Train from port to Pompeii/Sorrento/Naples

We are thinking of taking the train from Naples to Pompeii and then to Sorrento and either the train or ferry (weather dependent Oct. 21) back to Naples. We are in port from 7:00 am to 6:30 pm. Doable? Has anyone done this? Can we buy the tickets for the different stops at one time? Thanks in advance for any enlightenment!

The train to Pompeii and Sorrento is the private Circumvusia railway, a quaint suburban rattler operating from separate downstairs platforms at Napoli Centrale station . Exiting Napoli Centrale look on the left for signage directing you downstairs to the Circumvusia Railway . Runs every 30 minutes or more frequently. Alight at POMPEI SCAVI for the ruins at Pompei .

Beware for good reason this train is known as the PICK POCKET Express, so just be extra careful with wallets and purses .

We are thinking of taking the train from Naples to Pompeii and then to Sorrento and either the train or ferry (weather dependent Oct. 21) back to Naples. We are in port from 7:00 am to 6:30 pm. Doable? Has anyone done this? Can we buy the tickets for the different stops at one time? Thanks in advance for any enlightenment!

Yes, it's quite doable and lots of us have done it.

From the Naples port to Pompei you have a couple of mass transit options. Unfortunately for you the Campania Express will have ceased operations for the season the week before you arrive, so if you want to travel by train the regular Circumvesuviana is your only option.

I would encourage you to consider taking the bus instead. There are several benefits to the bus vs. the train:

• the bus depot is quite close to the cruise port, a one-third of a mile walk away (or even closer if your ship happens to be berthed at the auxiliary piers) while the train is one and a third miles away, requiring a bus or metro ride to get there
  
• you are all but guaranteed a seat on the bus while just the opposite is true of the train, you can count on standing for all or part of the trip
  
• it's highly unlikely you will run into a pickpocket on the bus while you can almost be assured that there's at least one in every car of the train (the bus makes very few stops so there's no easy escape for the thief after the act)
  
• the AC on the bus will work
  

There are also two "cons" to the bus, the first is a very limited schedule and the second is that the bus stop in Pompei is two-tenths of a mile from the Porta Marina entrance to the ruins while the Circumvesuviana station is only 300' away. Another concern I have heard from travelers is knowing when to get off the bus (the train is seen as easier since each stop has signs so you know when you're there). Fortunately this is easy in this case as the stop in Pompei is the first one after the bus leaves the highway. Keep an eye on your watch, at about the half hour mark the bus should be leaving the highway. You'll get off right in front of a business called "Camping Spartacus".

The bus timing is perfect for you. It departs at 8 AM and there is a ticket office right at the depot in Piazza Immacolatella. If you make a google map of these coordinates (40.841841, 14.258080) then go to street view by putting the little person icon right on the red address market you can see the ticket office (spin around in place on the map until you see it), a two-story brick building with a sign that says Tavassi over the door. Bus schedule here: http://www.sitasudtrasporti.it/archivio/Download/corse/sitasud/Campania/Salerno/32d0a018-38cc-4b4f-b650-b6186648cdf5_5001_2016.pdf/0

There is no need to purchase all of your tickets at once. When you are ready to leave Pompei for Sorrento there is a manned ticket office at the Circumvesuviana station.

The last ferry of the day from Sorrento back to Naples departs Sorrento at 4:25 PM and arrives to Naples at 5:10 PM: http://alilauro.it/orari-e-tariffe

The train doesn't give you anymore time in Sorrento because (1) it takes longer to make the trip and (2) you have to leave time to get from the train station in Naples back to the port. The ferry arrives to the pier adjacent to the cruise port, a walk of only a couple of minutes. The last train you could safely take departs Sorrento at 4:07 PM and arrives to Porta Nolana at 5:14 PM. (Actually, if you do take the train back I would get off at Garibaldi, the penultimate stop, and use the metro to Municipio to get back to the port quickly and easily.)

Return train schedule here: http://www.eavsrl.it/web/sites/default/files/eavferro/Sorrento%20-%20Napoli_0.pdf

It's worth considering the route the opposite way round, ie ferry to Sorrento, then Circumvesuviana train from Sorrento to Pompeii and again from Pompeii back to Naples.

That has been my preference, others will advocate your envisaged direction - there's no right or wrong, just personal preferences.

The pros:

- The ferry at approx. 9am fits neatly into your schedule & leaves from adjacent the cruise terminal.

- Many shops in Sorrento are closed for siesta in the afternoons & altho pleasant Sorrento has little else to offer.

- The train runs every 30 minutes (7 days a week), so you can spend maximum time in Pompeii - the other way round most folk rush Pompeii in order to have time in Sorrento, time which they then find wasted. With Pompeii last, you can give it as much time as you have left.

- this way round fits the cruiser's maxims of not relying heavily on ferries (risk of missing the last available, or delay or cancellation due too weather etc), and of visiting the closest venue last in order to minimise any delay in returning to the ship.

- there's no fear of the train being booked-out for the return journey, and there are Plan B's (bus, taxi) in the unlikely event of a problem with the trains.

The cons:

Later in the day is hotter, so it's not so pleasant in Pompeii if the weather is very hot.

Some say Pompeii is more crowded in the afternoons, tho that's not been my experience.

The walk or bus or taxi or metro from Napoli Centrale train station (in Piazza Garibaldi) back to the ship is at the end of the day instead of the start.

Instead of Pompeii, Herculaneum ("Ercolano Scavi" station, a stop or two on the Naples side of Pompeii) also fits a cruiser's timescale, and the routine in either direction is exactly the same as for Pompeii.

JB :)

Wow! Great information - lots to consider. Thank you so much!

I am on the Pullmantur Sovereign docking in Naples on October 18 and I was thinking of doing the same plan as FLBeachWalker. I wanted to say the information here was so helpful. Thank you for posting this.

Kim

We have just returned from carnival vista and went to Pompeii for day . You can walk off the ship through the terminal keep walking on the right hand side across the road is a news kiosk which sells day tickets which were just over €6 each return . You then need to cross over the road again to the bus stop it was number 151 stops at the train station there was another bus sorry forgotten the number it's only a few stops to garibaldi train station ,we asked the driver and he shouted at the stop. At the station the same ticket will get you on the platform journey was a little under an hour. Pompeii station literally 100 yards from entrance and there is a kiosk selling entrance tickets to save you queuing I think it was €11 or €12 each . Great day out and so much cheaper than a ship tour did not go on to sorrento so cannot comment. We had no problems and didn't see anything untoward but Naples has a reputation for pickpocket so just be careful

You actually should have gotten off the #151 one stop earlier, at Porta Nolana station for the Circumvesuviana to Pompei. The Garibaldi station is the second stop, the few seats that exist are taken by those who get on at Porta Nolana, the start of the line.

The fare each way for the bus and train (one ticket covers both) is the NA-3 Integrato, which costs €3,20 each way.