PamR

My friend and I just returned from Italy yesterday. Have a few things to share about getting around the Amalfi Coast. We decided not to drive there, and believe this was a good decision. Getting from our train stop in Salerno to our hotel in Ravello wasn't easy. We had too much luggage to mess with buses, so took a metered taxi. It cost nearly 100 euros. We could have pre-booked a limo for 80, which would have been smarter. Getting from Ravello to Sorrento on another leg of the trip we took another metered car and paid about 80. Finally got wise on the third leg of our trip, from Sorrento back to Naples. Went to a tourist office that booked tours and arranged a limo for only 63. (The pre-booking from the states for the Sorrento-Naples run was 80, and we were told the taxi would run about 100.) We took the circumvesuviana train from Sorrento to Pompei, which was cheap and worked fine. Frequent trains. We took the Metro del Mare (fast boat)from Sorrento to Positano, which was a lovely ride and low-priced. Had planned on taking the bus back from Positano to Sorrento, but one went by that was totally armpit-in-your-face crowded so turned around and took the quiet and fast Metro del Mare. The ferries weren't starting up until the beginning of June, so didn't try those. I'm not a hydrofoil fan, so didn't bother with that, either. Within the cities, we walked, walked, walked. That was the best and sometimes only logical alternative. Hope this helps someone.

sera

Pam, thank you for this information. We want to go from Sorrento to Ravello by boat during our stay. Do you remember if there was a direct hydrofoil from Sorrento to Amalfi? I'm thinking we'll have to change at Positano.

dln

Pam, we wanted to take the ferry one morning to Capri (from Sorrento, where we were staying) and it also was armpit-in-your face crowded! We quickly changed our minds about going and went to Amalfi instead. Had a great day there.

Sera, the website you should look at is www.metrodelmare.com, which has the schedules. You can pull up an English language page. The ferry goes directly from Sorrento to Amalfi, but if you want to go to Ravello you can either take the bus or hike up. We took the bus up (in the little piazza to the right of the ferry pier; the schedule is on the window of one of the cafes) and we hiked down. The bus fills up really fast so push your way to the front like all the Italians do, or you'll find yourself standing!

PamR

Sera,
Just looked at my notes but I didn't write down the Amalfi schedules. I do remember that some of the boats did go there. There are 3 types of boats that leave from Sorrento: hydrofoil, metro del mare and ferry. The ferries weren't in operation yet when we were there last week, but are starting up soon. They are slow, according to our hotel. The hydrofoils are fast but you don't get a leisurely view. The Metro del Mare is in-between, and I really liked it. Fast but not so fast you couldn't relax and enjoy the view. Such a beautiful area -- wherever you go you will enjoy it!

MyriamC

PamR: we're thinking of spending some time at the Amalfi Coast in September.
May I ask you why it was a good decision not to drive there? Is it really very bad? (I'm Belgian and I'm used to traffic jams and such! )

Patrick

For those looking for how to get from one area to another on the Amalfi coast, here's another idea. We arrived today in Ischia for five nights, but before leaving the port when we arrived, I started checking on how we will get from here to Ravello on Thursday. It seems a change of two or even three boats would be necessary to get us to Amalfi where we plan to take the bus up to Ravello. When we got to our hotel, they mentioned another thought which we checked out. There is a company that does a daily round trip excursion from Ischia to Amalfi and Positano. Although it is something like 38€ each, they will let us just go from Ischia to Amalfi for 20€ -- direct boat and less that two hydrofoils would be, if we could even get them! The guy at the hotel mentioned that these excursion boats will usually give a good price for simple travel between ports.

ira

Hi myriam,

The problems with a car on the AC are:

finding a place to park

traffic jams caused by tour buses

Otherwise it's not a difficult drive, except for the blind curves.

PamR

Hi Myriam,
If you enter some search words on this website like Amalfi and drive or car, you'll get some very good discussions on this subject. I found the drive so harrowing years ago on a bus that I had no intention of driving. When my girlfriend read reports here and in guide books, she came to the same conclusion. Yet their are people who do it and find it ok. One issue is time of year you travel. In the busy season (coming up), you can be delayed for hours on the road. You may end up having to go backwards to let a big truck or bus go by. Man of the turns are hairpin curves. The locals go very fast and get irritated when tourists do not (as in putting their car a couple of inches behind yours). Every year cars crash off the road to the sea below. This is not my idea of fun. I say, better to take taxis or buses, and even better yet to take the boats. But there are plenty of people who disagree. Hope this helps.

Patrick

An update on the comment I made above about getting from Ischia to Amalfi on the excursion boat. Yesterday at the harbour in Ischia I saw another company and checked out their schedule. They've offered us one way fares to Amalfi on their excursion boat for 15€. They don't know until the day they go whether they will stop in Positano or Amalfi first. But we depart Ischia at 8:35. If we go to Positano first, we can leave our luggage locked on board the boat for the two hour stay in Positano, while we stroll around. Of course, if we stop in Amalfi first we will be arriving early in the day. In either case it's much easier than going to Naples and switching boats, waiting, etc.

ira

Very useful info, Patrick.

joanw

What about an excursion boat from Amalfi to Ischia? Does anyone have any information on a day trip to Ischia from Amalfi? Thanks.

sfarah

Patrick,
What is Ischia like? My very good friend will honeymoon there in August and was warned by several different sources that is sometimes feels more like Munich than Italy! Is it an exaggeration???

Patrick

Funny you mention that, sfarah. While chatting with our waiter in Naples the night before we came over, he asked why we were going to Ischia for five nights, especially since we aren't German. Sure enough, all the menus and many signs here are in German and Italian. Very little English is seen. Everbody seems to assume we're German and everyone speaks German to us when we enter a place -- it's very funny. But surprisingly right now the bulk of the tourists seem to be Italian. Over the weekend the whole island seemed to be mainly Italians, probably taking advantage of the lower rates as today "high season" started. And many of the people staying in our hotel (the Miramare e Castello) seem to be Italian "yuppies". On the streets we do see a lot of Germans, and I suspect in July and August that is mainly who you'd see.

We're loving it. I will post more completely later, but I'm really accomplishing some major relaxation, something I rarely am able to do on vacation. Yesterday we hopped a ferry to nearby Procida and spent the entire day just wandering and traveling by bus to the far end of the island. Here we bought a two day bus pass for 6€ each and are packing ourselves into the standing room only busses and just traveling around absorbing local culture. I was surprised that the main town is much larger and has much more of a main street of shopping than I ever expected.

Now if you'll excuse me I hear a cocktail calling my name. By the way, our hotel offers free internet in a little nook off the bar, where I'm staring right out into the beautiful sea and facing the castello. Probably the greatest setting for an "internet cafe" I've ever seen.

Jim_Tardio

Patrick...if you could perhaps find that illusive restaurant that serves rabbit...the one that you need to take a boat to...I'd appreciate it.

If you don't mind checking one other thing, (should you happen to be in a position to do so) did you notice any boats that go to Capri, leaving early in the day, and returning around 4 or 5pm. The last time I was there they only had a boat that left at something like 10am and returned at 2pm...not enough time!

I'll be in Ischia in a few weeks. Glad you're having a good time.

sfarah

Thanks,have one for me Patrick!