Naples and Amalfi coast

[connie26]

My friend and I are in Naples for four nights early July before travelling up to Milan via train. Planning on staying in Naples for the first two nights and including a tour of Pompeii. We then want to visit Sorrento and possibly the Amalfi coast or Capri. We won't be driving, so will need to take the bus or taxis. Does anyone have any suggestions as to making the most of that area with limited time that we have? Would we be better staying in Sorrento and going from there to other places or should we go straight to the Amalfi coast and stay in that area ie Positano?
Thanks in advance!

It's a beautiful part of the world - wherever you decide to stay.
I stayed in Sorrento when I was in that area, more central for what we wanted to see.

A day trip to Naples - mainly for the museum & a pizza - was enough for us.
I found Capri very overrated & hugely expensive for even a cup of coffee.
I've been to Pompeii & Herculaneum, & IMO the latter is far more interesting.

There's a lovely coastal train line direct from Naples to Sorrento. It stops at some of the main attractions too https://www.thetrainline.com/en/train-times/napoli-centrale-to-sorrento

We stayed in a b&b in piano Di Sorrento and got the train (circumvesuviana) to Pompeii and Sorrento. We (kind of accidentally) skipped Naples and I would love to go back but I think if you only have a few days in the middle of summer I would spend more time on the coast, personally, and get the train to Naples for a day.

A few hours in Naples is all you need. Pompeii worth a visit. I would definitely skew the time towards the amalfi coast / capri as it’s much more beautiful.

It really depends on what your priorities are. If you want to see the coast, stay in one of the towns there. You can get to them by ferry from either Salerno or Naples. Just pick one and go. Very nice and scenic etc. The downside is they're hellish busy and what limited infrastructure there is can't cope with the amount of visitors. Use the ferry to visit a couple of others, or Capri, and forget about Pompeii etc unless you pay ££££ for a tour company. There are no direct connections to there, or Herculaneum, or Vesuvius. Be aware that pretty much all the beaches are owned by private beach clubs so even if you just want a day at the beach in the town you're staying in, that will also cost you, although there are tiny pockets of very overcrowded public sand.

If you want to see the famous ruins, the volcano, and see some of the coast, your main choice is between Sorrento and Naples. Naples is at one end of a train line with stopping off points for Herculaneum and Pompeii and Vesuvius, Sorrento is at the other. The stops in between are kind of commuter/dormitory places, not too exciting, some quite rough. Both Naples and Sorrento do ferry travel to Amalfi coast towns, and Capri.

Sorrento is right on the edge of the Amalfi coast and slightly closer to the ruins so you'll have shorter trips to each. It also actually "feels" like you're already in the Amalfi area - looks very pretty, etc. This is why it's such a popular place to stay.

Naples - well, Naples is a big multilayered city and can be overwhelming because of the specific way in which it has developed. You can get to all the same places as you can from Sorrento, with slightly longer per day travel times, plus you can go to Ischia and Procida very easily. You also have all the big city attractions, art, culture, museums, architecture etc if that's important to you. In addition you can use it to get to less explored volcanic areas, sunken ruins you can snorkel around, standing ruins, amphitheatres in the wider active caldera.

We use the circumvesuviana. We found it very safe and efficient despite posts. You get it at Naples it takes you to Pompeii and down to Sorrento. Make sure you go to the ticket office customer service desk at Naples and get a printed copy of the timetable as I didn't find their apps easy to use. We stayed in Ercolano for the week and it was lovely. I would stay further out next time.

One other thing to remember is that a lot of treasures from Pompeii are actually stored in the museum in Naples - I'd recommend if nothing else doing a trip to the museum after you've been to Pompeii - it's amazing seeing all that once you have the context of physically having been in Pompeii yourself.

Great suggestions and plenty more for me to think about now - thank you everyone.

We stayed in Castellademare with our teenage DC which is between Pompei and Sorrento and on the train line that runs between Sorrento, Pompei and Naples (the Circumvesuvianos line others have mentioned).

Our hotel was beautiful but the town was a bit non descript but perfect as a base. We packed light for 5 days with just small rucksacks so not dragging wheely trolleys on and off trains.

Didn’t need a car as used the train to shuttle about and only needed a few taxis when we were too knackered to walk back to our hotel!

Train does get very crowded (we went at Easter) so usual advice about getting out and about early in the morning. Finished off with ferry to Capri from Sorrento for a night (stay in Annacapri) and back via ferry to Naples and bus to airport from ferry terminal.

Base yourself in Sorrento OP. It's by far the easiest option for transport and everything else really. You can get to Pompeii and Herculaneum on the train and easily get ferries to Capri and the rest of the coast. You can also get buses to Amalfi/Positano etc. I know, lived there for years.

Sorry to hijack but want to do similar
having been to Sorrento one August years ago I won’t be going back in high summer. We’re stuck with school hols so are April, whit and October all doable? Or is it too cold by October.

