Sorrento, Capri, Positano, Amalfi, Orvieto & Rome visit: October 2009

I just returned from a fabulous vacation in Italy and wanted to share our wonderful experience. Sincere thanks to all the Fodorites who helped me with our planning for their insight and trip reports. I made all our hotel reservations based on research that I did using this website and Trip Advisor. Every hotel was in a great location and rooms/service met our needs.

Background: My husband and I are in our early fifties and in pretty good physical shape. This is our eighth trip to Europe and we have been to Italy before but this was our first time visiting these places. Our travel style has been fast and furious but this time we enjoyed a relaxing slower pace.

Itinerary:

Travel: Oct. 11 (day and half to Naples)
Sorrento – Oct 12-13 (2 nights)
Capri – Oct. 14-17 (3 nights)
Positano –Oct. 18-19 (2 nights)
Amalfi – Oct. 20-21 (2 nights)
Orvieto – Oct. 22-23 (2 nights)
Rome – Oct. 24-28 (5 nights)

Airlines: United and Lufthansa (Lufthansa Airlines seats had reasonably leg room, food surprisingly good with complimentary wine, and large selection of good movies to watch).

Luggage: We took two large Eagle Creek 28” lightweight suitcases that weighs 10 lbs each (when empty) and had large wheels. I can hear the loud grasps out there as I know many of you like to travel light but we have always traveled with large suitcases so I wanted to provide that insight. I’m a short woman and I carried my own suitcase up and down many staircases, on buses, boats, and trains. I also wore a Pacsafe City 200 Anti-theft red purse that went across my shoulder.

We had a long flight there since we were traveling from the west coast so it took a day and half to arrive at Naples Airport at 11:00am the next day. We didn’t have any problem finding the Curreri Viaggi bus http://www.curreriviaggi.it/ The bus was waiting right outside the Naples Airport front door. We stored our luggage in the bottom side of the bus and paid onboard. There was an earlier poster who had asked if these buses had a restroom and I didn’t see any on the buses (CV or SITA) that we used during this trip.

SORRENTO:
It was a very scenic one-hour trip to Sorrento from Naples Airport. We sat on the right side so I could take pictures along the way. We stayed at the Hotel City Sorrento http://www.sorrentocity.com/. I spotted the hotel from the bus as we headed for the train station where the bus stops in Sorrento. The hotel was about 2 blocks away from the train station and it’s in a great location on the main street. After we checked in, I was ready to explore the town. We are fortunate that we don’t have any problems with jetlag.

I went to use an ATM machine in the main piazza and the instructions were in Italian. I was worried that the machine was going to eat my card but luckily it spit it out for taking too long. My DH saw another ATM up the street across from the train/bus station so we went there and found a Deutsche Bank ATM and it asks you to choose a language for the transaction and so once I entered English everything was straightforward. I was used to using this type of ATM machine in other places in Italy so I was surprised to see that not all ATMs have this option. We found a Deutsche Bank ATM in Positano and Rome where we made other withdrawals.

We spent our second day going to Pompeii and it was well worth the visit. You go upstairs at the Sorrento train station to purchase tickets. It was about a 30-minute train ride and we got off at the Pompeii Scavi stop. Turn right when you leave the train station and then take a left at the main road. The entrance is only a block away. Pompeii is larger than we thought so we spent a good 4 hours here. We paid for audio guides but it was confusing in the beginning when I realized there are smaller numbered sites within major numbered sites that are not covered on the audio guide. The large amphitheater #18 at the end is really something to walk into. Some people may miss it because it’s further of a walk from the other major sites. Wear good flat walking shoes as this is not the place to wear heels as some women found out.

