Trip Report- 2 weeks worth of day trips from Sorrento

Day 1-Sunday. Irony.

After a long and frustrating travel day starting with a direct flight from Calgary on Saturday night and arriving in Rome about noon, then three trains to get to Sorrento, and all kinds of Wi-Fi, phone and communication issues, I logged onto the RS Forum and the first post I read is from Carol Now Retired and it’s titled “An Anti-Horror Story,” and it’s about what a pleasant journey she had from home to airport to London, with no issues.

If we had a do-over, we would spend the night in Rome before heading to Sorrento. It was too much for one day, especially when we were tired, groggy, grumpy and not mentally fit to deal with the challenges the Travel Gods were about to put in front of us. I should know better from past experience that no matter how excited and ready-to-go I am, my mind isn’t functioning as well as it should be and when problems crop up, I’m not as prepared as I would be after a night’s sleep. It’s the same reason for not renting a car after an overnight flight.

We spent the entire trip at The Sersale Suites in Sorrento which is a B&B on the top floor of an apartment building. The owner doesn’t live there and there is no reception so we were told to call when we got to Italy and let him know an arrival time and someone would meet us. I’ve never bothered with data yet for any of my trips to Europe and figured I’d log onto Wi-Fi and call him via WhatsApp from Rome Termini. I made the call, but for some reason I couldn’t get the mic on my phone to work and so we couldn’t talk. I did send him a message via the chat function, but he never replied so I was in the dark if he knew my anticipated arrival. No problem, as I’d read that the train to Naples would have Wi-Fi and so I’d try again, but the Wi-Fi on the train was password protected and I needed a code to be emailed to me, which would have required data to receive. So, the next plan was to find WiFi when we got to Naples and call. However we couldn’t find Wi-Fi at the station. If you knew me, you’d know I’m an intense, tightly wound person and I find it stressful if a plan doesn’t work, especially if it makes me late. I’m never late, so this, and a lack of sleep was tough on me. So plan C (or is it D,E, or F by now?) was find Wi-Fi in Sorrento and call him to apologize profusely about being so wishy-washy with our arrival time. Guess what? No Wi-Fi at the Sorrento station, so I break down and turn on my data. But a few months ago I switched service providers and never thought about switching on the roaming option so I could make international calls. The only way I could correct that was to go into the App and turn on the roaming feature, but I need data or Wi-Fi to do that. Thankfully I explained and gestured my plight to the guy at the ticket booth at the train station-who spoke almost no English and he called the B&B to let him know I was on the way.

The B&B was only a 10-minute walk away, however by this time it was pouring rain and so we decided to grab a cab. I knew this was going to cost me as RS explains in his guidebook that a cab in Sorrento isn’t cheap. That 4-minute ride cost me €24.

So, how was your day?

Day 2-Monday. Preparations and rest.

With tremendous foresight in predicting that we’d be tired and knowing that we are only puppets for the amusement of the Travel Gods, this was a planned day-off to get our bearings, buy ferry tickets for upcoming day trips and just take it easy. I’ll take this time to recommend Sersale Suites B&B https://www.sersalesuites.it/ for its tremendous customer service throughout our trip. Not only were they patient with me on my arrival day, but our breakfast hostess and maid, Maria was on top of everything. It took one morning for her to figure out what we liked and for the rest of our trip breakfast was ready at our requested time with what we liked. For example, every morning we would have yogurt with granola and whatever fruit she had on hand. But she never had bananas, so on the evening of day 3, I went to the grocery store across the street and bought a couple of bananas and brought them to breakfast. From that day on, she had bananas in the fruit basket. She brought value to our stay and a spotless room when we got back from a day of touring. If you click on the website and go to the rooms, ours was the Positano Junior Suite. Our balcony overlooked the remaining city walls originally built by the Greeks and fortified in the 16th century by the Spaniards. Our balcony also overlooked a lemon grove that is part of the Parrucchiano restaurant. We went there twice; tables are underneath lemon trees. Atmosphere and food were great. https://www.parrucchiano.com/, I’d read a couple of Facebook reviews calling it touristy, but based on our 2nd trip and the number of large family gatherings including a local family celebrating a 50th anniversary, I’d say it’s a local institution.

First stop of the day to get our bearings was the 10-minute walk to the train station-this time in the sunshine. You also pick up the SITA bus from this location which is the local public bus that can take you to all points on the Amalfi Coast, and its dirt cheap and wildly popular at €1.30/ride. However, this was about 8:30am and as the guidebooks and this Forum have suggested, the line for the bus was already down the block. We were planning two trips to the Amalfi Coast this week, the first was on our own, and we immediately made the executive decision to book a ferry instead (no regrets, but some confusion when you read my Wednesday report). Next stop was the Marina to buy ferry tickets for Wednesday to Amalfi and Thursday to Capri. It’s a steep walk down from topside of the cliff to the water below, and on the way back up we located the elevator for €1.10/pp. Interesting walk down though (up as well) as you walk along a switchback with tunnels that have been there since the Greeks lived in the region.

Back at top and near the elevator are gorgeous views across the bay to Naples and of Vesuvius. Vesuvius fascinated me this trip and I couldn’t get enough of the view which would be a daily routine on our daily evening walks. Nearby is St. Francesco Church, which is nothing special, but in the basement was The Museum of Italian Pride with a current exhibition dedicated to DaVinci. It was also nothing special but probably worth a look on a rainy or very hot day. Fun Fact, did you know DaVinci designed the first water skis?

