Hi Shan, i have no idea about Sorrento although it looks like a great place to visit! Naples, we were there briefly on the way to Pompeii & it really didn’t appeal to me at all! I think if you want to check out some of the museums it could be worth it as i have a feeling there’s a museum there with a lot of stuff from the excavations of Pompeii & Herculaneum which could be interesting, otherwise i’d give it a miss.

Pompeii is awesome and really interesting, but it’s also much bigger than we expected. We had a guide which could well be worth it for you since it looks like you only have a morning there unless you change your itinerary..

My advice would be to spend a whole day in Pompeii (take water!!), & stop 2 nights in Sorrento like you’re thinking. Naples has some incredibly high unemployment rate (which i can’t recall offhand) and it could be just me, but it really felt like it when we were there, also our guide (who was a local) told us it’s not very safe at night.

Good luck with your trip – Italy’s a fabulous place to visit!!!

Rach

Hi Rach

Thanks for that , its starting to sound like we will only stay the day in naples (since we get there mid morning) then take off to Sorrento.And visit pompeii during the day. I was just thinking on the last day maybe catching a ferry to capri then from capri catch the ferry to Naples to connect with the train to Rome. Does that sound possible, Does anyone know the duration of both ferry rides.

Thanks

Hello again…

Sorry really don’t know too much about ferries but this might help?
http://www.capritour…

Have a ball!!!

Rach

You dont need to decide if you want to stay in Naples now. When you get there, they have a baggage storage at the train station. Check in your stuff, walk around the city and see if are comfortable there. If so, find a place and then go get your luggage. If not, go to the station, get your stuff, and train over 40 minutes to Sorrento.

thanks

do you know if late september is generally a very busy time of year there…. is capri worth a day trip??

Shan

Its not the busiest time but its not the calmest.

Capri being worth it depends on you. If you go I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself and be glad the itch was scratched. You can leave to Capri from Sorrento and be back fairly quickly…to enjoy the latter half of the day/night in Sorrento or whatever.

All I know is that I would get out of Bari as soon as possible While it does have some redeeming qualities in terms of an old town (accord. to others), the scams of the taxi drivers, and the overall air of "cheating tourists" that is prevelant will make you want to get out.

I know for one, I am not the only one who has experienced the busses to the port that magically don’t come, until of course Taxi’s pick up all the tourists.

-A

Sweet, thanks for the tip. Our ferry arrives around 7ish and the train leaves about 830 so it look like we will catch the 1 for sure.

Were thinking we might only stay 2 nights now and give ourself an extra night in Rome

Shan

I’m not sure about the specifics of ferry times, but in my opinion Capri is definitely worth a good visit. I thought it was very pretty and a very nice to explore.

Since you are in Naples area you could check out a farm in a national park that is if you like nature and want to take a break from cities.
It is a self-sufficient organic farm.
It is very cheap €15 you will get a nice private rooom and breakfast is included.
Anyway check out this good backpackers website people who stayed there left some reviews.
http://www.bugeurope…

hey shan…you posted in may, and wondering if you’ve returned yet?.. my question is very similar..reverse order though. i’ll be flying into Rome (in june) and would like to stay in Italy for a total of 4 days before getting the ferry in Bari for Croatia. i’m figuring on…

rome 1 day
naples (day trips to capri, sorrento, positano?)
naples to bari..

i’ll have to get back to rome to fly home, so it’s either skip rome the first day and just spend my rome day before leaving.

any suggestions anyone?

yeah you just want to get out of bari. the town is filled with schisters, scam artists, and thugs.

i travelled through it, but i had that polish folk axe that I bought in the tatras, so you know, it was different.

whats weird is you can buy these little spider monkeys on the street there, might as well pick one up why not

I was in Italy last summer, we had originally planned to visit Naples and stay a couple of days in Pompei, instead we ended up skipping Naples, and taking the train from Rome all the way to Sorrento. We were there for four days, it’s a beatiful city and I highly recommend it, mostly quiet though. We took a day trip to Pompei and another one the Capri. When you arrive in Capri you can take the bus to the top of the island, we didn’t know and ended up climbing the stairs. Capri is expensive and a tourist town, we rented a boat and went around the island. I loved Sorrento, it’s very easy to get around, you have to walk to get to places and we didn’t see any historical sites or museums, it’s just a small italian city.

quote:
I was in Italy last summer, we had originally planned to visit Naples and stay a couple of days in Pompei, instead we ended up skipping Naples, and taking the train from Rome all the way to Sorrento. We were there for four days, it’s a beatiful city and I highly recommend it, mostly quiet though. We took a day trip to Pompei and another one the Capri. When you arrive in Capri you can take the bus to the top of the island, we didn’t know and ended up climbing the stairs. Capri is expensive and a tourist town, we rented a boat and went around the island. I loved Sorrento, it’s very easy to get around, you have to walk to get to places and we didn’t see any historical sites or museums, it’s just a small italian city.

I agree. I totally recommend Sorrento and limiting your time (for the most part) in Naples and Bari. I went straight to Sorrento from Bari via Naples and then did a day trips to Pompei, Capri and Positano. I loved it, just remember if you are a MUST on the day you get to Rome that there are train strikes sometimes. It let me spend an extra 2 days in Sorrento instead of spending a day in Naples and a day more in Rome and I can’t be happier that they struck. Sorrento was exactly what I wanted anyway.

Sorry if I double posted…whoops