I had brought along a list of restaurant recommendations and we did try a couple places during this trip. Other restaurants on my list were sometimes hard to find, closed for the night when you did find them, had a limited menu or food was ok. It’s all so objective with people having different tastes/budgets. My DH prefers the willy-nilly method of choosing a place so we did that also. Wink. I won’t provide details on restaurants we went to unless they were really good but overall most places we ate at were fine. We did notice that one restaurant charged us 20 euros for gelato on our dinner tab in Capri. It was the best chocolate gelato we had during our trip but it was supposed to be only 8 euros. My DH pointed that out and they quickly corrected the error. This can go both ways as when we ate at a restaurant in Orvieto the restaurant undercharged us for the wine and my DH let them know.

Our next destination was Capri for three nights so we took a bus from the main piazza (5 min. from our hotel) and took the bus to the Piccola Marina where the boats leave for Capri. You need to purchase the bus tickets at the tabbachi stores and then validate them in the ticket machine on the bus. The local bus had a space near the back to place your luggage. Luckily, there were only 2 other people on the bus so we had no problem.

CAPRI:
We took the large passenger/car ferry as the hydrofoil boat was more expensive and there was only a 5-minute difference in arrival time. We did have to carry our luggage up a couple of flights since we boarded from the dock. It was about a 30-minute crossing.

We took a taxi from the ferry landing to Aiano B&B http://www.aiano.it as it was too far to walk with our luggage. We had the largest room with a big patio where we had our breakfast each day and had amazing views of Capri and Bay of Naples. It was a great place to stay. It is only a ten-minute walk along a pedestrian path to Capri town where all the shops/restaurants are. We had mistakenly thought that the major town center was at the port at Marina Grande because there are cafes, shops and colorful buildings there as well. My DH really thought I had booked a place way out of town however, the main center is Capri town so all was good. There is a funicular from the ferry landing that takes you to Capri town.

We walked up to the Villa Jovis and enjoyed scenic views from the rocky perch. It closes around 5 pm so make sure you allow yourself about 45-60 minutes from Capri town to walk up the path.

We took a bus to Anacapri and enjoyed taking the chairlift up to Monte Solaro. The panoramic views are amazing but because it was October it is quite chilly at the top. A few people went up with shorts or sleeveless dresses and were freezing.
The Villa San Michele is worth taking a look and has a lovely garden.

We did a nice walk over to the viewing site to see the famous Faraglioni rocks and then walked down the stairs to the base of the rocks. There isn’t really a beach but slabs of rocks that are at the bottom. We then went back up the stairs to follow the trail to go to the Natural Arch. There were probably over a thousand steps to get there and it’s all uphill. There is a small restaurant that is perched on the cliff side that has amazing views looking out to the sea. There is a much shorter trail to get to this restaurant and the Natural Arch if you take the paved path from Capri town.

Another hike we took was to see the Augusti Garden and from there you have another view of the Faraglioni Rocks. We walked down to the Marina Piccola where there is a tiny pebble beach and a few restaurants. There is a clean public toilet that is available near the beach. We ran into a couple of American tourists that couldn’t believe you had to pay .50 euros to use a bathroom but this is rather common throughout Italy. All the public toilets that we used throughout this trip were clean and well maintained.

We really loved Capri and it wasn’t too crowded at this time of the year. The one touristy thing we didn’t do was to see the Blue Grotto. It wasn’t something that appealed to us, and especially for me as a non-swimmer it looked too frightening.

On our fourth day in Capri it started to rain but that was ok with us because we were leaving for Positano. We had gone down to the Marina Grande to see the departure times the day before we were to leave and were told a boat left at noon and another one at 3:30. The B&B owner had called for us on the morning we were leaving to verify the boat was still leaving at noon because if business is slow or the waters are rough they can cancel the run with short notice. Indeed, the noon departure was canceled so we left on the 3:30 hydrofoil. The hydrofoil is much smaller boat than the ferry we took from Sorrento so you could feel every wave. It was a choppy ride all the way to Positano.

POSITANO:
When we arrived at Positano we didn’t see any taxis when we got off the boat. So we carried our suitcases up the stairs and went past the Cathedral to the main street and then we found a taxi at the bus stop. There is only one narrow road that loops through the hill top town. We stayed at the Hotel Pasitea http://www.hotelpasitea.it/. We had a lovely sea view room with a large balcony with lounge chairs and a small table for two. The hotel had the best selection for breakfast in all our hotel stays. The hotel is perched near the top of Positano so it has a great view.