Day 3-Tuesday

I’d been bouncing around since 5am, waiting to go to Pompeii. We originally booked a tour for 9am via Mondo Tours which is touted in the RS guidebooks as a way to save some money by booking a shared tour. Mondo has a subsidiary https://www.sharedtours.com/ which has an agreement with RS and once 6 people sign-up, then the tour is official and will go ahead. But Mondo also has its own site https://mondoguide.it/ which offers other shared tours under the heading NEW Shared Trips ENDORSED by Rick Steves. The official RS tours on the site are Shared Tours FOR Rick Steves. They’re supposed to email you 3 days before with notice if your tour is going ahead or not. But as became a pattern through this trip, if not enough were signed up they would wait, and I needed to be proactive and ready to make alternate plans.

Nobody else signed, so the night before I emailed Dario at Mondo and suggested we’d take the 11am tour and within minutes we were confirmed. I then asked Dario if I could go to the park earlier and then come out at 11:00 and meet up with the tour. But he explained that there is no in/out privilege at Pompeii which is frustrating because there are limited services inside, such as places to eat and sit inside the park. The confirmation said we’d pay our guide the tour fee of €20 plus we’d be responsible for the ticket into Pompeii, but it stated there was no need to buy the entry ticket in advance. I interpreted that as we’d give our money to the guide, and she’d bulk-buy our entry tickets, however as our group met up with the guide, she’d send us to the ticket window to buy our tickets which wasted quite a bit of time.

Despite the difficulties I’ve explained, we ended up using Shared/Mondo 3 times and were extremely happy. This tour was 2-hours and followed a similar route to what the RS guidebooks suggest. I’m willing to bet most guides take a similar route and it’s a good introduction to the site, but Pompeii has so much more that’s not included. For those people that ask if 2 hours is enough, I’m going to tell them it’s a good start, but you need a day or two if you want to immerse yourself.

If there is a couple of tips about Pompeii that I need to stress, it’s that you need proper footwear and it’s not family friendly for people with small children. There was a family of 6 on our tour; 2 sisters and their husbands, each with a baby, and two grandparents. They brought a large two-seater stroller with them which had to be carried almost the entirety of the tour as there are not a lot of flat, level surfaces in Pompeii. They left the tour early. Not only that, but the amount of other people struggling with inappropriate footwear was staggering; flip flops, high heels or chunky heels, dress shoes, or a pair of each plus flowing dresses if you were an Instagram Girl looking for the perfect photo.

For those on the Forum asking if Italy is crowded? Everywhere we went was crowded. I don’t recall crowds like this in 2014, but this time in all the major attractions such as the Bath House, the Brothel and the House of Vetti there were long lines to get in. A light rain started which helped clear things out and we wandered for another hour. If there had been in/out privileges we would have left and grabbed something to eat and come back in, but what little infrastructure there is inside stayed crowded and uncomfortable. We knew we were coming again and so we headed back to Sorrento.

*Pompeii’s website says no backpacks, no umbrellas and no eating within the archaeological areas, but even our guide was carrying an umbrella, and when the rain started, there was a sea of them. Plenty of backpacks filled with lunches as well. There wasn’t an area we walked by that people weren’t sitting on the curb eating. Nothing was enforced and I can’t blame people for bringing in food as Pompeii doesn’t have a lot to offer.

Day 4-Wednesday. Amalfi Coast.

Let’s talk about ferries and chaos. On Monday we booked the early Alilauro ferry to Amalfi with the intention when we got there to hop on either the Travelmar ferry or SITA bus to Miniori. Except for the boat to Capri, there’s no signage that shows what ferry is arriving/leaving from which dock and you’re on your own to figure it out. We found our dock, and the boat was there but it was deserted and so we sat nearby to wait. Our ferry was leaving at 10:20 and the competitor’s ferry-Caremar was leaving at 10:00. At about 9:55 there was still nobody at our ferry to begin boarding and a guy with limited English came over and gestured that the ferry was leaving. We showed our tickets and gestured that we were on a different boat, finally in English, he said the boat had changed and to get on. So, we hopped on the Caremar ferry hoping we were doing the right thing. As we were nearing Positano, OUR boat went speeding by, full of people and arrived in Amalfi well before we did. We had watched this guy intercepting many people and directing them to his boat and we have no idea why, because there was no financial incentive as we hopped on and off with no issues. On the way back, we befriended a bunch of Brits waiting on the dock and they had the same experience, plus their return tickets were for Caremar, but the time scheduled to leave was the same as ours. We all hopped on the Alilauro boat, and nobody had any issues.

The primary plan for the day was to hike the Path of the Lemons between Miniori and Maiori and we hopped on the SITA bus to Minori. Once we arrived, we weren’t sure where to go so we head for a TI booth. We found the customer service quality on this trip in some cases to be unique. Hotels and restaurants would bend over backwards to make sure you’re happy but the more government-based jobs in the service industry such as museums, ticket sellers and info booths…not so much. There was a smiling 5-year-old manning the booth who greeted us, and someone who I assume was his grandfather at the back of the booth. The young guy called out that we needed help and after a few minutes the guy came forward and stared at us-not saying a word. With my gesturing, poor Italian and some english I asked for a map and how to get to the Path of the Lemons. He looked at me with a scowl, yelled out NO, and turned his back. We always find if we need help, a great source of service is a nice hotel, so we found one and asked for directions.

