Pompeii or Sorrento and Pompeii

Could anyone please advise re excursions, we can't decided whether to do the Pompeii Guided tour or the Sorrento and Pompeii combined day trip both organised with P&O tours. Has anyone done either of these trips and have any advise on which to book whilst on our cruise. Not sure if we should bother combining the Pompeii trip with Sorrento which also includes lunch and is 8 hours duration.

Could anyone please advise re excursions, we can't decided whether to do the Pompeii Guided tour or the Sorrento and Pompeii combined day trip both organised with P&O tours. Has anyone done either of these trips and have any advise on which to book whilst on our cruise. Not sure if we should bother combining the Pompeii trip with Sorrento which also includes lunch and is 8 hours duration.

I have never done a cruise with P&O but I wouldn't want to miss either place! Do both, It'll be a wonderful day.

I agree. Do both. You won't regret it. Make sure you get a guided tour guide in Pompeii so you can really learn about this fantastic site.

Thankyou both for your input x

Sorry, gonna disagree.

Just a little.;)

IMHO Sorrento is no big deal.

Very pleasant, but it's nothing like the Amalfi coast, which is on the other side of the peninsula.

But just Pompeii seems a waste of some of your time.

If P&O offer Pompeii & the Amalfi coast (names like Positano, Amalfi, Ravello), then that's the one to go for.

If you like the idea of Sorrento & Pompeii, it's remarkably easy to DIY.

Much more varied & enjoyable than a coach trip, and much cheaper.

Ferry from adjacent the cruise terminal - there's one at 9am but get there plenty early to buy your tickets from the row of ticket booths on the shoreline. Something like 15 euros for the one-hour crossing of the Bay of Naples - and a view of Sorrento & its coast that you'll not get from a coach.

After mebbe a beer in the harbour, the little €1 shuttlebus up to the town. When you've seen your fill (IMHO that won't take long) head to the rail station for the half-hourly (7-days per week) Circumvesuvia train bound for Naples.

Buy a ticket to Naples (about €10?) but get off the train at Pompeii Scavi. Off the top of my head it's about 40 minutes, but the route & stations are shown in the carriages same as London tube trains. From Pompeii Scavi station it's mebbe 100 yards to the entrance to the site.

Entry to Pompeii (and Herculaneum & other Italian sights such as Rome's colosseum & forum) is free for Brit & EU seniors & half-price for some others - check the website for details. Take passport or other govt ID for proof of age.

You can hire a guide at the entrance, or use an audio-guide.

When you're done, back on the train to continue to the main Naples station (Napoli Centrale). The Sorrento to Naples train ticket you bought in Sorrento permits you to break your journey as long as the total travel time doesn't exceed 6 hours.

Again off the top of my head it's about 20 minutes to Naples.

Then bus or taxi or 25 minute walk back to your ship.

That's the way we did it.

An excellent day.

JB :)

I agree with my friend, JB, that Sorrento is "no big deal" but I guess somebody who has never been there might enjoy a quick visit. Pompeii is an amazing place. You might want to also consider that if you docking in Naples, getting to Pompeii on your own is quite easy (train or bus) and inexpensive. And once at the ruins you can join an English language tour (it used to be 10 Euros per person) at the entrance gate or just get an audio tour (with map) and do things at your own pace. The same train that goes to Pompeii Scavi (the main Pompeii train stop) also continues on to Sorrento. These trains run every 30 minutes and require no reservations.

Hank

If you DIY to Pompeii, you can go to Rick Steves' website and download free audio tours for ipod/mp3 and maps to print out. No need to tag along with a group and move at their pace. EM

I did a full-day tour while in Naples that included a trip down the Amalfi coast and Pompeii.

I could've spent all day on the coast and 20 minutes in Pompeii and been quite content. I was horribly bored in Pompeii, but awed by the beauty of the Amalfi coast.

Both..... You can only do so much of Pompeii IMO It's fantastic but enough is enough. :) Sorrento is charming. Go get a nice little music box. :)

Seeing the Amalfi Coast is so beautiful. It would be disappointing to be in Naples and not see the Amalfi Coast to Pompeii and Sorrento.

BUt lunch in Naples is fabulous. So many choices.... Hard to pick.

We need to clear up some geography. We know that many cruisers think that if they go from Naples to Sorrento they have seen part of the Amalfi Coast, but this is a total myth. That entire route (from Naples to Sorrento) is simply the Gulf of Naples!

The Amalfi coast is on the other side of the Sorrentine Peninsula from Sorrento. In fact, you cannot even see the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento! The "real" Amalfi Coast spans the region from Vierti sul Mare to Positano! Most consider Ravello part of the coast although its high on a hill slightly inland. In order to get to the Amalfi Coast from Naples you would usually drive past (hopefully bypassing) the town of Sorrento and then cut across the Peninsula to the "Amalfi Drive and then drive to Positano (a beautiful stretch of road) where the so-called Amalfi Coast begins and runs until you reach Veitra sul Mare near Salerno. There are actually 13 municipalities along the Amalfi Coast with Positano, Amalfi and Ravello generally being the ones oft cited by tourists. When we vacation on the coast we always stay in Praiano which is the next municipality from Positano (when driving towards Sorrento.

So why do I write all this gobble de gook? Because we often see others talking about Sorrento as its part of the Amalfi Coast....and its not even close!

As to the city of Sorrento, it has now become the primary destination of the less expensive land tours which take advantage of the many tourist-class hotels located around Sorrento. The hotels along the actual Amalfi Drive are generally smaller facilities with high prices. Jet setters (and many destination weddings) go to Positano or Ravello, but you will not normally find the "beautiful people" spending their nighst in Sorrento. To quote our favorite hotel owner in Praiano, "Sorrento is where we go to take our children for their back-to-school shopping."

Hank

If those were my only two choices, I'd choose Pompeii and Sorrento.

What I'd really want to do though (and what we did), was book an independent tour that went to Pompeii and then down the Amalfi coast. It was amazing. We ended up in Sorrento and had 45 minutes or so there before taking the ferry back to Naples--which was a great way to end our day.

We did the Pompeii and Sorrento tour a couple years ago and at the end of the day, we wished we had only done Pompeii. Sorrento was nice, but like John Bull said, we didn't think it was a big deal. However, we were amazed by Pompeii and because of the Sorrento half, we did not have enough time to see all of Pompeii....which is huge!

I did a full-day tour while in Naples that included a trip down the Amalfi coast and Pompeii.

 

I could've spent all day on the coast and 20 minutes in Pompeii and been quite content. I was horribly bored in Pompeii, but awed by the beauty of the Amalfi coast.

LOL, that's why there are choices for everyone. I can (and have) spend 2 entire days at Pompeii during a week in the area. I found Sorrento pretty dull though. It seems to be mainly about the shopping... :rolleyes:

Best thing for the OP to do is to do their research and figure out what appeals to THEM most.

Everyone has different likes and dislikes. I suffer fear of heights, so had no interest what-so-ever in doing the Amalfi coast with the views everyone talks about. Nor did I even go into Pompeii (not into museums). We walked along the wall (taking photos and glimpses of the ruins) and up to the entrance and that was enough for us.

On the other hand, we did enjoy the limoncello store and the small gift/souvenir stalls outside Pompeii. We continued on to Sorrento and saw the tile work, carved wood and alley shops. We also had lunch in Sorrento, before heading back to Naples and a short mini-tour of some of the major sites in Naples before returning to the ship.

Just a word of caution. I had planned to take that early ferry to Sorrento, then the train back to Pompeii and Naples. However we were docked at the opposite end of the pier area from the ferry pier, and knew we couldn't walk it. Princess announced there would be a shuttle, but it didn't start until 9:00 am (the same time the ferry left). I believe the next ferry was at 11 and we were afraid that would cut our return too close. We asked taxi drivers but none wanted such a short fare. One driver was very persistent and talked us into hiring him for the full trip. for 200 EURO. He was so considerate and concerned that two older ladies were travelling in Italy without a man (son, father, husband) that he escorted us across the roads, carried our purchases and played us music in his taxi. He escorted us to lunch but disappeared (I was going to buy his lunch), then upon our return to Naples, showed us around his town. It was like watching the TV show "Lives of the Rich & Famous" only we were living it.

It ended up being the best day of our 21 day trip!

So OP do what you feel comfortable with, thank goodness there are choices so each of us can be happy with our travels.

Wow thankyou so much for all your replys, now this has us thinking.

Everyone has different likes and dislikes. I suffer fear of heights, so had no interest what-so-ever in doing the Amalfi coast with the views everyone talks about. Nor did I even go into Pompeii (not into museums). We walked along the wall (taking photos and glimpses of the ruins) and up to the entrance and that was enough for us.

 

On the other hand, we did enjoy the limoncello store and the small gift/souvenir stalls outside Pompeii. We continued on to Sorrento and saw the tile work, carved wood and alley shops. We also had lunch in Sorrento, before heading back to Naples and a short mini-tour of some of the major sites in Naples before returning to the ship.

 

Just a word of caution. I had planned to take that early ferry to Sorrento, then the train back to Pompeii and Naples. However we were docked at the opposite end of the pier area from the ferry pier, and knew we couldn't walk it. Princess announced there would be a shuttle, but it didn't start until 9:00 am (the same time the ferry left). I believe the next ferry was at 11 and we were afraid that would cut our return too close. We asked taxi drivers but none wanted such a short fare. One driver was very persistent and talked us into hiring him for the full trip. for 200 EURO. He was so considerate and concerned that two older ladies were travelling in Italy without a man (son, father, husband) that he escorted us across the roads, carried our purchases and played us music in his taxi. He escorted us to lunch but disappeared (I was going to buy his lunch), then upon our return to Naples, showed us around his town. It was like watching the TV show "Lives of the Rich & Famous" only we were living it.

It ended up being the best day of our 21 day trip!

 

So OP do what you feel comfortable with, thank goodness there are choices so each of us can be happy with our travels.

How special. :)

Thanks for sharing this with us. Lovely post.