Will probably combine with Rome, assume the fast trains between Rome and Naples are still very doable? I recall they were in c 1999!

Skip Capri. It’s horribly busy and a real tourist trap. IMO

October (and Easter) are too cold for beach/pool holidays unless you get lucky with the sun in a sheltered spot. But fine for sightseeing. Agree with visit to the Naples museum after seeing Pompeii. I disagree entirely with the suggestion to skip Pompeii. I would skip Capri and visit Ischia instead. Ferries from Naples are a great way to get around. I couldn't handle the coach (travel sickness) so stuck to train and ferries. Sorrento itself wasn't a massive draw for me, though I did love the Foreigners Club terrace. Oh and trains between Naples and Rome were fab. But don't stay near the Naples train station.

We had one day in Capri while staying near Sorrento. We followed advice from someone we were chatting to the night before and I’d recommend it as an approach!

When you get there, head straight for the top. Don’t spend any time in the messy noisy smelly bit at the bottom of the hill. We got in a taxi to take us straight up to the small town of Anacapri, halfway up the side. The taxi ride was fun! Then at anacapri it dropped us off at the bottom of the chair lift. Anacapri is much calmer and prettier than capri town. It has expensive gift shops and little cafes, old churches etc. From there we took the chair lift right up to the top and it was spectacular and huge fun - we all loved it. Pottered around at the top for a bit, ate sandwiches we’d bought in anacapri, then chair lift back down, a bit more cafe and shops, then hellish bus trip back down to capri town and the port for ferry back to Sorrento.

Sorrento is a great base. You can get a bus but we got the ferry to Positano one day and Amalfi another day. We also visited the Blue Grotto and Capri by boat. I personally wouldn’t stay in Positano, you really only need half a day there in my opinion, and I think the same goes for Amalfi. Be prepared for a lot of stairs by the way!

Also meant to say we flew to Naples and did a day trip to Pompeii before going to Sorrento. I think Pompeii is definitely worth the trip, I’d recommend getting a guide so you know what you’re looking at!

Naples is fabulous and Sorrento very touristy and British (British plug sockets in the bedrooms, (something I’ve never seen anywhere else in the world). Train along coast is great. Herculaneum well worth a visit as well as Pompeii.

We did similar. Had a walk through the winding streets and went lizard spotting. The views are spectacular

Definitely head for the top in Capri, the less time you spend in the marina grande the better. I would buy bus day tickets and then get straight on a bus to Anacapri. Or if the line is very long bus to Capri town (lines usually shorter) and change for Anacapri there. Getting back down from Anacapri is a hassle. I think they deliberately run fewer buses between 3-5 pm so that more people will get taxis. I would recommend you either just know beforehand that you'll need a taxi, or get on a bus away from the main stop. A taxi will take six or seven people, you can share with others, they're open topped and quite stylish, should be €30 euros between you, when you see the crush at the bus stop you may decide it's worth it for you. If you really don't want to do that, the trick to getting a seat on the bus is to walk a few blocks further out, in the opposite direction from where you want to go, to the stop to your left. Then when a bus does come you can get on it because it's the first stop on the route. You'll still have to wait a long time. But if you wait at piazza Vittoria you will also be there a long time, and be crushed, and you probably won't get on a bus at all.

Capri is gorgeous, a really beautiful place, definitely worth a visit I think. You need a plan to get the best out of it though, otherwise you can waste your experience on being stuck with hundreds of sweaty others in unpleasant and expensive situations.

My parents used to go quite often, and of the islands they preferred Ischia to Capri.

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions and tips!

To echo others, we stayed in Naples and caught the local circumvesuvian train for a day trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Very easy to do yourself without a tour. The main artifacts from Pompeii are in the museum in Naples, so don't miss that.

DH and I are well travelled, but Naples airport was the only place I wished I'd pre-booked a taxi/transport to the hotel. The taxi drivers seemed to be jeering and laughing and I'm sure the price changed by the time we got to the hotel. There are always things to see/do, but a few days would be enough- Pompeii, museum, local markets, pizza etc. We didn't bother climbing Vesuvius, nor did we go to Sorrento.

We spent 6 nights on Ischia last summer and the last night in Naples. We took a day trip from Ischia to Capri and went to the top. Capri was indeed very pretty but for a holiday, Ischia was so much nicer overall. We had visited Amalfi town 20 years ago and while it was very beautiful, I had no inclination to return during high season. We had also visited Pompeii previously and I wanted to return to there and Herculaneum but just didn’t have the time. It will be my excuse to go back!

Path Of The Gods walk is stunning 👍

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/hike-path-of-the-gods-amalfi-coast

I love Ischia - been a few times. We actually did an excursion from there to Pompeii and Vesuvius one day. Capri is overrated, through Procida is lovely. I love Naples too, but Sorrento and Amalfi coast are completely overrun. The roads are terrifying.