The Path of the Lemons is very scenic, but I wouldn’t consider it a hike. I had this romantic vision of walking through orchards with lemons hanging above my head, but it’s only about 45 minutes along a paved path with orchards above and below. The only tough part was the several hundred steps it takes to get to it from the church. The lemons also weren’t very visible this time of year as most are covered by green tarps until June. There was an orchard owner near the end of the walk that explained that the tarps protect the trees from winter wind and hail. I would never have guessed that cold and hail were things to be worried about this far south.

After the walk, we had no idea where to catch the bus back, but noticed a bus stop across the street on the main drag that was heading toward Salerno. Once again with gestures and bad Italian I asked where to catch the bus to Amalfi. The woman pointed directly across the street from her bus stop. No sign and no indication that it was a bus stop, it just is.

The rest of the day was spent wandering Amalfi and the church and then back to Sorrento. Other than the Path of the Lemons we’d describe what we saw as “just OK,” we’d be back to the coast on Friday and were hoping for more.

Day 5-Thursday. Capri.

Capri was an unexpected surprise that we enjoyed more than the Amalfi Coast and thought the views were even better. From Sorrento it’s closer and more compact, giving us a full day at a more leisurely pace. Still, I’d get there early and beat the crowds. Based on the RS guidebook advice, we hopped off of our ferry and headed straight to the ticket booth for bus tickets to Anacapri. Another customer service story: we were the only ones in line and stood in front of the glass fronted booth for 10 seconds or so while the woman inside was on her phone. Not knowing if she noticed me, I tapped on the window. She promptly and firmly stuck her finger up in the air in a ‘just a moment sign’ and kept texting for at least 73 more seconds-plus the time it took me to start the stopwatch on my phone as I became amused at how long this was taking. Finally, with phone still in hand she looked up at me, with no smile or verbal response and waited for me to place my order for tickets. The whole time, the RS advice to “roll with it, you’re in Italy,” was running through my head.

Because Capri has narrow, winding roads, the buses are small and seat 9 people. Luckily, we were close to the front of the line so we would get on right away, but everybody behind us was also squeezed on. Assuming I didn’t miss anybody, I counted 25 plus the driver on our bus. Everybody was in good humour and laughingly wondering if the overloaded bus was going to make it up the hill.

The highlight of Anacapri was Villa San Michelle http://www.villasanmichele.eu/ which is a villa built in the late 1800’s on top of a roman villa built by Emperor Tiberius. The new villa was built and decorated with quite a bit of the ruins and art excavated from the site, as well as other objects the owner collected over the years. And the views are spectacular. We almost didn’t go because the description in the RS guidebook made it sound dull and could be skipped. I think the description needs to be rewritten.

After about 3 hours in Anacapri we hopped the bus to Capri town, this time with only 24 people plus a dog and the driver. Anacapri was busy, but nothing like here and the visitors don’t seem to get off the main road and hang out eating at overpriced restaurants and shopping at overpriced stores. But if you take a walk to Augustus Park then you’re in for a treat. More spectacular scenery, and water so clear we could see the shadows of boats at the bottom of the water. https://www.capriculturaeturismo.it/en/sites/gardens-of-augustus/

After some aimless wandering around a street with shops that would make Rodeo Drive envious, we headed toward the funicular to get back to the Marina. But we saw a directional sign that it was only a 10-minute walk to the marina. The sign was only off by 30 minutes. No matter, we had plenty of time. As with yesterday’s ferry experience, nobody seems concerned with what your ticket says. People with tickets for an earlier, later, or even a different ferry company were hopping on, and the crew didn’t seem to care as they took tickets without looking.

Day 6-Friday. Back to Amalfi Coast.

We had booked this tour in advance via Shared Tours. We had noticed that it already had the minimum 6 people required and so we signed up knowing it wouldn’t be cancelled. We were picked up in Sorrento at 9:00, spent about an hour in Positano, 2 hours in Amalfi, 1.5 hours in Ravello and then home at 6:00. If you do the math, that’s a 9-hour tour with a total of 4.5 hours of sightseeing. That’s no fault of the tour company, but an example of how there is no easy way see the Amalfi coast unless you’re willing to spend a night or two. For me, the most enjoyable part of the day was the experience of the drive around the winding, narrow roads with horns honking and chaos created as buses have to back up to let another bus around the corner.

I don’t get the love for Positano. I know I enjoy cultural or historical experiences over scenic views anyway, but you see Positano from above, you see it from the water and that’s it.

Next stop is Amalfi. Our guide recommended a 1-hour boat tour which the other 6 members of our group did for €35 each, but we wanted to tour the town and walk to Atrani. Most tourists never bother to make the 15-minute walk and so you can have the town to yourself, and it’s a heck of a lot quieter than Amalfi if your plan is to just sit on the beach. Other than that, I don’t have much to say about it.

Ravello was our final stop and I wish we had more time. It’s beautiful with views of orchards above and the water below, and not nearly as crowded as Positano and Amalfi. However due to time constraints, we only had 1.5 hours when we could have used a couple more. Time is the problem with a day trip to The Amalfi Coast. If you do plan on doing it in a day and if you’re unsure whether to take a car tour, boat or SITA bus…the stories are true about buses being too full and not stopping to pick up passengers. We saw it and talked to people it happened to. On our way back to Sorrento as we passed through Positano, there were so many people waiting for the buses heading both east and west that they were spilling out into the road and blocking traffic, and only one lane of traffic could get through. This was about 4:45 as people are trying to get back to their towns and hotels. This was April, I can’t imagine when it gets busier. Quite frankly, the Coast is beautiful, but I’ve been there, done that and have no need to go back even for an overnight stay . If I’m asked, I’ll suggest a daytrip do Capri instead.

