Circumvesuviana train from Naples

[English_in_Spain]

We will be in Naples in September (7am to 7pm) on Voyager of the Seas.

Here is what we thought we might do.

Get a taxi from the ship to Naples station. Take the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii Scavi station and visit Pompeii.

After our visit there take the same train on to Sorrento. Stay in Sorrento for a while and maybe have some lunch.

From Sorrento take the Hydrofoil back to Naples.

Has anyone done this? Any advice? What time is the last Hydrofoil? I think I read somewhere it is quite early - around 4pm. Is this true?

Would we be better doing it the other way around (Hydrofoil to Sorrento then train to Pompeii then train to Naples)?

DH has limited mobility. He can walk but not very fast but the main thing he cannot stand for long periods of time. Is there likely to be a long wait to get into Pompeii?

[jstducky]

When I go to Naples this summer, I am planning on taking the train from Naples to Sorrento, and then hydrofoil over to Capri.

 

Anyhow, instead of taking the hydrofoil from Sorrento back to Naples, if you are worried about the last hydrofoil time being early, have you considered taking the train from Sorrento back to Naples instead? Or at least use that as a backup in the event that you want more time in Sorrento or the last hydrofoil is too early?

[LovesSicily]

Check the Linee Marittime Partenoppe website for the hydrofoil schedules. I have a schedule that shows the last ferry from Sorrento that would get you back to the ship in time is 16.30 and the next hydrofoil after that isn't until 18.40. So yes, if the times have not changed much 4:30 is it.

 

The line for Pompeii is not long but you should be aware there is a bit of an incline to the entrance and it is mostly cobblestone and/or uneven surfaces throughout Pompeii. It can still be quite warm in September and it is more comfortable to tour Pompeii in the morning since there is little shade. A visit to Pompeii can consume most of the day if you enjoy ruins. If you don't I would suggest skipping Pompeii and spending a leisurely day in Sorrento and/or Capri.

[English_in_Spain]

Check the Linee Marittime Partenoppe website for the hydrofoil schedules. I have a schedule that shows the last ferry from Sorrento that would get you back to the ship in time is 16.30 and the next hydrofoil after that isn't until 18.40. So yes, if the times have not changed much 4:30 is it.

 

The line for Pompeii is not long but you should be aware there is a bit of an incline to the entrance and it is mostly cobblestone and/or uneven surfaces throughout Pompeii. It can still be quite warm in September and it is more comfortable to tour Pompeii in the morning since there is little shade. A visit to Pompeii can consume most of the day if you enjoy ruins. If you don't I would suggest skipping Pompeii and spending a leisurely day in Sorrento and/or Capri.

 

Thank you for your reply. It looks like the last hydrofoil is too early to make my proposed itinerary feasible.

 

I think we will do it in reverse. Take the hydrofoil to Sorrento then come back by train via Pompeii.

 

We are aware of the heat. We live in Southern Spain so we are used to giving the sun lots of respect and avoiding the mid-day heat.

[GSPLover]

Thank you for your reply. It looks like the last hydrofoil is too early to make my proposed itinerary feasible.

 

I think we will do it in reverse. Take the hydrofoil to Sorrento then come back by train via Pompeii.

 

We are aware of the heat. We live in Southern Spain so we are used to giving the sun lots of respect and avoiding the mid-day heat.

 

Be advised that the elevation change from Sea level in Sorrento to the city center is considerable. At least 50-60 meters. I think that they have a tram/bus but I'm not certain. Elevation chnage from city center to train station is up yet again, maybe 3-4 meters.

[English_in_Spain]

Be advised that the elevation change from Sea level in Sorrento to the city center is considerable. At least 50-60 meters. I think that they have a tram/bus but I'm not certain. Elevation chnage from city center to train station is up yet again, maybe 3-4 meters.

 

I am not sure what you mean by 'elevation change of 50-60 meters'. Do you mean it is a steep uphill walk?

