Driving trip Florence - Amalfi Coast - Pompeii - Rome

Hi Tinydancer!

As a start, you can check my web page on our trip to Amalfi. Admittedly, the trip was 10 years ago, but after rereading it, I think most of the information is still relevant. On the other hand, a lot of the links aren't.

As for the route, there aren't a lot of places to visit between Tuscany and Rome, except for Orvietto, and there isn't a lot to see between Rome and Naples, except for maybe Caserta, which is about 40 minutes from Naples.

Here's an article about Caserta which has a fabulous palace modeled on Versailles: http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/travel/09caserta.html

As for Salerno, I don't think it's worth the ride.
As for the Amalfi coast itself, there are several possibilities for bases. Other than Naples, Sorrento is the most central town and is a transportation hub for the whole area. You can get boats, trains and busses to wherever you want. You can drive to Amalfi or Positano in about 45 minutes. Keep in mind that driving on the Amalfi road is slow and harrowing.

If you have 6 nights, I would stay 3-4 nights in Sorrento, where you could take the ferry to visit Naples or Capri, or the train or car to visit Pompei, and the other nights in either Amalfi, Positano, or a small town like Praiano.

I would sequence Rome sightseeing first because that will be the heavy and busy type sightseeing. Always schedule the slower pace cities for the end of a lengthy vacation, not the other way around.

The itinerary you are planning and the length of your vacation makes it ideal for APARTMENT lodging. Check out slowtrav.com, holiday-travel.com, vrbo.com for ideas. There are already hundreds and hundreds of posted recs on apartments in Italy, specially Rome and Florence. I also think you need to get going on your planning; for a June trip this ambitious you should be way ahead on your plans than where you seem to be.


DO NOT get a car for Rome nor Florence; a car is a total nightmare for any of these two cities. Plan to use train travel. IF you need a car for the Southern Italy portion, get it on your way out from Rome.

For a June trip in Italy I would DEFINITELY pick a max of 3 home bases and daytrip from there. A/C is a must.

Be very careful in Naples. Recently, a friend's husband received very bad head injuries while walking a street in Naples when a thug attempted to snatched his watch from a running moped. I witnessed a purse snatching from a running moped during a 2010 trip. Be very careful in Naples.

Basically, back to the Draft Board and skip the dilly-dally; time to make desicions and commit.

sssteve & Viajero2, thank you so much for such detailed advice. We'll have the car all the way because we are driving r/t from Germany. In Florence we already have a villa in a suburb with lots of room, so we'll park there and use the bus for the city and the car for other side trips.

We have already committed to going to the Amalfi coast from Florence and Rome afterwards (where we'll look for a hotel w parking), but we'll have time back in Germany to relax.

We still have to work out the first part of our trip, so I'm sure I'll be back here with some questions, but your comments have really helped us understand what to keep in mind!

We don't know what is the best route to take from Florence, and where we should be planning to stay overnight w/o moving every night. Moving every 2 -3 nts would be ok.

Not sure how much time you have to drive from Florence to Amalfi Coast, but if it's the 2-3 days you suggest then you could head south-east and stay in Umbria somewhere for 2-3 nights. Look at Assisi, Spello or somewhere larger like Perugia and you can travel around the region on day trips (all of the above, plus Cortona, Urbino, Gubbio and even Ravenna). The drive from Umbria to, say, Sorrento is quite scenic in spots (look for the hill that looks like Mussolini's face in silhouette! Hint: near Terni) and skims around Rome so takes about 4h30 without stopping, so you could make a day of it and detour to Orvieto for a few hours, then continue on to the AC.

Or have a lunch stop at one of the Autogrill roadside restaurants (best fresh filled rolls or great full buffet restaurant) and pull in to Cassino to visit the war cemetery or take the trek up to Monte Cassino Abbey which is the resting place of the remains of St Benedict. It was founded in 529, has been destroyed and rebuilt 3 times and was an important seat of learning for those in the Benedictine order. During WWII when fighting was heavy in the area, it was a shelter for the citizens of the region but was heavily bombed by the Allies as German troops had also taken control of the buildings. There are now only around 20 monks in the Abbey. The drive up spectacular, but make sure you're not there on a Sunday as there is no visiting during Mass which has three seperate sessions. The opening hours are Mon-Sat 9h00 - 12h30 and 15h30 - 17h30 and Mass is at 4pm. Entrance is free but there is a parking cost, only small last time I was there (around Euro2).


We're struggling with going all the way to Salerno, staying there, doing day trips along the coast, or moving on for two nights to stay in another town, say Positano, moving on to Sorrento, taking a ferry to Capri, staying in Sorrento another night, then visiting Pompeii before moving on to Rome. Or, visa versa.

Just a point about this region with a car, Sorrento probably has the best options for parking (hotels offer on-site parking, or discounted at main area up hill), so check with your accommodation when you decide where to stay. Staying in Sorrento for the length of your time there is easy for accessing Pompei (and Herculaneum/Ercolano if you're interested), plus you can take the local bus to Positano for the day/evening and the ferries to Capri (and Ischia) are easily accessed from Sorrento too.

Have you been to Amalfi Coast in the summer months? I have heard the roads get VERY busy and I certainly would not want to be driving on the tiny, switchback, cliff roads with tour buses etc when it was busy! Some corners even have mirrors so you can see buses and stop to let them get around corners...just something to take into account when you are planning...

You may want to stay in Sorrento and use buses and boats to get around the Amalfi Coast.

Viajero2 / jamikins / madamtrashheap / sssteve Thank you all for excellent ideas and suggestions. We've taken them on board. I'll be back with some questions soon I am sure.
sssteve: love your web pages!

We've done more research on this leg of the journey, and would like some help with planning where to stop and how much time we need for each.

Driving from Galluzzo, Florence down to Sorrento, we've decided to take a few days to do this, going via:

San Gimignano
Siena
Cortona
Perugia
Assisi
Spello
Caserta

We have Pompei included in things to do from Sorrento, so it's not on this list.

What we'd like feedback on is how many nights to allow for this. What would you say are the highlights of these places, and is there anything else that is a 'don't miss' and which are 'don't bother'?

Keep in mind, this is only one small part of a 6 week trip in France & Italy which includes a week in Florence, and about 5 nights in Rome, plus 5 nights in Sorrento. So we don't have to see absolutely everything on this part.