Day 7-Saturday. Naples.

I had a friend who was in Sorrento a week before us and she texted me her review, “I freaking adore it..but we only had one day. It is chaotic, crazy, exhilarating, dirty, and wonderful all at the same time.” The jury is out for us on the “wonderful” part, but it is something I’ve never experienced before.

We took the train to Naples and then hopped the subway for one stop to get us within a 5-minute walk of the National Archaeological Museum. The subway is gorgeous, I’ve never been in a more comfortable train, especially after experiencing the Circumvesuviana train all week. It’s probably the only place in Naples that we didn’t see wall-to-wall graffiti.

The museum is incredible. We got there about noon so only had 2.5 hours before our 3:00 tour, and that 2.5 only got us through the top floor. But Wow. What amazed us was how well-preserved things were. Everyone talks about the frescos, but household items like glassware and frying pans looked brand new from the store and was the highlight of the museum for us.

Our third and final tour with Shared Tours started at 3:00. I mentioned previously that the tours only get confirmed once there are 6. They’re supposed to give you 3 days notice, but they don’t, and you have to be proactive. 2 nights before, there were only 4 of us signed up so I contacted them and let them know I needed an answer by noon the next day or I would cancel and make alternative plans. Dario got back to me right away and said if we would share the cost of a 6-person group between the 4 signed up then it would go ahead. So, the price went from €30/pp to €45 as the other couple also agreed. Our guide was a former lawyer turned guide and art historian and is passionate about Naples and embarrassed of its condition. It’s loud with graffiti everywhere; even on the ancient ruins, there are overflowing garbage cans, it’s crowded with shoulder to shoulder people on what I thought were pedestrian streets until I noticed scooters zipping about. My most memorable mental image was a small Vespa with 3 generations zipping in and around people with a mom driving, a 10-year-old girl hanging on behind her and then grandma behind her.

That, my friends, is the Naples I read about and experienced.

I’m not much for talking about food and restaurants but back in Sorrento this evening we had trouble finding a place that wasn’t full until we found this nearly empty hole in the wall. Since everywhere else was full, we wondered what was wrong with this place called Bollicine Wine Bar and Cucina https://bollicinewinebar.it/. It’s the type of small, family run restaurant that the RS guidebooks like to seek out, and quite frankly this one should be included in the next edition. As it turns out we were the calm before the storm as it filled quickly. It had the best bruschetta I’ve ever had. I can’t recall the owner’s name, but he’s friendly and outgoing and stands to inherit another restaurant one day as his dad owns the one next door.

Day 8-Sunday. Herculaneum.

We didn’t bother buying tickets in advance based on comments over the past few years on the Forum that Herculaneum isn’t that crowded, but we arrived about 9am this morning to long lines. It felt as crowded as Pompeii with lines to get into some of the more popular villas.

Our guide in Pompeii told us that Herculaneum was buried in lava, but everything I’ve been reading is that it was buried in ash and stone first and then the lava arrived to seal the deal. Either way, you get a sense of just how much lava/ash there was as you enter the site and look to your right to where Herculaneum-the city begins and then look 3 stories down into a pit where Herculaneum scavi is. Like Pompeii, there is very little signage and so you need to read-up before you get here. I also don’t think that the RS book describes it in enough detail-I’ll need to listen to the audio tour to get a sense of how well that covers it. There is an audio guide you can purchase at the gate, but you will need data to download it to your phone as there is no Wi-Fi on site. In any case, it is an amazing site, and two highlights stand out for me. The first was the original wood beams we saw in some of the villas which I’m surprised didn’t burn in the lava. In some buildings, the beams have been replaced in order to keep it safe for visitors, and it gives a great perspective of how these villas would have looked. The 2nd highlight is down at what used to be the dock gates when the ocean came in this far. You can see skeletons, many skeletons still trapped in the lava where they died trying to escape. It’s gives a real human element to the tragedy and you get a sense of the terror of the moment as they died.

Many times, it’s asked on this Forum if someone has to choose, should it be Pompeii or Herculaneum? While there is no wrong answer, I’ve decided my official answer is going to be the way we did it. Start with a tour of Pompeii, next, go to the museum and then to Herculaneum, a tour would be helpful, but not necessary if you did one at Pompeii. To top it off and if you have a time, go to one of the villas in Stabiae or Oplontis. More on that on day 11.

We spent 3 hours here and I could have easily spent more, but Carla out voted me. She’s almost had enough of my perpetual “on” button but refuses to stay at the hotel and miss anything. I think part her frustration is that daytrips from Sorrento take a lot of travel time. Today it’s about 45 minutes one-way, Naples yesterday was an hour and 10 minutes one way, and the Amalfi Coast can eat up half your day in travel alone.

By the way, always check the front of the train before getting on. The train pulled up on time and we and several other groups piled on assuming it was ours, but it was the one headed for Salerno. We all sensed something was wrong but couldn’t confirm it until we reached the Boscotracasse station, and eight of us piled off to work out a plan. It’s a big station but completely deserted, and the ticket window was two floors up and nobody wanted to risk missing a train to go and ask. We were starting to get restless half an hour later when a train finally arrived and took us back to Oplontis. I assume the train we caught was running a bit behind and showed up when our Sorrento train should have arrived, but nobody bothered to look at the sign on the front of the train. Some trains also have digital boards inside, but often on this trip, the screens listing the next stop were not working and so we were in the dark until you arrived at the next station.

Day 9-Monday. Sorrento.

After her protests yesterday, we had an easy day in Sorrento to rest knees and hips that were becoming tired and sore from steps, hills and uneven surfaces that is daily life on this trip.