I had read how it was tough walking up 500 steps to get from hotel to/from beach so I did “train” during the summer to walk up hills and stairs to get my calves well prepared. There is a staircase with about 100 stairs that you walk down until you get to the narrow street and then you walk along the curvy road to get to the stores/beach at the bottom (another 400 steps). There is a local bus that stops at the hotel every half an hour that you can take and it was 1.50 euro each way.

The shops in Positano are local stores that made them nice to browse through. You don’t see any of the high-end designer stores that you see in Capri Town. The best view of the cliff-hugging town is to walk to your right from the ferry landing and you can get some amazing photos. I brought a small travel flashlight that I had packed that came in handy in the evenings. Positano has streetlights but in some spots it was hard to see where you were stepping.

On the second day a cold front had come in so it was really cold and windy. It did rain in the morning but stopped later so it wasn’t too bad. The locals told us that this was unusual weather for the Amalfi coast. We took a long walk all along the road to the top and around Positano so we went by the Chiesa bus stop and saw where the SITA Bus stop was. After we got back to our hotel I went down and bought the SITA bus tickets at the tabacchi shop near the beach because we were taking it the next day to Amalfi.

The next day we caught the local bus outside our hotel to take us to the Chiesa bus stop. There is a second stop in Positano that is called Sponde which is nearer the water but we wanted to get on at the Chiesa stop because it would provide us a better chance to get a seat and we weren’t sure how full the luggage storage would be. The SITA bus for Amalfi first stop is at Chiesa and then Sponde is the second stop. When the bus came my DH opened the luggage storage doors on the side of the bus and we placed our luggage before boarding. The bus was nearly full and we found seats apart from one another. After a couple more stops some people had to stand. I was amazed to see that some locals got off in the middle of nowhere and I wondered where on earth they were going.

AMALFI:
This was our favorite place to stay on the Amalfi coast. It didn’t hurt that we had sunny weather while here. We stayed at La Floridiana http://www.hotelfloridiana.it/ because it was Trip Advisor’s #1 rated hotel. Everything that was said was true of this hotel and their extremely nice and helpful staff.

We also had our laundry done at a place up the street from our hotel. It was 5 euros per kilogram so we paid 40 euros for our laundry to be done. The woman spoke English and we picked up our clothes the next morning.

I thought the ceramic tiles were absolutely beautiful here and in Ravello. Positano and Capri have more clothes boutiques but this is the place to pick up souvenirs. The variety and colorful ceramic tiles, pastas and lemoncello bottles sold were unique and inexpensive. I wished I had bought lots of bubble wrap to line my suitcase.

We spent the second day visiting Ravello and it was majestic scenery going up to this little hilltop town. The SITA bus drivers are amazing. They have to maneuver these large buses through very narrow roads and when they have to go by other buses they may have only an inch to work with and sometimes have to fold their side mirrors in. I was sort of getting motion sickness and decided that it was best not to look down at the cliffs. We enjoyed the Gardens of Villa Cimbrone. It is quite a large (about 6 acres) where you have amazing views especially from the Terrance of Infinity. We enjoyed having lunch outside in the Duomo piazza and soaked up the warm sun.

We enjoyed our dinner at a place called “il Teatro & Pizzeria” that I like to thank a Fodorite (loveitaly) for recommending. It was a family run small restaurant that the locals ate at. It was good and inexpensive. We couldn’t help notice all the locals who were coming in to pick up numerous boxes of pizzas during our meal. The next night we ate here again because we wanted to try their wood oven baked pizzas. It was very good pizza and worth the repeat visit. The funny thing is we noticed two other couples that we saw from our first night dining here again thinking the same thing. We took the SITA bus to Salerno the next day for the train to Orvieto.

