Getting around
Trains, hydrofoils, buses, taxis. What's worth what — and how much it really costs to reach Capri or the airport.
On foot, most of the time
From the B&B on via Marziale the train station is two minutes away, Piazza Tasso four, and the harbour at Marina Piccola seven. You can cross the old town in a quarter of an hour, and nothing that matters is far.
The one real variable is the gradient: Sorrento sits on a tufa terrace above the sea, so everything that goes down to the water has to come back up. Marina Grande and Marina Piccola are a walk down and a climb back.
The train: the Circumvesuviana
The Naples–Sorrento line is run by EAV, and Sorrento is its terminus: the train leaves from here empty, so there is always a seat. Services run roughly every half hour through the day, with the last evening departures fairly early.
From Sorrento it is about half an hour to Pompei Scavi, forty minutes to Herculaneum and a little over an hour to Naples. Mind the station name: for the excavations you get off at "Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri", not "Pompei Santuario", which is a different line and a different town.
In high season the Campania Express also runs — a tourist train with few stops, air conditioning, a guaranteed seat and luggage space. It costs more, and in summer it is worth it.
By sea: from Marina Piccola
Capri is twenty to twenty-five minutes by hydrofoil, and it is the only route that runs all year. Positano and Amalfi are connected seasonally, roughly mid-April to mid-October. Ischia and Procida have seasonal, non-daily direct sailings: out of season you route via Naples or Capri.
Every departure depends on the sea: wind or swell cancels them, even in August. In high season buy online the day before and turn up at least twenty minutes before boarding.
The bus
SITA buses link Sorrento to the Amalfi Coast — Positano, Amalfi — and to the peninsula towards Massa Lubrense, Sant'Agata and Termini. They are the sensible alternative to a car on narrow roads where parking is the problem.
In town, the local bus connects Piazza Tasso with Marina Grande and Marina Piccola: of little interest on the way down, very useful on the climb back. Buy your ticket before boarding.
From Naples airport
There is a direct coach from Capodichino to Sorrento, taking about an hour and a quarter, and it is the simplest option with luggage. Alternatively take the Alibus to Napoli Centrale and the Circumvesuviana from there — one more change, and cheaper. Taxis and private transfers are convenient and considerably more expensive.
The car: why you are often better off without one
Sorrento has a restricted traffic zone, scarce and expensive parking, and narrow coastal roads that clog in high season. From here you can reach Capri, Pompeii, Naples, Positano and Amalfi without ever driving.
A car is genuinely useful only for the places public transport serves badly: Termini, Nerano, the smaller coves of Massa Lubrense. For those, hiring one for a single day makes more sense than keeping it for the whole holiday.