Naples - recommendations for what to do

[AmoMondo]

My cousin and i will be on a cruise calling at naples in april. neither of us do organized tours. Our original intention was to use public transport (train?) to go to pompei. However i've also seen someone posting on another board that herculeam is better and easier to get to, whilst another says hydrofoil to sorrento is best. I'm now totally confused. I'd really welcome any advice or ehearing about experiences other people have had when visiting naples,

Thanks very much

[emileg]

My cousin and i will be on a cruise calling at naples in april. neither of us do organized tours. Our original intention was to use public transport (train?) to go to pompei. However i've also seen someone posting on another board that herculeam is better and easier to get to, whilst another says hydrofoil to sorrento is best. I'm now totally confused. I'd really welcome any advice or ehearing about experiences other people have had when visiting naples,

Thanks very much

There is a very pleasant train that will take you to both Pompeii and Herculaneum. Herculaneum is closer. Both are fascinating and are doable in one day together. You need to take a taxi to the correct railroad station to get the train. Guidebooks will tell you which train to take. Since we did both on our last cruise, we plan to go to the National Archeology Museum in Naples this time around.

[nparmelee]

How much time do you have in port? It would not be difficult to go to Pompeii (Pompeii Scavi stop) or Herculaneum (Erculano Scavi stop) by train, then continue on the same train to Sorrento for a while and then take the hydrofoil back to Naples. Depending on how much time you have, you might even be able to see both Pompeii and Herculaneum.

[GSPLover]

Herculaneum, Pompeii and Sorrento are easy on the train. See the link on my train site (see sig line below.)

[rebeccalouise]

Go to the place you most want to see first. This way if you are having fun you don't have to rush off to the next place. I think most people try to do too much in one day and are too worried about the time.

 

I did Pompeii and went back to the ship and felt that was a good choice. I didn't feel the need to do any other excursion but that's just me.

[Susan-M]

We've done Pompeii and Herculaneum on separate trips, but I think that combining them in one day would be overload. If you haven't been to this area before, do one (I would recommend Pompeii first) and spend time enjoying other areas, e.g. doing what nparmelee has suggested. Herculaneum is closer to Naples, but on the same train line as Pompeii Scavi, so the only difference is about 15 minutes of extra travel time to Pompeii.

 

For train info, Rick Steves Italy guide book has good details, and GSPlover's train info (see his post above) is very helpful.

[mountainmare]

We did Pompeii and Herculanium on one trip and really enjoyed it. I liked the contrast between the two sites. We took the tram to the train and went to Pompeii first buying the combo ticket for both sites.

After we finished with Herculanium we took the train back to the main station and followed the Rick Steves instructions to get pizza. Then DH went back to the ship and explored Naples a little more. Naples was one of our favorite stops.

[AmoMondo]

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. i think I'm going to go to Pompei and then on to Sorrento and back by hydrofoil. We dock at 11 and need to be back on board by 18.30 at the latest, so we probably only have about 6.5-7 hours at the most. I'll need to plan out the times to make sure we have time to do it all. Does anyone know roughly how long the journey back from Sorrento takes by hydrofoil?

[CintiPam]

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. i think I'm going to go to Pompei and then on to Sorrento and back by hydrofoil. We dock at 11 and need to be back on board by 18.30 at the latest, so we probably only have about 6.5-7 hours at the most. I'll need to plan out the times to make sure we have time to do it all. Does anyone know roughly how long the journey back from Sorrento takes by hydrofoil?

 

40 minutes.

[2Fltravelers]

There is a very pleasant train that will take you to both Pompeii and Herculaneum. Herculaneum is closer. Both are fascinating and are doable in one day together. You need to take a taxi to the correct railroad station to get the train. Guidebooks will tell you which train to take. Since we did both on our last cruise, we plan to go to the National Archeology Museum in Naples this time around.

 

Emileg:

 

I see you will be on the Ruby Princess. We will be on the Ruby Princess TA in October also stopping in Naples. I would love to hear about where you docked and how you got to the museum. We expect to do the same thing and maybe add Herculaneum as well. Any info you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks.