Naples Travel Forum

Hello...We are taking a cruise in September, one of the stops of which will be at Naples, Italy. We do not want to spend much time in Naples, but rather, would like to see Capri, Sorrento, and Pompeii. Is it possible to do this all in one day (our ship will be in port from 8:00am until 7:00pm)? If this is feasable, is it better to do it Naples-Pompeii-Sorrento-Capri-Naples, or, Naples-Capri-Sorrento-Pompeii-Naples? What about ground transportation between Naples and Pompeii, and between Pompeii and Sorrento...is there dependable train service? Thanks for your help!

It will be pretty much impossible to do all three in one day.

For Capri, there are hydrofoils and ferries direct from Naples allowing a decent day there.

Sorrento and Pompeii are both served by the Circumvesuviano train line which is a private line leaving adjacent the Naples main train station. Total trip to Sorrento is under an hour, Pompeii is halfway. You can spend two or three hours at the ruins earlier in the day when hopefully it will be cooler, then head down to Sorrento for lunch and strolling. Leave enough time to get back to your ship.

I agree with Lew that if you attempted this, you would look at lots of things and see nothing at all...

I would also do the Pompeii/Sorrento gig and leave Capri out of it....it's not that Capri isn't pretty, but after the first few very high dollar shops, it sort of loses its charm ;-)

I would also agree to do Pompeii in the morning, then continue on the train to Sorrento to lunch and walk around (and see high dollar shops there, too ;-) ).

The Circumvesuviana runs something like every 30 minutes all day, so once you're there, you'll have a good idea of what it takes to get back.

Note that today's news is that the Italian government is calling Pompeii to be in an emergency situation, because the amount of spending to maintain the site hasn't kept up with the decay caused by being exposed to the weather above ground...so seeing Pompeii sooner than later may be a good thing...I can't tell you the number of places I have visited in Europe in years past that you can no longer get into because of their concern over damage to the site because of tourism.

P.S. one thing to research is to look into hydrofoils from Sorrento back to Naples. You would presumably be doing this about 4:30 p.m. so the sun will still be up, lighting the city of Naples et al in the distance. However, these schedules vary a lot through the year (many are discontinued off season), and bad weather on the day of the visit would cancel these things anyway...but when you arrive in Sorrento at lunch time, it might be worth your while to find out if you can ferry or hydrofoil back that day before buying your return ticket to Naples on the train...

Bill

I'm sorry but you will have to choose. Unless your idea of visiting Pompeii is looking in the front gate and then moving on, and Sorrento would merely be where you catch the ferry for Capri.
Given the schedule you propose, I can't imagine you are seriously interested in Pompeii (if you were, you would indeed do better to go there first if it is very hot and sunny) so I would suggest you go to Capri; if you do decide to go elsewhere, then you will know how much time you have left and you should be on the mainland so you don't have to worry about catching a ship to get back. Your cruiseship will probably dock near Molo Beverello (Beverello wharf) in Naples where you can catch a hydrofoil (aliscafo) to Capri: at the moment - it may change by September - you have one at 10 and 35 minutes past each hour so the earliest one you can get would be 08:35 but depending on how long it takes you to get off, you might do better to aim for the 09:10. It costs €16 or €17 and takes about 40 minutes. When you know how long it took you to get from ship to aliscafo, you will also know how long to leave on the way back, but I think if you were spending the day in Capri the last one you should take to return would be the 18:10 because the 19:10 would be too late. You should really go up to Anacapri - if you don't move from where you arrive there isn't much point in going - and it does take some time to go up and down; or, boats to the Blue Grotto leave from Marina Grande.
Jetfoils to Sorrento, on the other hand, leave Capri at 10, 20 and 40 minutes past each hour and take about 30 minutes, so if you arrive in Capri around 10 and have had enough by 12 you could leave Capri at 12.40 and spend the afternoon either in Sorrento/returning from there to Naples by Circumvesuviana, not forgetting that you will need a taxi from the station (Piazza Garibaldi) in Naples to the port (you will need to remember the name of the Molo your ship is berthed at). It takes about an hour from Sorrento to Naples if you aren't stopping at Pompeii, which would mean that you would have to get the 17:56 to be sure of getting back in time to get to your ship.
Look on http://www.capri.net/en/ship-timetable
http://www.vesuviana.it/

This more or less same question has been asked recently at least twice and has been answered comprehensively, so a look in the Naples Forum would be a good idea.I agree with the previous posters that it is not a good idea to do all in one day. I seriously question doing Pompeii only in the morning - there is lots to see but it all depends on a) how early you get there (and my advice to to arrive for opening time of 9 am) and b)your level of interest. The leaflet you get with the audio guide (recommended Euro 5) gives outlines for 3, 5 and 7 hour tours, so that will give you a clue as to what can be achieved in what time. I would aim to reach Sorrento, if that is what you want to do, around 3pm or so, when the shops will be starting to reopen. Personally, with the time you have, I would just go to Pompeii and then if there is time, go to Herculaneum, which is wonderful and gives you much more or a sense of a living town and a work in progress. Btw, the train service is excellent - frequent, cheap and reliable but not glamourous!