How to get here, and why it then pays to leave the car where it is

Campania is where all the roads of southern Italy converge: the Autostrada del Sole ends at Naples, and from there the A30 runs to Salerno, the A16 to Puglia and the A2 to Calabria. Getting here is easy from anywhere. The trouble starts afterwards, inside the region, and it concerns the last few dozen kilometres.

By car and by camper

Rome to Naples is a little over two hours on the motorway, Milan about eight. The exits that matter for campers are Pompeii and Ercolano on the A3, Castellammare for the Sorrento peninsula, Battipaglia and Eboli for the Cilento. The times to allow for are those of the last twenty kilometres: from Castellammare to Sorrento, in summer, takes longer than Rome to Naples.

For campers there is a specific warning: the SS163 along the Amalfi Coast has height and length limits in several places, and in summer long vehicles are regulated by alternating number plates on part of the route. You do not tour the coast by camper: you leave it at the campsite and take the bus or the ferry.

By train

Naples Centrale is a high-speed station: seventy minutes from Rome, four and a half hours from Milan. Inside the region the local network is dense and worth more than the car: the Circumvesuviana links Naples to Herculaneum, Pompeii and Sorrento, and the Salerno line serves the whole coast down to the Cilento.

By air

Naples Capodichino airport is inside the city, six kilometres from the central station, with a frequent shuttle. It is one of the few Italian airports from which you reach the centre in twenty minutes, and for anyone hiring a car it is the natural starting point for the Sorrento peninsula or the Cilento.

For the islands

Capri, Ischia and Procida are reached by ferry or hydrofoil from Naples (Molo Beverello for hydrofoils, Calata Porta di Massa for ferries) and from Sorrento. A car is of little use on the islands and in the summer months landing non-resident vehicles is restricted: you go on foot and use the buses.