Next door to us was the Sorrento Experience Museum https://www.sorrentoexperiencemuseum.com/en/, from the front page of the website “An immersive journey to discover the history of Sorrento. We are pleased to present Sorrento Experience, the first multimedia museum about the history and traditions of our city. Immerse yourself in the beauties and cultures of Sorrento, relive the terrifying Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD, you will see the painters who painted our land and you will listen to musicians and singers who fell in love with Sorrento.”

You are guided down a long hallway where there are sculptures, photos, dioramas and videos of significant people and events in the region’s history. It’s OK, but pricey at €13 for the 45 minutes it takes. The highlight and frustrating part for me is that it is built underground in an old Roman or Greek tunnel that originally ran to the waterfront, but nothing is said about that. This museum could be so much more.

Other than that, we just hung around did a little bit of wandering and ate leftover pizza on our balcony. We’re running out of things to do and wondering if 2 weeks is a bit too long in Sorrento. We did consider a few days on the Amalfi Coast, but we went into this trip not really wanting to move around like we did in England and Scotland last year and I’m not sure if we would have enjoyed evenings anymore on the coast than we did in Sorento. We loved the vibrancy here.

We had some laughs about our train mishap yesterday, but overall, I think the Circumvesuviana train’s reputation has been unfairly blown way out of proportion to what it actually is. The RS guidebook evaluation is fair, but when you start reading comments on various sites such as Facebook and Trip Advisor we had wondered if we were going to be knifed, shot and violated all in one trip. The train is run-down, graffiti covered, and in bad need of an update, but it is cheap and efficient. Even on full trains with our luggage, we had no issues, and it was on time. If you ask me, the Campania Express is the disappointment based on the reviews it gets. The trains are only in slightly better condition with less graffiti on the outside, and supposedly padded seats, but they are so worn, they’re as hard as the plastic seats on the Circumvesuviana. We were on it a few times and didn’t even realize it until it dawned on us later. There are no signs on the train of what it is, and if it was the next train to Sorrento, Pompeii, Naples, etc. then people would just hop on. Maybe the locals knew, but there were plenty of them as well. It should be noted that not once did we see train staff anywhere except on the platform at Sorrento and Naples, so it’s not like anyone was going to get caught.

Day 10-Tuesday. Wandering.

After a day of nothing, we (me) got ants in our (my) pants but no schedule to do anything about it. We decided to take a walk to some Roman Villa ruins east of town called Villa Pollio Fellice https://www.romanoimpero.com/2018/02/villa-pollio-felice-sorrento-campania.html and Bagni Regina Giovanna-The Baths of Queen Regina which are side by side. The ruins are nothing more than the outlines of walls of where it stood, but it appears to have been quite impressive at the time as it was built on multi levels to conform with the shape of the land. The baths next door is a grotto protected from the ocean by a stone arch, and legend has it that the Queen of Naples and friends and lovers used to swim naked here.

It’s about a 35-minute walk and you need to be paying attention to find the signage to get there. It’s a paved path most of the way but you also need to walk along the side of the road outside of Sorrento with traffic whizzing by. I’m not sure what the rules are here, but in Canada it’s a law that if there is no sidewalk and you have to walk alongside a road or highway, you must face traffic. The majority of people here were walking with and not against traffic, endangering themselves and those of us having to walk out into traffic to get by them. Be aware of your surroundings so you don’t get clipped by a bus. Once off the road and after the paved path ends, you’ll need proper footwear and be part mountain goat to make the final 20 or 30 yards. We enjoyed it, but it’s not a must-see destination. In the RS Guidebook it’s advertised as an isolated beach with Roman Ruins. I think a better description is of ruins of a Roman Villa with a small spot of sand if you’re willing to haul your stuff in.

After about a 2.5 hour round trip including the time to explore, we head back into town and had lunch reservations at Parucchianno as mentioned previously, we ate here on our first night and loved the atmosphere and wanted to go back but it was always fully booked. The restaurant’s lemon grove and the atmosphere inside is worth the price of the food-which is also very good. Afterwards we wandered through the outstanding gardens and amused ourselves by watching a couple of young and overdressed Instagram Girls making a nuisance of themselves walking in the gardens and lying on benches and tramping in gardens for that perfect photo. We thought the lemon grove here was vastly superior to the public grove described in the RS Guidebook. Fun fact, there are numerous trees in Sorrento where they’ve grafted orange and lemon trees together and so the tree produces both.

Day 11-Wednesday. Pompeii and Oplontis

Final day in Sorrento and Carla said it was my pick although she also indicated that she had no need to return to Pompeii or Herculaneum. Pompeii it is. We arrived at opening and had zones 1 and 2 to ourselves for about an hour. These are the areas that include the theatre and arena as well as some very well-preserved villas including one with an area called the Garden of the Fugitives. http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/garden-of-the-fugitives/ which has a series of bodies preserved in plaster right where they died, buried in ash. The last body, that you can see on the link if you scroll down, is incredibly dramatic, and, like the skeletons at Herculaneum, really humanize the horror of the day. There are plenty of plaster casts to be seen around Pompeii, but this is one I’d consider a must-see.

Around this time, we were starting to dodge school and bus tours, and lineups were beginning at some of the villas, so we made the call to leave and visit one of Pompeii’s offsite excavations. By the way, as we left the park, I counted 19 tour buses in the parking lot. Pompeii has a number of other sites, and a well-kept secret is that there is a free shuttle bus that will take you to them. These shuttle buses aren’t well advertised and not well-signed. On the recommendation of Forum contributor Estimated Prophet we were planning to go to Stabiae, but once we found the bus and woke up the driver he indicated he was going to Oplontis and so we changed plans and went there. It was a good choice for us as the train station was only a 5-minute walk away.

