Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on travelling to Sorrento without flying or going through the mountains

Have a travel question that needs answering? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Sorrento (Simon Calder)

Q I wonder if you could advise us of the best fly-less route to Sorrento. Our son is getting married there and my husband had a detached retina two weeks ago and is not allowed to fly. We thought the train would be a good option but not a mountainous route because of the altitude. Any recommendations would be gratefully received thank you.

Mrs Gene Clements

A What a great opportunity. Strikers permitting, you can travel happily and safely to Sorrento - and enjoy spectacular views along the way, as well as a night in a great city.

Because of the stipulation about altitude, the most direct routes won't work for you - they involve going over the Alps. Even the marvellous new Gotthard Base Tunnel, which allows high-speed travel through the Alps, reaches a height of 1,800 feet.

So take the 7.19am train from London St Pancras to Marseille, which gets to the Mediterranean at 2.46pm. You'll have time to stretch your legs and grab a picnic lunch at the market close to Marseille-St-Charles station, before boarding the 3.31pm to Genoa. That will deliver a spectacular coastal journey, and still get you to the hub of the Ligurian coast in time for dinner. Overnight at the Grand Hotel Savoia, almost opposite Piazza Principe station, where advance double rooms cost a very reasonable £161.

Unless you stay around until lunchtime, you'll need to change somewhere on the journey south to Naples; the trip at 7.50am via Milan takes just over six hours, and gets you there in time for a late lunch.

The final leg is, in my opinion, the best section of the whole journey. The Circumvesuviana is a single-track, narrow-gauge line which provides the best little train ride in Europe.

In the course of about 90 minutes it arcs around the Bay of Naples, providing views out to Capri and across the Tyrrhenian Sea before depositing you in Sorrento - with its fine hotels, great restaurants and gelateria in abundance.

The maximum altitude in the whole trip is, as far as I can assess, no more than 700 feet, with that height being briefly and imperceptibly reached during the rush south through France. And on the way back from Sorrento to Naples, you can stick to sea level by taking the fast ferry (a voyage of about an hour), for another perspective on one of Europe's greatest glories.

The source of all wisdom about European (and global) rail travel is Mark Smith's website, Seat61.com, while a firm such as Loco2 (loco2.com) can get all the bookings done for you.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader's question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder