My wife and I are taking our first ever trip ever to Italy. I have started on the language CD's and hope to be able to speak enough Italian to get around there. We will be staying at a small villa in the country and will venture to Sorrento, Pompeii, etc. from there. We fly into Naples and need to take a train or bus to Sorrento. The owner of the villa recommended the bus as it is only a 1 hour ride and more comfortable that the train. Any opinions on that? I have a couple of questions for all of you seasoned travelers of Italy . Is there a way to purchase a bus ticket to Sorrento in the airport? And if so, do the people there speak & understand English so that we get on the right bus? The second thind I need help on is the best way to get to Pompeii? Shouls we plan on goinf from Sorrento (about 4 miles from our villa) or can one catch a bus in Massa Lubrense that goes to Pompeii? OH, just thought of something else...how are Americans looked upon now after the fiasco in Iraq? This will be our 20 year wedding anniversary trip and we wnat to make the most of it. Thanks, Martin & Tina Elliott
Welcome Folks! Nifty to see you doing the slow-travel thing, and keeping your horizons close: not like there isn't plenty to see in your Circle 1.
On bus vs. train, in my experience bus is unreliable, and finding the stops, tickets, etc. is much harder than train; newbies to Italy, I'd recommend sticking to the train, even if your landlord is, as is probable, right about the comfort. An hour isn't much, and it's not like trains are cattle cars, even small local runs.
On Americans and Iraq, Italians are reasonable people and are good at differentiating between governments and people. Much worse than the war-zone accident, for example, was the awful thing a few years ago when some US Marine jet pilots were playing a kind of game and clipped a cable-car plunging 20 people, mostly Italian of course, to their deaths. I was in Italy that year for 3 months, and no Italian so much as brought it up with me, although the media were, quite rightly, covering it fully and with great indignation. So this recent case, where only a small portion of the population, by political predisposition, will believe in anything other than an accident in a war zone, should not have the slightest effect on your relationships with Italians. (Now if it were France, it'd be another story....)
Thanks for your insight Bill. You are pretty close to my Home. We live about 30 minutes SW of Indianapolis. I'm going to wait on some more feedback on the bus vs. train thing. We booked our apartment through Summer in Italy.com. They have been wonderful so far. The note from the villa owner came with good specific directions for both and the gave us phone numbers so that we can call for a ride back to the vill from Sorrento.
I forgot about the cable car incident. I remember the story but didn't remember where it happened. I didn't think there would be problems with strained relations on a personal or travel level...just wanted some reassurance. Thanks, Marty
Someone more familiar with the Naples airport will have to answer about the bus vs. train from there; it may be that the bus is the most direct transportation.
To get to Pompeii, you will want to get to your nearest stop on the Circumvesuviano commuter train and take that to Pompeii. It's quite convenient and direct. The Summer in Italy Web site has detailed information and links to the train information (look on the Planning tab then click "Links to transportation companies in the area").
My experience with language has been that many teenagers are capable of interpreting, but won't volunteer. If you are stuck, look around, and ask a teenager to help.
Posts: 225 | Location: Ithaca NY, USA | Registered: 07 November 2002
The only suggestion that I have for you is to really watch your pockets in the areas that you are going. Make a photocopy of the photo page of your passport and have telephone numbers for Credit cards incase they are "misplaced."
I suggest that you keep money and id in different places on your body inside your pockets.
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