Oplontis is the Roman version of something you might see on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles or Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. It was huge, with a massive swimming pool and amazing frescos. There was even a couple of doors on display where they met their doom and melted together in lava. And even better, there was only about 10 other people there. Well worth the time to see.

I thought I saw a sign at Pompeii that the entry for Oplontis was €5, but when we got there, there was no signage and just a staircase into a pit where the villa had been buried. We headed down and figured the ticket gate was down there. But, other than a couple of docents and janitorial staff, there was nothing to indicate tickets were required. On our way back up, we did see a hut hidden by another building housing the washrooms that looked like a ticket booth, but it was empty.

Despite Carla’s less than enthusiastic agreement to head back to Pompeii, she was also impressed with the day. So as I re-write Ricks Travel guide, let’s review my recommended way to see the areas and start with Pompeii with a guide, then a daytrip to Naples to include the Archaeological Museum, another day trip, this time to Herculaneum where a guide would be useful but not critical if you used one at Pompeii, and then a 2nd trip to Pompeii to cover ground you missed the first time, plus a villa visit such as Oplontis.

Day 12-Thursday. Final day, Rome.

We headed to Rome for our final day before our flight the next day out of FCO. Our only other visit to Rome was in 2014 when we took a couple of group tours through Through Eternity https://www.througheternity.com/. It’s the company that sold me on the value of group day tours. They were outstanding then, and I can confirm they are outstanding now. We arrived in Rome at about 2:00 and had booked the Rome at Twilight tour starting at 5:45 https://www.througheternity.com/en/rome-tours/rome-evening-walking-tour.html It started at Piazza Navona and ended at the Spanish Steps. One reason I appreciate a guide is the context they can give to what I’m seeing. In this case it was her description of Rome as a lasagna, with buildings piled on more buildings on top of more buildings. She also pointed out a piece of the Augustus Aqueduct that’s been integrated into part of a newer building near the Trevi Fountain. And she shared some stories about a push to force the Vatican to pay taxes; nearby there is a Lacoste Store that rents it’s space from a building owned by the Vatican. She used it as an example of the pure profit generated by the Vatican with no need to pay taxes on that income.

We made friends with another couple and went out for dinner after the tour ended and we discussed just how aggressive the street vendors are. Our guide was very good at shooing them away, but at the restaurant, we were sitting at an outside patio and the waiters would do nothing about them as they would come by often and try to push flowers or something else in your hand and demand money. We didn’t experience this in Sorrento.

The tipping expectation was completely different between Rome and Sorrento as well. In Sorrento the waiter would point the tap portion of the debit machine and you’d tap and that was that with no hopeful puppy eyes regarding a tip. But in Rome, we ate before and after the tour and both times the debit machine was laid out in front of us, and we were boldly asked how much we wanted to to add to the bill. It was clear that Americans were the targets because it wasn’t happening at other tables with European visitors.

We were staying at Hotel Sonya which is about an 8-minute walk to the Termini. The price was good and it’s OK if the plan is for only one night, then off to somewhere else. But the room was dated, and the shower was about the size of something I’d expect on a cruise ship. I wouldn’t make it a base for a week-long stay. It was about a 30-minute walk to Piazza Navona the night before and 20 minutes back from the Spanish Steps. The next morning, we took a final walk from our hotel to the Colosseum which was also about 20 minutes and were shocked about how much construction is going on around the colosseum which was no different than in 2014 when the colosseum was surrounded by scaffolding. And the crowds, tours and buses were already showing up at the colosseum at 8am.

My thoughts in summary:

• We enjoyed making Sorrento a home base for the entire trip.
• Yay to Capri, nay to Positano if you only have time for one.
• My recommend order; Pompeii with a guide, then the National Archaeological Museum, and then Herculaneum with or without a guide plus a villa like Oplontis.
• Pompeii is worth more than a quick 2-hour tour.
• I’m not sure what to think of Naples but it’s worth the experience.
• The Circumvesuviana train is fine, and the Campania Express is overrated.
• The region is crowded, but wonderful.

These thoughts are my opinion and I’d love them to be debated.

Allan, I really enjoyed reading your well written trip report! I just signed up for the RS South of Italy tour for 2024, so I bookmarked your trip report to review it again. Thank you!

Allan, thanks so much fir this detailed and interesting report. We will be in Naples doing day trips so I read about your day trip to Amalfi with interest. Did you find the ferry as dramatic as the bus.? Would you pick one over the other? Thanks

I loved that novel by Richard Harris. So good.

We were also in Sorrento, for 6 days, in April. Really enjoyed the mix of British tourist and local Italian vibe. Food was generally excellent. Agree with you on the Amalfi - just don't get it. Loved all your comments about signage and lack thereof - we also went to Capri, had no idea where to get tickets, got directed to a random ferry, etc. I mean, we got there just fine, but...

Did you find the ferry as dramatic as the bus.? Would you pick one
over the other?

After what I saw at the bus stop in Positano, and from what others there told me about waiting 2 hours for a bus, I'll take the ferry every time to and from Sorrento. That's despite the strange behaviour of the ferry crews that we experienced getting to Amalfi. On the other hand, riding toward Salerno from Amalfi on the bus didn't seem nearly as chaotic. I can understand why some pay the big bucks for the mental comfort of a private driver. By coincidence, Bets just posted a TR as well and they chose drivers to navigate.

