Naples International Airport to Sorrento
About 50 km south; the published fixed taxi fare is โฌ125, while the Curreri coach does it for a fraction of that in around 75 minutes.
A cliff-top town facing Vesuvius across the bay, with lemon groves behind it, a small marina below and the ferries to Capri leaving from the harbour โ the usual base for the Amalfi Coast without staying on it.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Sorrento, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from โฌ110). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from โฌ12) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car โ so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo ยท 1 traveller | โฌ12 | โฌ110 | Bus |
| Couple ยท 2 travellers | โฌ24 | โฌ110 | Bus |
| Family of 4 ยท 4 travellers | โฌ48 | โฌ110 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority isโฆ | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From โฌ9, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3โ4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
The budget option by a wide margin and the one most independent travellers take. It sets down at Piazza Tasso in the centre of Sorrento โ fine if your hotel is central, a taxi ride if you are out along the cliffs.
Where to catch it: The Curreri coach leaves from outside arrivals; buy on board or online. It runs down the peninsula calling at Castellammare, Vico Equense, Meta and Piano before Sorrento.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Expensive against a โฌ12 coach, but it is a fixed and knowable number for a 75-minute run, and it takes you to the door rather than to Piazza Tasso. For four people with luggage the per-head figure is less alarming than it first looks.
Where to catch it: One of the published predetermined fares, one way per vehicle, supplements included. Motorway tolls and the minivan surcharge sit outside it.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Worth booking the return at the same time โ the Amalfi side of the peninsula gets congested from mid-morning and an early flight means leaving before the coaches start.
Where to catch it: Priced around the official taxi fare. Sorrento's older hotels sit on narrow cliff roads where knowing the access matters more than the price difference.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsTrain
The cheapest route and the slowest โ around an hour and fifty minutes in total on a commuter line with no luggage space to speak of. It is how locals travel and it is not comfortable with two large cases in August.
Where to catch it: Alibus to Napoli Centrale (โฌ5), then the Circumvesuviana line from the lower level to Sorrento, its terminus.
Best for budget travellers near a stationSorrento & Naples in photos
Buying tickets in Naples
Naples has no airport rail link and does not need one: the Alibus shuttle leaves from directly outside arrivals, costs โฌ5, and reaches Piazza Garibaldi (Napoli Centrale) in 20โ30 minutes before continuing to Piazza Municipio by the port in 35โ40. The detail most arrivals miss is that the ticket is integrated and valid for 90 minutes across other urban services โ so if your hotel needs a metro or funicular leg afterwards, the same โฌ5 covers it. Buy from the machine, the ANM app or on board, and validate. For onward journeys, the Curreri coach runs from the same area down the peninsula to Sorrento, and the Circumvesuviana commuter railway from the lower level of Napoli Centrale serves Pompeii and the coast cheaply โ get off at Pompei Scavi for the ruins, not plain Pompei, which is a different line and a 20-minute walk away.
Taxi scams & safety in Naples
Naples does something no other airport in this guide does: the city publishes binding fixed taxi fares with every supplement already inside the number โ airport pickup, night, holiday, luggage and radio booking included. โฌ21 to Napoli Centrale, โฌ24 to Piazza Municipio, the port and the ZTL historic centre, โฌ125 to Sorrento, โฌ145 Positano, โฌ155 Amalfi, โฌ160 Ravello, one way per vehicle. Say "tariffa predeterminata" and name the destination as you get in, and the meter should stay off; motorway tolls and a minivan supplement are the normal exceptions. If a driver starts the meter for a listed destination, repeating the phrase is the correct response and an entirely routine one. Use the official rank rather than an approach inside the terminal. Do not hire a car for a Naples city stay โ the centro storico is a camera-enforced restricted zone and parking is genuinely hard; hire later for Pompeii or the coast instead.
Getting from NAP to Sorrento
There is a gap at this airport that catches people out. The published fixed taxi fare to Sorrento is โฌ125. The Curreri coach to the same town, leaving from the same forecourt, is about โฌ12. Both are legitimate, both are widely used, and the ten-fold difference is not a trick โ it is the difference between a seat on a bus that sets down in the main square and a car that takes four people and their luggage to a hotel gate on a cliff road. Knowing which of those you actually need is the whole decision.
The Curreri coach, in plain terms
It leaves from outside arrivals, timed loosely against the flight banks, and runs down the Sorrentine peninsula calling at Castellammare, Vico Equense, Meta and Piano before terminating at Piazza Tasso in the middle of Sorrento. Around eighty minutes. Buy on board or online. It is what most independent travellers take and there is nothing second-rate about it โ luggage goes underneath, the seats are proper coach seats, and the road is a main road rather than a cliff track.
When the โฌ125 is the right answer
When your hotel is not in the middle of Sorrento. The town spreads along a cliff top and out towards Sant'Agnello and Marina Grande, and Piazza Tasso is a fifteen-minute uphill walk from a good deal of it. For four people arriving with cases, the fixed fare divides into something closer to โฌ31 each, and it ends at the door. Say tariffa predeterminata as you get in; tolls and the minivan supplement are the only extras.
The cheapest route, and what it costs you
Alibus to Napoli Centrale for โฌ5, then the Circumvesuviana from the lower level to Sorrento, its terminus. Under twelve euros in total. It is also close to two hours, on a commuter line with no luggage space to speak of, standing in August alongside everyone travelling between the coastal towns for work. Islanders and students use it constantly and it is entirely safe. It is simply not a comfortable way to arrive with two large suitcases.
Why Sorrento rather than the Amalfi Coast
Because it is reachable. Sorrento sits on the north side of the peninsula on ordinary roads, and everything on the far side โ Positano, Amalfi, Ravello โ is on the cliff road with its hairpins and its summer standstills. A great many people who intend to see the Amalfi Coast stay here and cross over for the day, which is a sound plan and the reason the town has so many hotels for its size.
The ferry angle
Marina Piccola below the town runs boats to Capri in twenty to twenty-five minutes, which is faster and cheaper than going from Naples. If Capri is the point of the trip, Sorrento is the better base for it. The last returns are earlier than visitors expect and rough weather cancels sailings with little notice, so build slack into any day that depends on a boat.
The town itself, briefly
Lemon groves behind, the Bay of Naples in front with Vesuvius across the water, and a cliff face with lifts and a zigzag path down to the marina. Corso Italia runs through the middle and closes to traffic in the evening. It is not a place with major sights โ the Correale museum and the inlaid woodwork workshops are the extent of it โ and that is rather the point.
Booking the way back
Arrange the return when you arrange the arrival. The peninsula road congests badly from mid-morning through the season, and a dawn departure for an early flight means leaving before the Curreri coaches start running. Drivers here build extra time into airport runs for exactly this reason, and finding a car at short notice in August is genuinely difficult.
Getting around once you are there
Sorrento is small enough to walk, but the peninsula is not. The Circumvesuviana runs back towards Naples through the coastal towns, SITA buses cross to the Amalfi side, and the boats leave from Marina Piccola. A hire car is possible and mostly unnecessary โ parking in Sorrento is limited and expensive, and the coast road it would take you on is the one you would rather not drive.
