Pompeii or Sorrento and Pompeii

[sparky876]

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.

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[Mysticalmother]

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.

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Assuming you are docking in Naples.....my personal view would be to stick with just Pompeii. Sorento is a pretty town but you are likely to spend a fair bit of the 8 hours on the road between Pompeii & Sorrento! The traffic can be very busy on this road and although the views are stunning from the coach, I personally wouldn't bother. Pompeii is worth spending time at especially if, as I am presuming correctly, it is your first visit. Sorrento is nice too, but save that for another time.

We did the Pompeii guided tour a few years ago and it was excellent, but we docked at Sorrento. It took us ages to get back to the ship and several other tours were late back.

Have a great time!

[kruzseeka]

I agree with Mysticalmother - if you are berthed at Nappies, the drive to Sorrento can be slow and tortuous. The roads are narrow and winding with a lot of traffic and parking in places making progress slow. You also really need to be on the right hand side of the coach (facing the driver) to benefit from the coastal views. Often they come back via a more direct route not along the coast so you don't get the views on the way back if you're sitting on the 'wrong' side on the outward leg. An arranged lunch too takes up a fair bit of time so free time becomes limited. That may not be an issue for you but is worth taking into consideration.

 

Pompeii is a huge site so that would obviously be only a fairly rushed visit of the highlights on a combined trip given the time constraints created by the travelling to Sorrento. We went to Pompeii independently using the train from Naples, followed the site map to do just the highlights which they reckoned was a 2.5 hour tour but took us over 3hrs. We bought the radio guides and were able to go at our own pace, linger where appropriate and see buildings without about 30 other people squashed in around us. We did set off early beating most of the tours so had a quiet hour before lots of people arrived. But even after the hordes descended we could target the empty buildings as a group left and look around at our leisure. Easy to do - this was from Naples by the way - if you'd like more explicit info on getting there I can let you know.

 

But I would agree doing both would be rushed in my book and possibly frustrating - but it all depends on what you want to see and how you prefer to approach your sight seeing. Hopefully you can review the excursions and get an idea of the timings/free time etc and take the points raised into account.

 

However you may be anchored off Sorrento as some cruises do which puts a different complexion on things altogether.

 

Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy it!

Edited March 2, 2015 by kruzseeka

[wobblybob74]

Excellent reply from kruzseeka.

 

When we went, we took a morning shore excursion. I am very glad that we did as it was boiling hot, even at 9am! I dread to think how I'd have coped in the heat on the afternoon tour as, with virtually the whole site in ruins, there is obviously very little shade.

 

I'd been wanting to visit Pompeii since I was a child and was so excited about going. I really wasn't disappointed and the things I saw there have stayed with me. It's surprisingly moving, as there are body casts there of some of the people who perished on that day - they are captured in the poses in which they died.

 

Sorrento can always be done on your next cruise :D

[Wull92]

Hi,we did the Pompeii and Sorrento combined tour and I would advise against it. My wife really wanted to see Pompeii and I wanted to see Sorrento so we thought this tour would suit us. Pompeii was really interesting and well worth the visit,as mentioned by others the included lunch took two hours off our time and was not very nice. Lunch was food that was cooked for the masses and not worth the time it took to serve or eat it. I would have rather bought my own food as we only ate the bread. The drive to Sorrento was a nightmare as it took forever. When we arrived at Sorrento we were dropped off in the town centre and on disembarking the bus the guide said we had to be back on the bus in 30 mins. I could not believe it!!! We had been on the bus for 2.5 hours, to say I was disappointed is putting it mildly. My advice along with others would be to do one or the other but not both.

On a good point it`s an excuse for another cruise to take in Sorrento again:D

 

Regards

W&P

Edited March 2, 2015 by Wull92

[Mr Piano]

We did the combined tour, Sorrento was okay, and worth the trip, but Pompeii blew us away, it was fantastic, I hope you get the same guide we had, he brought the place to life. What ever you do, don't do Pompeii on your own without a guide, it would be meaningless

[sparky876]

Thank you so much for all your advise, I think we are just going to do the Pompeii trip and save Sorrento for maybe another time. We feel from the sounds of things the trip to Pompeii may be rushed if combined with the Sorrento one. We feel a little worried doing this trip ourselves with the train tho so may book one of the excursions to Pompeii.