Thanks for your informative report, Allan.

Can you please describe what areas/places the Mundo Naples walking tour goes through? The website doesn’t go into much detail. My husband and I are flying out tonight, a day earlier than planned and now have an extra day that we’d like to spend in Naples (we are staying in Sorrento). We already have plans for visiting the archeological museum for another day and I like the idea of a walking tour.

Thanks!

Fran, I didn't pay close attention to details, but big picture is we started outside the Archeological Museum, headed south and then east and eventually ended near the Sansevero Chapel Museum. We did not go inside either of those. It was just a maze of pedestrian streets with the guide talking about the history of Naples. Our guide hilighted how the Greeks established Naples, then the Roman's built on top. Some buildings still have both. We saw one church with Greek Columns and a Roman arch built into the modern architecture.

I very much enjoyed your trip report. Choosing between Oplontis and Stabiae is like choosing between Pompeii and Herculaneum - no such thing as a wrong choice.

My Pompeii by Richard Harris inspiration was the Roman Architecture online course offered for free by Yale.

https://oyc.yale.edu/history-of-art/hsar-252

Thanks for sharing, Allan. I can picture that grandfather in the booth 😄 After a week in Rome last year I've decided that an attitude of "embrace the chaos" is the only way to approach a trip to Italy.

My recommended order; Pompeii with a guide, then the National Archaeological Museum, and then Herculaneum with or without a guide plus a villa like Oplontis.

That is exactly what we did in April 2022! We stayed in Pompei, across from the Amphitheater entrance to the ruins, so our commute times were less, except for our day trip to the MANN in Naples with Askos.

For the Amalfi Coast, we based in Salerno because we wanted to see some Operation Avalanche sites, which were by the way amazing. The one day we spent on the Amalfi Coast was wonderful - especially Villa Cimbrone in Ravello, and our boat charter from Amalfi, up to Positano, and back to Salerno. But that one day was enough.

Thanks for sharing Allan, definitely an area we would like to explore someday! I am still learning every trip we take. We had 3 flights and 2 train rides on our recent trip to Germany and I too, will not do that again! Retirement can’t come soon enough to take more time.
We find having data on our trips, a MUST!

Allan, did you consider the RS South of Italy tour? Seems that it might have made this area easier?

Tammy, we didn't consider it. We knew we wanted 2 weeks in the region and the tour was only offering a few days in our areas of interest. I feel Amalfi and Pompeii would have been too rushed. I should probably add one more point to my last-day summary that there is no easy way to travel the region, it takes time, even if you throw money at it with a private driver.

Awesome report, Allan. I am not sure I will be heading there any time soon but this makes sense of the area to me in a way I hadn’t yet been able to conceptualize.

I can picture that grandfather in the booth 😄 After a week in Rome
last year I've decided that an attitude of "embrace the chaos" is the
only way to approach a trip to Italy.

My wife likes to do a scrapbook of our trips, I suggested that title to her.

I really enjoyed your report, especially since we had visited the area in 2017. In July. Unlike you, we did move around staying two nights in Naples, two nights in Sorrento, two nights in Amalfi, and two nights in Positano, and a last night in Naples before flying out.

We didn’t like Positano any more than you and thought the view from the sea when we took the ferry back to Amalfi after hiking the Path of the Gods was better than any view of the sea. I did really enjoy staying in Amalfi and would have spent all our nights on the Amalfi coast there.

Thanks for this great report, Allan. We went to the Amalfi Coast for our honeymoon, and stayed in Positano, which we loved, but this was back in 2007 and maybe not as crowded. On that trip we did day trips to Sorrento, Capri, and Amalfi/Ravello, and finished up with a couple of nights at a friend’s in Naples.

I think for my birthday though in January next year, Naples is going to be my destination, with visits to Pompeii and the Archaeological museum. I don’t know if I can take enough time to fit in Herculaneum and one of the villas too, but you’ve given me lots to think about.

And i too love the Pompeii book that Robert Harris wrote. It really brought the whole episode to life for me.

I’m sorry you had such a frustrating arrival day. Glad it worked out okay in the end. And glad that your lodging in Sorrento was excellent, that makes a big difference !!

(P.s. I would have happily read the double of this with the other stories !)

Thanks for your wonderful report, Allan! We are heading back to Italy this year, and I especially appreciated your detailed report, and recommendation of a good tour for Rome.

“Embrace the chaos” sounds like a perfect mindset for traveling in Italy this year!

Thanks for sharing your trip.

Laurie

Loved all your comments about signage and lack thereof - we also went
to Capri, had no idea where to get tickets, got directed to a random
ferry, etc. I mean, we got there just fine, but...

I didn't realize how many times I wrote about the lack of signage until you brought this up. Embrace the Chaos.

This is a great report, Allan.

I wish I could have spent more time in Pompeii and it’s related sites, but my husband is even less interested in them than your wife. I can’t see us ever going back. I’m afraid that any place where you have to embrace the chaos does not sound like a vacation to me. The older I get the less tolerance I have for lack of signs, etc. But no doubt it is the only mindset that will ensure a fun trip and I’m glad yours was a success.

My wife lies to do a scrapbook of our trips, I suggested that title to her.

I wish I could remember who to credit for the phrase but I think I heard it on here and I do at least know it was referencing Italy!

Thanks for your report, Allan. I thought I was only one who didn’t care for the Amalfi Coast with the exception of Ravello!
I just don’t get it! We enjoyed Sorrento and Naples, but have preferred our stays elsewhere in Italy much more. I would like to return to Naples for a longer stay.
Memories of Puglia, Sicily, The Northern Lakes,, Bologna, Tuscany, Piemonte, Umbria, Venice and so much more. I love Italy!

I’m afraid that any place where you have to embrace the chaos does not
sound like a vacation to me. The older I get the less tolerance I have
for lack of signs, etc. But no doubt it is the only mindset that will
ensure a fun trip and I’m glad yours was a success.

I can understand why some choose to spend extra for the convenience of private drivers and tours as one person's adventure is another's frustration. I have no regrets on how we did it, but I also have to shake my head at the effort it sometimes took to do it.

Allan, we just returned yesterday from the area, and I agree so much with what you said- I don't get it, either. Positano and Amalfi were ok, did like Ravello more, but don't need to go back. We did have a private driver, but sitting in traffic is still frustrating after a 8-9 hr day touring. We also had the rain, so there very were few days of blue skies and blue oceans.
Our experience with the Circumvesuviana train was painful: standing for an hour on the train after walking all over Pompeii, shoulder to shoulder, very hot, and very delayed trip ( took an hour instead of half hour) to return to Sorrento.

I'll be writing a Trip Report also, but I just enjoy northern Italy so much more than southern Italy, I have come to realize. I keep returning to Venice and Lake Como, and want to explore those areas more. I don't think I need to return to the Amalfi Coast again.

Thx for a well- written and informative report. Where to next?

Pat, I'm looking forward to your Trip Report. My favourites are those of places that I've been, so I can visit through the eyes of others. I had a sense that my opinion of the Circumvesuviana may not be shared by all. I get that as the region get's even busier and hotter that it may not be for everyone. We did have to stand for the first half hour of our trip back from Herculaneum- and that was on the Campania Express. As mentioned in my Trip Report, either nobody knew it was the Campania, or didn't care, because the train was loaded with tourists and locals.

As for where we're going next; I have a couple of baseball trips planned. We found a seat sale to Washington DC so we're heading there and to Baltimore in September and then to Dunedin, Florida for Spring Training in March. We're throwing aroudn the idea of the RS Tour to Sicily for Fall 2024.

I’m not sure I’m interested in these places, but I did want to thank-you for another great, detailed report. I know there’s good information here in the future if I do decide on a trip to southern Italy.

After reading about some of the transportation issues, I couldn’t help but think, Allan and his wife should really go to Switzerland. 😊 The public transportation there is a fabulous.

P.S. Getting caught up on all the trip reports that were posted while i was traveling.

Oh, Allan, looks like we came home with COVID, and from the timing, looks like my husband could have been exposed on the Circumvesuviana train. No proof , of course, but the timing works. The lemonade - making continues! Good thing I brought back Sorrento lemon hard candy that soothes the throat !

After reading about some of the transportation issues, I couldn’t help
but think, Allan and his wife should really go to Switzerland.

We just got back from a weekend in Banff, Ab which is about an hour and 10 minute drive from my house. We often wonder when we live next door to the Rockies, how much of a priority we should put on Switzerland. As of now my only experience with the Alps is the Matterhorn in Disneyland ;).

I'm late to this party, Allan, but it's one of the more enjoyable reports I've read in awhile! You've also included so much useful information for travelers planning their own trips to the region. Like you, we didn't get the hoopla for Positano, and enjoyed our treks around Capri very much. Kudos for an interesting read!

Allan, we also live near some beautiful mountains and have views of them from our home. However, we still love to see other mountains! Like art, they are all different! We definitely have Switzerland on our list.

I suspect we'll go at some point, but right now I'm not sure if would make the top ten list.

Wow, Allan, thank you for such a comprehensive report! We are finally going on our dream trip to Italy, leaving in just 2 weeks. We will be hitting the same spots that you did, but we have our family of 6, so logistics will be complicated. We have booked Mondo tours for Pompeii, and 2 shared tours: the Amalfi Coast via van, and a boat tour, with an afternoon in Capri. Thank you for your perspective. I can be wound tight too, so I will need to adjust expectations. New thinking: it's news if things actually work out as planned.

Thanks for your advice Allan. And for responding so quickly. I will definitely go back to Rick Steves' guidebook for the particulars. Ciao!

I'm glad I was usefull. I see on your post that someone has commented that new trains have been ordered for the Circumvesuviana for next year. Hopefully that makes the ride more comfortable, but possibly less memorable. The current state of the train seems to bring out a lot of stories in this group.

Allan, THANKS for this great post! We are going to Rome and Sorrento in Oct. (when it's cooler) and I will take much of your advice! We also have booked Mondo and Through Eternity and still looking at things to do. We were in Naples once for a day and went to Capri and have to go there again and booked a Shared Tour to Amalfi Coast. THANKS again for all this info to help me plan!!

Thanks for all of the great information. How did you travel back to Rome from Sorrento? By train or bus or combination. I'm trying to figure out how to get to Sorrento to the Rome Airport in the most direct fashion.

Cfaubion,
We used Aldo Limos for the Sorrento to Rome airport trip. Took about 3.5 hrs, we had a package deal with them, but I figured it cost about 470 euros, altho we did pay for our three days of excursions in USD cash, at a fair exchange rate, which was nice. Christina in the office is a Brit, so communication was easy.
Safe travels!

How did you travel back to Rome from Sorrento?

Circumvesuviana Train from Sorrento to Naples and then a high speed train to Rome. The train stations for both are in the same building. The Circumvesuviana is one level below.