[Dorset Cruiser]

Yes it is very steep as we know to our cost. We had just missed the bus and did not want to wait nearly an hour for the next one so we opted to walk up to the town from the dock - phew:eek: My recommendation is wait for the bus - from memory it costs a euro.

[GSPLover]

I am not sure what you mean by 'elevation change of 50-60 meters'. Do you mean it is a steep uphill walk?

 

Fairly steep and fairly long ( See this pic taken from near the city center - http://picasaweb.google.com/ftroute/Naples#5261530494551863874 ). As previous post says, wait for the bus. We arrived and departed by train and did not go down to sea level.

[CruzinFamilyof5]

We just did this trip. We planned to go to the train station and found a taxi for 40 Euros each. We started at Ercolano. If you purchase a combo ticket Ercolano and Pompeii for 20 Euros, you walk right thru at Pompeii with no wait. We started at 7:15 am and ended up in Sorrento about 1pm. We caught the hydrofoil to Capri at 1:45, but there was a later one about 2:30pm. We should have caught the later one, because we spent more than enough time on Capri. We left Capri about 5pm and arrived at Naples at 6pm. If you choose to do Capri to Naples hydrofoil, get in line about 4:15, because it gets packed. All the info is on our flickr photo page link below. By the way, you can use credit card for the ticket from Sorrento to Capri, but when you purchase ticket from Capri to Naples, it must be in currency -16 Euros each. :)

[Dorset Cruiser]

We just did this trip. We planned to go to the train station and found a taxi for 40 Euros each. We started at Ercolano. If you purchase a combo ticket Ercolano and Pompeii for 20 Euros, you walk right thru at Pompeii with no wait. We started at 7:15 am and ended up in Sorrento about 1pm. We caught the hydrofoil to Capri at 1:45, but there was a later one about 2:30pm. We should have caught the later one, because we spent more than enough time on Capri. We left Capri about 5pm and arrived at Naples at 6pm. If you choose to do Capri to Naples hydrofoil, get in line about 4:15, because it gets packed. All the info is on our flickr photo page link below. By the way, you can use credit card for the ticket from Sorrento to Capri, but when you purchase ticket from Capri to Naples, it must be in currency -16 Euros each. :)

 

 

Congratulations on such an excellent flickr site - its amazing. I have cut and pasted all your posted information on the Med stops so I can peruse them at my leisure:D

[theschwanz]

hey that flikr site is great. really helping me make some decisions on my trip. i don't really know what to see so every one of those pictures and your comments helped a lot. thanks for your time.

[CruzinFamilyof5]

Thanks, don't forget to print out GSPLover info on Italian trains and I forgot to mention that the beach on Capri is all rocks. :rolleyes:

[GSPLover]

Thanks, don't forget to print out GSPLover info on Italian trains and I forgot to mention that the beach on Capri is all rocks. :rolleyes:

 

Beaches in many Mediterranean areas are all rocks! :D

[nparmelee]

We tendered in Sorrento and did kind of the opposite path, train to Pompeii, then train to Naples and went to Da Michele for lunch and then the archaeological museum and then hydrofoil back to Sorrento. Very easy to do it yourself kind of day, make sure you get off at the Pompeii Scavi stop for Pompeii, we met a couple that got off at the other station and had to figure out what to do from there.

[AmoMondo]

We will be in Naples in September (7am to 7pm) on Voyager of the Seas.

 

Here is what we thought we might do.

 

Get a taxi from the ship to Naples station. Take the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii Scavi station and visit Pompeii.

 

After our visit there take the same train on to Sorrento. Stay in Sorrento for a while and maybe have some lunch.

 

From Sorrento take the Hydrofoil back to Naples.

 

Has anyone done this? Any advice? What time is the last Hydrofoil? I think I read somewhere it is quite early - around 4pm. Is this true?

 

Would we be better doing it the other way around (Hydrofoil to Sorrento then train to Pompeii then train to Naples)?

 

DH has limited mobility. He can walk but not very fast but the main thing he cannot stand for long periods of time. Is there likely to be a long wait to get into Pompeii?

 

We did exactly that at the end of April, except that we got the train all the way back to naples as there was not a hydrofoil that fitted in with the time we needed to be back in port.

 

When we arrived at Pompeii there were only about a dozen people in front of us, so it only took us about 5 minutes to get our tickets but that was early in the season. There is an awful lot of walking in Pompeii though and the ground is very uneven.

[Rhisibabe]

When you get to Pompeii are there guides that can show you around or are you just on your own?

[CintiPam]

When you get to Pompeii are there guides that can show you around or are you just on your own?

 

Yes, guides gather around the main entrance, and you can join groups there.

 

Also, after you get your ticket, if you go to another window around to your left, you can get an excellent 100+ page pamphlet which accompanies the audioguide at no charge and without having to get the audioguide.

 

We prefer to go at our own pace (almost five hours there last month), so we did not want an either an audioguide or a guide. We found that this booklet, which includes a page on each location marked on the map, extremely helpful.

[wack001]

Yes, guides gather around the main entrance, and you can join groups there.

 

Also, after you get your ticket, if you go to another window around to your left, you can get an excellent 100+ page pamphlet which accompanies the audioguide at no charge and without having to get the audioguide.

 

We prefer to go at our own pace (almost five hours there last month), so we did not want an either an audioguide or a guide. We found that this booklet, which includes a page on each location marked on the map, extremely helpful.

 

A little confused on your audio guide remark, did you get an audioguide or does it come with the ticket and how much. Does the audio just talk or does it key on spefic marks in Pompeii.

Thanks

cruisinbob.com

[CintiPam]

A little confused on your audio guide remark, did you get an audioguide or does it come with the ticket and how much. Does the audio just talk or does it key on spefic marks in Pompeii.

Thanks

cruisinbob.com

 

Sorry that I was so unclear. Per the advice of Rick Steves' Italy guidebook, we picked up the very good information booklet, which describes in detail the most important stops within the site, at a different information window from where we purchased the ticket. The ticket only comes with a large map.

 

We had understood that the audioguide basically offers the same information as this extensive booklet, so we chose to read rather than carry the audio device with the button business for what we knew would be at least several hours.

 

I believe that the audioguide costs 6.50 Euros; the booklet is free, but only provided if you request it.

 

BTW, we found this need to request pamphlets very common in Europe (saving on paper, I guess), particularly noticeable in Athens at all six of the sites included on the 12 Euro Acropolis pass. However, those pamphlets are usually just a few pages.

 

The Pompeii booklet, which I just pulled out of my pack, called a Brief Guide to Pompeii, offers a brief history, a glossary, and descriptions of about 70 stops, which, I assume by the number and "audio" sign on each page, coordinate with the audioguide stops.

[CruzinFamilyof5]

Sorry that I was so unclear. Per the advice of Rick Steves' Italy guidebook, we picked up the very good information booklet, which describes in detail the most important stops within the site, at a different information window from where we purchased the ticket. The ticket only comes with a large map.

 

We had understood that the audioguide basically offers the same information as this extensive booklet, so we chose to read rather than carry the audio device with the button business for what we knew would be at least several hours.

 

I believe that the audioguide costs 6.50 Euros; the booklet is free, but only provided if you request it.

 

BTW, we found this need to request pamphlets very common in Europe (saving on paper, I guess), particularly noticeable in Athens at all six of the sites included on the 12 Euro Acropolis pass. However, those pamphlets are usually just a few pages.

 

The Pompeii booklet, which I just pulled out of my pack, called a Brief Guide to Pompeii, offers a brief history, a glossary, and descriptions of about 70 stops, which, I assume by the number and "audio" sign on each page, coordinate with the audioguide stops.

 

Guides wait by the entrance for people that want one. If you stop in Ercolano first, get the combo ticket for 20 Euros and then there's no line for Pompeei. The booklets are very detailed and nice. :)

[CruzinFamilyof5]

Beaches in many Mediterranean areas are all rocks! :D

 

I agree, but the beachers we ended up in Barcelona, Italy and France had no rocks. We got lucky. Capri was loaded with rocks. :D