Our Italian Adventure

We left our place in Rome early on Monday, May 12th and took a taxi to the Termini train station. With previously purchased business class tickets on Trenitalia, we would arrive at the Napoli (Naples) Centrale train station around 1000AM. Back in December of 2024, I had purchased almost all of our train tickets and decided we should ride in business class as much as possible on Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa high-speed trains. These trains can reach up to 250MPH and most are newer trains offering maximum comfort. In business class, seats are roomier, plus they provide a drink and snacks at no extra cost. Purchasing the tickets five months in advance also saved enough money to make those upgrades economical. The decision turned out to be the perfect choice. Only one train took off more than 10 minutes late and Trenitalia made our transportation to other destinations quite enjoyable. No paper tickets were needed, and their app was quite easy to use.

After arriving at the Naples train station, we met with our private driver who would take us to our Sorrento lodging with a stop at the Herculaneum Ruins. We used ‘Daytrip’ for our driver as getting to Sorrento isn’t easy without a car. From Naples, one can take a high-speed ferry which means walking a distance from the Sorrento Port to our lodging. Another option is to take a train which takes about 1 1/2 hours and the reviews for this train were terrible. Plus, without a car, combining a side trip to Herculaneum without a rental car would be highly unlikely. We chose the most expensive option, but I’m glad we did. Naples is one crazy city. We found that in Rome with narrow sidewalks and busy vehicular traffic, drivers were aggressive. In Rome, driver’s mindset seemed to be, “I hope to not hit you, but stay out of my way.” In Naples, the driver’s mindset seemed to be, “I hope to hit you, it would give me pleasure.”

We arrived at Herculaneum with pre-purchased tickets in hand. It wasn’t very busy, but we were starting to notice an increase in school field-trips. Just like the United States, May is very popular for school group outings. While the much larger Pompeii garners most of the attention because of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79AD, Herculaneum is better preserved. It was destroyed by pyroclastic surges while Pompeii was mainly destroyed by being buried with ash & pumice. Rather than slowly being buried by volcanic debris, the residents of Herculaneum were instantly incinerated. In addition, the smaller, but wealthier town of Herculaneum was discovered much later than Pompeii. There is still much to be discovered in Herculaneum, as witnessed by only a small portion of the coast having been excavated. Until 1982, experts thought everyone had escaped the eruption in Herculaneum. In 1982, archeologists found the skeletons of over 300 Herculaneum residents. These skeletons were sheltered in boat sheds which were on the coastline in 79AD. The shoreline are much further away now because of the amount of ash and pumice that created a new shoreline. The real skeletons were moved inside for advanced study. Those now seen by the tourists are fiberglass copies. From talking to many others, Herculaneum is the better choice than the much larger Pompeii. One can take in Herculaneum in about two to three hours, while Pompeii might take an entire day. In addition, Herculaneum is much better preserved.

We arrived in Sorrento in the early afternoon and met our lodging host. When he let us inside, we were shocked! The apartment was fantastic. It was larger, newer, and had more amenities than our original booking. The host had left enough beverages and food to last a family of six to survive for at least two weeks. We also had a small balcony which overlooked Corso Italia. (Pictured below from our balcony) This is the main pedestrian street in Sorrento. What a great way to start our vacation in stunning Sorrento. Thank you VRBO for that last minute cancellation. From the Piazza della Vittoria, we had wonderful views of the Gulf of Naples and the Tyrrhenian Sea (which is adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea). The sunsets off this Piazza were breathtaking. The mountain in the background is the famous Mount Vesuvius. We were in paradise, but it would get better.