Calais to Pompeii
Can anyone help with the best route to the Pompeii/Herculaneum area and the best place to stay once there.
We are seasoned motorhomers with over 38 years experience covering quite a lot of Europe but we have never been further south in Italy than Sienna. On our earlier trips we have gone through the Swiss tunnels and lastly the Frejus tunnel which comes out roughly above Turin. Dislike them all.
I have heard that it's best to avoid Naples and head for Sorrento. We plan to get there a quickly as possible and take our time coming back.
Any advice will be most welcome.
Deepwaters
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You are on a direct route going straight through Switzerland - and, weather permitting, you can easily go over the Simplon or St Gotthard passes if you don't like tunnels.
As for Pompei, if you go back three weeks on here there was a helpful thread started on 20 February this year with several useful hints.
Have a safe journey.
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This previous thread might give you a few pointers as to where to stay when you get there. In terms of getting to Italy my choice would be the Fern and Brenner passes (a bit more complicated if your motorhome is over 3500kgs) I think that Sorrento would be a nice place to stay, visited many years ago by other means. It has good train connections to Naples and Pompeii. Funnily enough I had an e-mail from a camping stop actually in Naples, see here http://www.castagnaroparking.it/EN/index.html It's not a recommendation as I have never been there but it might be worth a look.
David
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It is not really that difficult to avoid tolls while traversing Austria especially if your motorhome is heavier than 3.5 tons. As DK suggests use the Fern Pass and go into Innsbruck and then take the old Brenner Pass road the B182 into Italy. The B182 has a caravan and truck ban on it but motorhomes can use it.
peedee
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As above via Fern Pass and Brenner if you don`t wish to go via Switzerland. We are going via Switzerland, tried Mont Blanc Tunnel down to Genoa and Cinque Terre to Tuscany couple of years ago, expensive route and autostrada around Genoa narrow windy and many tunnels
Looking at Camping Blue Green, Piano de Sorrento or Camping Nube de Argento, Sorrento, both within walking distance of train stations. The reviews of most sites in the area are not great partly I suspect due to being busy so fingers crossed.
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We were looking for information on this on our post earlier and are heading to Sorrento towards end April. Leaving Northumberland Newcastle to Amsterdam and hoping to arrive Sorrento 6 days later. Doing a slow trip this time. Our first stop is in Bad Kreuznach, then Rheine Falls for 2 nights, then a site in Varese/Como then Arezzo for a couple of nights and then Sorrento. Having looked at numerous sites we have decided on Santa Fortunata Village camping. It seems an ok site and an ACSI site so at the time that we will be there - end April to end of first week in June - the cost is 19 euros a night. It is apparently easy to get to both Pompeii and Ercolano around 20 mins on the metro to Pompeii and 40 mins to Ercolano around 2 euros pp . Think they have a navette into Sorrento. Also it is easy to get a ferry to Capri and either a bus or ferry around the coast to Amalfi. According to my investigations one needs to sit on the left hand side of the ferry to Capri and the right hand side of the bus around the coast to Amalfi. Another piece of information which I can't guarantee but gleened from the website entry to both sites in free on the 1st Sunday of each month. Hope this information is useful
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The Train from Sorrento to Pompeii and Herculaneum is overland, not metro. Cheap and scruffy but does the job. It goes on to Naples.
If you take the hydrofoil to Capri it doesn’t matter where you sit; it’s fast. We have always stayed in Capri (hotel) but the ferries are very busy in high season. Get the earliest you can and then get a bus to Anacapri as soon as you arrive. You can walk back to Capri on the very attractive coastal route if you wish. Don’t miss the cable lift from Anacapri up to the summit for spectacular views.
From Sorrento, use the ferries to get to Amalfi, Positano etc.
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Would like to thank all the above for their replies if only I had responded sooner. Unfortunately over the past two summers I have had some health problems and did not get to Europe at all last year.
Fingers crossed, we are hoping to have another attempt at Pompeii this year.
Thank you all again
deepwaters
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