and your daughters want to go is so special it would be a shame to rush through it. We gave a part of each trip for each of our children to plan which made it more meaningful to them and they loved doing all the internet and book research. Also, consider renting a car (especially in France or Germany) to save on cost and for greater mobility.