3 Nights in Amalfi Coast question
 

I have been kicking this around quite a bit.

I get into Rome late on a Thursday evening in August. I would have to get lucky to catch the last train to Salerno.

My new thought...is to stay in Rome on Thursday evening. Take the very early train to Naples. Then take the ferry to Capri from Naples.

My initial thought was to use Amalfi as a base to explore the AC.

My question is...Should I just stay on Capri for 3 nights and use it as my base? (I can just ferry to Positano and Amalfi to get a "look see.")

Staying on Capri would allow me to train back to Rome earlier on Monday am and still have time to spend a majority of the day in Rome before departing on Tuesday.

If Capri is a good call, any recommendations on a hotel near "beach?"

Thanks!

If you really want to see Positano and Amalfi, I would base in one of them, and visit Capri as a day trip. Sometimes the boats from Capri can get cancelled going to/from Positano, even on a beautiful day if water conditions aren't right at the dock. This is less of a problem in Sorrento, but it can still happen there, too.

Also, basing in either Positano or Amalfi you can take a boat to Salerno, then the train back to Rome.

For Capri, Pompeii and the Amalfi I think Sorrento makes a great base and it has direct trains to Naples all the time - Sorrento is a popular watering hole and though lacking the dramatic seaside location of say Positano or Amalfi (it's on the sea but high up and actual sea views are hard to come by) - commuting by ferry from Capri to Amalfi could be expensive and time consuming - from Sorrento you also have ferries but the world-famous Amalfi Coast thrilling buses too - for just a few euros.

You have to understand that the ferry service to Capri is limited - both in hours - doesn;t run at night or very early in the AM - and to smaller towns can be unreliable (to Sorrento is better or there is a hydrofoil).

If you really want Capri - then defiitely stay there - I think you need to get a hotel with a beach (although we didn't look there - we stayed in Sorrento). Seeing Pompeii from Capri can be a PIA (and to me this is the best thing about the Amalfi coast - most of the beaches are rocks or pebbles and a whole lot of not much versus N American beaches). It is the people and atmosphere not the rocks (not sand) and water.

nytraveler makes a very good point. The beaches are nothing much on the AC. Most people swim off the side of their boats or in some of the small coves along the coast. If you really want to stay in Capri, look at Hotel Minerva, which is lovely and close to town, with great water views. But keep in mind what nytraveler says- the boats aren't that reliable at times.

And as for Sorrento, not my thing at all, although it does have the best transportation options on the coast. I don't find it as beautiful as Positano, and in the summer months it is full of tour buses, etc. Although Positano and Amalfi aren't much better that way.

I was looking at the Hotel Minerva on Capri.

I already have a hotel reservation which I can cancel in Amalfi. I know there is an early morning ferry from Capri to Naples and an early morning trains from Naples to Rome. I could be in Rome as early as 10am on Monday. Amalfi to Sorrento wasn't getting me to Rome until 12:30pm if memory serves me correctly.

This is what happens when I have too much time to plan! :)

I guess I thought the ferry system was somewhat reliable, but it doesn't sound like it!

The other problem is that, in August, the Amalfi drive can get such traffic jams nothing moves. So if you are based on in Capri and take a ferry over to the mainland to do a little town hopping, you may find yourself confronted with long queues for the buses and traffic jams between towns.

Also, were I counting on daytripping by ferry or catching early morning ferries from Capri, then I would probably book myself in an area at least somewhat convenient to the ferry docks on Capri. Yet probably all the delight of spending nights on Capri is to be had getting away from the docks and the most touristy areas, maybe even in Anacapri, so it is just you, the sea, the island and the moon.

If you don't might switching hotels, you could spend a night in Rome, then a night in Capri and then relocate to the mainland. If you are a light packer, it might work. If you hate switching hotels, it won't work.

As others have mentioned, there are uncertainties and limits to the availability of ferry service to/from Capri.

OTOH, with only 3 nights, you don't really have enough time to do justice to the Amalfi Coast, so it might make sense to consider a leisurely visit to Capri with a day trip to the coast if ferries are running.

Almost nothing in Italy goes according to schedule, so don't depend on getting to Rome at a certain time, even if the boats are running. It's part of the Italian experience/charm!

I would not advise spending one night in Rome, then one night in Capri, as suggested above. A total hassle if you ask me! It takes about three hours to the coast from Rome, then you still need to catch a boat to Capri.

What a load of nonsense that almost "nothing in italy goes according to schedule". My ferry to and from Capri left exactly on time. Almost all the high speed trains in Italy now run exactly on schedule.

My experiences in Italy stack up quite favorably to my recent trip to Munich, where I was delayed several times by trams that malfunctioned and a strike of roadworkers, plus confronting closed rooms in several museums.

Any country can present glitches, weather can be an obstacle, at some times of year, traffic is a problem in all holiday destinations and it is always wise not to schedule some things too tightly when it comes to catching your final flight home.

But the kind of super fearful planning that means you don't even try to do what you might like to do lest something go wrong is not about Italy. It's about the needlessly scared traveler.

I was simply trying to give an overview to the OP based on many years of trips to Italy, most recently this June. It has nothing to do with being a "needlessly scared traveler." But if I knew I wanted to be in Rome at a certain time of day, I would not overnight in Capri. Too many variables.