Luckily for us when we got to Salerno a British couple who was on the bus knew where the train station was so we followed them for 2-3 blocks.

We had brought the train schedule that our hotel in Amalfi had printed out for us because the ticket seller spoke very little English. We had to transfer in Rome and got two first class tickets (one for Rome and one for Orvieto) at the Salerno train station. When we got to Rome Terminal we checked the departure boards. The final destination train we needed to catch was Florence so you have to match up the train’s number (which was on the printed train schedule that we brought) because the information was not on our Orvieto ticket. We then saw the different stops listed for the train to Florence and confirmed that Orvieto was one of the stops.

Another thing is that we thought the first class cars were in front but on Trenitalia train the first class cars are in the back of the train. We did ask a local but I don’t think he understood our question. We had to carry our luggage through the full second-class cars that was made difficult to get to our seats since some luggage and people were standing in the aisle. Different trains have first class cars in front and some trains have them in the back.

ORVIETO:
When we got to Orvieto around 5pm there was no problem crossing the street to the funicular location. The cable car was full so we just waited for it’s return and then went up. There is space in front of the car to place your luggage.

We stayed at the Hotel Duomo http://www.orvietohotelduomo.com/ that was right next to the gigantic Duomo Cathedral in the square. It was about a 5-minute walk across the square and you need to go down a small flight of stairs.

The Umbria countryside can be seen from this hilltop medieval town and there are plenty of shops selling their famous ceramics. The gigantic Duomo Cathedral pops up in the square and is astonishing.

We enjoyed a great inexpensive dinner and wine at Trattoria Del Morro. I especially loved a pasta dish called Nico (can’t recall the other words) but it had melted pecorino cheese with honey and almonds. We were ordering a litre of the house wine at the restaurants we dined at but this litre seemed gigantic. It was the best house red wine we had. The server had charged us only 3 euros and my DH pointed out that he undercharged us. The litre was 6 euros and was the least expensive of most of the house wines we had tried in other restaurants.

It was so incredible to see wine bottles selling for such ridiculously cheap prices in the stores. (Two bottles of Ovieto Classico wine for six euros).

We also enjoyed going to their farmer’s market where I bought two apples for .60 euros.

ROME:
We took a taxi from the train station to Hotel Golden http://www.hotelgoldenrome.com/
that is in North Rome. It is a block away from the upscale Via Veneto street/neighborhood and couple of blocks from the Borghese Garden/Gallery. The hotel exterior is non-descript and the small lobby is on the second floor but the room was large and had a big bathroom. It is located in a very quiet neighborhood.

Seeing Rome in sunny warm weather was just wonderful. Our last couple of days were so warm we could walk around without coats. We walked to all the major sights (Coliseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navarone, Campo Di Fiori, Travestre neighborhood and Vatican City). We love walking and did over 10 miles per day but there is also a metro stop on Via Veneto about 2 blocks away from the hotel. We didn’t take the metro but it looked very easy as there are only two lines that go to the major sites. Rome is amazing with all the antiquities. We were impressed with all the ancient buildings but the Pantheon interior is the best preserved and is an architectural wonder.

We went to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain areas several times and in the mornings it seemed to be the least crowded.

We walked over to Palatine Hill to get our Roma Pass but the line seemed too long for my DH so we headed towards the Coliseum and the line was ridiculously long. We should have bought our Roma Passes at the train station when we arrived but completely forgot about it. So we walked around the Coliseum taking in the ancient building and somewhere I had read in Rick Steve’s book that you could buy the Roma Pass in a nearby Tabbachi Store but couldn’t remember where. Well, we went ahead and try a couple of the tabacchi shops when we were walking around and found none that sold the Roma Pass. While when we had made a full circle around the Coliseum we needed to find a restroom so we went into the Colosseo Metro Station. I could not believe our luck but there was a tabacchi shop selling Roma Passes. Yeah! No line and we just walked up and bought them. Then we went back to the entrance for the Coliseum and walked right past the long line of people waiting and just swiped our Roma Pass card and went in.