[CCFC]

I have done Pompeii and Herculaneum, if you are interested in history and want to listen to a knowledgeable guide with less crowds give Herculaneum a thought. Its not as well known but was a far better experience in my eyes.

[kruzseeka]

We did the combined tour, Sorrento was okay, and worth the trip, but Pompeii blew us away, it was fantastic, I hope you get the same guide we had, he brought the place to life. What ever you do, don't do Pompeii on your own without a guide, it would be meaningless

 

I do agree you need guidance about what you are seeing at Pompeii but we hired the audio guides available at the site and that, in conjunction with the user friendly map with corresponding numbered locations and route maps of different lengthed tours, was very good indeed. We subsequently did a ship's trip to Herculaneum with a 'real' guide which was excellent but I didn't feel I'd been short-changed on the information at Pompeii by adopting a DiY approach - but yes, it is important to have input and I would definitely say you need to hire the audio guide if you haven't gone in an organised group.

[NickiP]

We're doing the same cruise & have chosen the trip to Sorrento, as I'm going to be with my Mum who is 80 and not the fastest walker these days. Although I would love to visit Pompeii, Mum has already been there, and I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get around it all & appreciate it properly; I've decided to leave it for another trip with my partner who also hasn't been there.

So we've opted for 'Sorrento on your own' , but after reading these replies, I'm worried that the journey will be very long & we won't have much time there. Our cruise is in mid-May. Is the road to Sorrento busy at all times of year? Would it be better to get a ferry from the port in Naples to Sorrento? Or would that involve lots of walking which wouldn't be great with my Mum? (she can walk, just not nearly as quickly as me these days).

[daisymay1960]

I have done Pompeii and Herculaneum, if you are interested in history and want to listen to a knowledgeable guide with less crowds give Herculaneum a thought. Its not as well known but was a far better experience in my eyes.

 

 

Agree with Herculaneum , far more of this town remains as it was preserved in the ash , it's amazing

[davedex]

We did both with an amazing company calledcan't be missed tours who took us to the edge of Positano, lunch in Sorrento and pompei in the afternoon,.

 

 

I love cruisin!

[davedex]

Although it was hot in the afternoon ( it was hot in the morning too, it was august!) they were much cheaper than the organised tours and just as good

 

 

I love cruisin!

[skit72]

We did both with an amazing company calledcan't be missed tours who took us to the edge of Positano, lunch in Sorrento and pompei in the afternoon,.

 

 

I love cruisin!

 

We used these too, last August, and they were excellent. We also did the Rome tour with them, totally recommended. Stopped off for the best and cheapest freshly squeezed orange juice I've ever had.

[davedex]

We used these too, last August, and they were excellent. We also did the Rome tour with them, totally recommended. Stopped off for the best and cheapest freshly squeezed orange juice I've ever had.

 

 

Oh yes forgot about that, that little stall had the most tasty juice ever and ice lollies for the kids! Gus our guide was excellent. We did Rome the previous day and whilst it was A lot in one day to take in was fantastic value. Could. It recommend them highly enough

 

 

I love cruisin!

[IECalCruiser]

We did a private tour of Pompeii, Positano and Sorento from Naples with three other couples. We included a tour guide along with the driver. Stopped at Pompeii first before it got hot and had a great tour with our knowledgeable guide. Then we drove to Positano to explore the town. Our last stop was at Sorento for lunch and more shopping/sightseeing. We had a choice to eat as a group or on our own. Should have done it on our own because the service was slow but the food was good. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and it was less expensive than a half day ship's tour.

[davecttr]

Pompeii is worthe doing on its own.

 

there might be a sorrento and amalfi coast tour which i enjoyed. Sit on the right side of the coach for the best views as the amalfi coast is anti clockwise for coaches. We visited sorrento first where we had lunch. Then drove along the coast to Amalfi where we had an hour or so. Then continued along the coast and took the motorway back to Naples.