Naples or Sorrento as a base?

Kayak prices are the stay total with the taxes and fees Kayak shows, for the first 28 results its default sort listed with the three- and four-star filter. We kept only hotels inside each town: Kayak's Sorrento search also returns Castellammare, Vico Equense, Piano di Sorrento and Massa Lubrense, and its Naples search returns hotels out at Capodichino, Agnano and Pompei. For Naples we counted the hotels it places in the Centro Storico and Chiaia.

Named examples for October 14: in Sorrento, Hotel Rivage (3 stars) €265 with breakfast, Cristina Hotel (4 stars) €259, Best Western La Solara €155, Hotel Continental €558. In Naples, Hotel Il Convento €220 with breakfast and NH Napoli Panorama €225. By November 11, Sorrento's Rivage was €121 and Hotel Continental €200; Il Convento €145 and NH €183.

Kayak's totals already include estimated local taxes. For the record, Naples charges €6 per person per night at four stars and €5.50 at three stars, since May 1, 2026, for guests over 14. Sorrento's 2026 rates were reported unchanged at €4 for four stars and €2 up to three stars. At four stars, the tax saves two people €16 over four nights in Sorrento, a small offset against a room gap of €190 to €476.

Each Naples day from a Sorrento base costs €9.20 per person and about 2 hours 20 minutes of train. Each Amalfi Coast day from a Naples base costs the same, plus the bus. So count your days. Three or more city and ruins days favor Naples. Two or more coast days favor Sorrento. The tourist train, the Campania Express, is suspended from October 1, 2026, so both directions use the ordinary line.

Naples is the better place to be after dark if you came for food: pizza at 9 p.m., a walk home through the old town. From a Sorrento base, a Naples dinner ends with the last train from Garibaldi at 10:14 p.m.; from Sorrento the last train to Naples leaves at 10:02 p.m. The Alilauro hydrofoil (€19) runs only five times a day each way until November 3, and not in the evening.

Sorrento's evenings are quieter and smaller, and its view across the bay to Vesuvius is its selling point. Neither is wrong; they are different trips.

• Naples for a first trip of three to five days with the city, Pompeii or Herculaneum and one island. Our where to stay guide compares the areas; the Toledo and Municipio area is closest to the ferries.
• Sorrento for a trip built on the Amalfi Coast and Capri, with Naples as a day trip. See the Sorrento page.
• Both for a week: three nights in Naples, then three or four in Sorrento, moving on the 69-minute train.

One date to watch: the America's Cup races on the Bay of Naples from May 22 to July 18, 2027. Expect high Naples hotel prices and parts of the seafront closed then. Arriving by air in November 2026? Capodichino airport is closed for runway works from November 1 to 30, and some flights move to Salerno airport (QSR), about an hour's drive from Naples: see getting to Naples.

Sorrento: Exclusive Capri Boat Tour and Optional Blue Grotto

Not included, per the listing: the Capri landing and destination fee (€10), Blue Grotto entry (€18) and pickup (€5 each way). The grotto stop only comes with the early option.

5 to 8 hours

4.8★★★★★★★★★★(5,392 reviews)

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Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Sorrento Farm and Food Experience including Olive Oil, Limoncello, Wine tasting

Transport runs from the bus parking at Via Correale 26, Sorrento. Listed as wheelchair accessible. Drinks only for over-18s.

4 hours

5.0★★★★★★★★★★(3,021 reviews)

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Rating as shown on Viator

Sorrento: Pizza Lesson, Wine, and Limoncello at a Local Farm

The van leaves from the Vallone dei Mulini car park (Via Fuorimura 16) in Sorrento, not from hotels. Held outdoors, indoors if it rains; very bad weather can cancel it.

3 hours

5.0★★★★★★★★★★(2,284 reviews)

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Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

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