I had downloaded Rick Steves’ free podcasts for the Coliseum, Palatine Hill, Forum, St. Peters, and Sistine Chapel on my iPod. It was wonderful to hear the history while admiring these sites and saved us from paying for audio guides.

We didn’t make advance reservations for the Vatican and I was worried if that was a big mistake. On Monday, we walked over to Vatican City which was about a 45 minute walk. We made a stop to see the Mouth of Truth at the St. Maria Church in Cosmedin on the way. Our hotel had advised us to see St. Peters from 9am-12pm and then go to the Vatican Museum from 12pm-1pm before the afternoon group tours arrive. When we got to St. Peter’s Square the line was almost all the way around the square. The square is enormous so that line looked like it was going to be an awful long wait but it moved fast and I think it took us about 45 minutes to get inside. I cannot express the words of how magnificent this church is. It just made me well up with tears.

When we were done we went over to the Vatican museum that is a lot further to walk than I had imagined. You basically go all around the museum to get to the front entrance. Along the way, there are people trying to sell you group tours and saying that the wait was 2 hours long. We didn’t know what to expect since we didn’t have advance tickets but we were pleasantly surprised to walk in at 12:30 to purchase tickets with no wait at all.

The Vatican museum is so large that it was a bit overwhelming. There was so much to see and it takes a while to get to the brilliantly restored Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel but so worth it.

Another site we enjoyed was the Borghese Gallery. We had made reservations after we arrived in Rome. The villa was built in early 17th century. Two floors are filled with paintings and Baroque masterpieces but what is really amazing to see is Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne. It is hard to imagine how the detailed leaves that sprout out from Daphne fingers are chiseled from marble.

One day when it was so warm we wandered around without coats through the Porta Portese flea market in the Trastevere neighborhood. Of course, some people were dressed like it was winter all bundled up in their clothes but we were happy to be free of our coats. It is a long street of endless vendors selling clothing, shoes, cds, scarves and I didn’t even go through the whole street. There were stands that were selling similar things and I did find some great looking reversible wool wraps that I bought. I saw people try to haggle the vendors down on their price but they held firm with the best price they were offering. I didn’t see anything that I really wanted to buy but then as I was leaving I saw the most exquisite dress coat that I had to have.

Campo de Fiori has a farmers market that sells more produce but it was closing down in the early afternoon when we got there one day. There was one stand that sold bags of colorful pasta that I wished I had gotten more of. I discovered creamy balsamic vinegar in one of the restaurants and it was heaven. I wanted to buy some but my DH convinced me we could find it back home. I have already shopped at my local Italian Speciality store since our return home and a small bottle of creamy balsamic vinegar is selling for
$26-42. I never knew that balsamic vinegar is like good aged wine.

There was a Grace Kelly Exhibit at the Galleria Rucellai that was exciting to see. We have visited Monaco twice so to see pictures and films of her family life, designer clothes she wore, her films, and life at the Palace was very interesting.

A really great place that we ate at twice is called Life. It’s a wine bar and restaurant near the Spanish Steps on Via Della Vite. The place has a modern interior and plays great upbeat jazz music, of which I’m a big fan. It is sort of a place that I can see Romans going to at the end of their workday. The food was well prepared with fresh ingredients and reasonable priced. The bread was wonderful. Also, I wanted to mention since I saw a few people questioning their bill that in Italy bread is always charged as coperto per person on your tab. It doesn’t matter if you eat the bread or not, you will be charged, usually two euros.

We did see other things but this report is already too long so I’m going to end now. We had to leave at 4:30am for the airport so our hotel arranged for a private car to take us
(50 euros). As we drove through the empty streets it was hard to imagine the crowds of tourists and Romans earlier. Then all of a sudden we passed the ancient Coliseum and it jolts you back to reality that you are leaving fabulous Roma. When we were flying back home, I watched the movie “Angels and Demons” which was filmed in Rome. It was fun to spend a couple more hours seeing the places that you had just visited. Arrivederci!