Amalfi Coast
 

Hello,

I am planning a trip to Italy this September, my boyfriend and I want to go to Rome and then go down to the Amalfi coast, the duration of the trip would be about 9 days (Rome for about 5 days and Amalfi 4). This is not my first time travelling however it is for my boyfriend, I have gone on trips but only visited one city at a time. After looking into it, I feel like I have gathered enough information on how to get from Rome to Amalfi, but I am still unsure about transportation and day trips from Amalfi. We would like to visit Pompeii, Capri, Positano and maybe Paestum but I'm usure if staying in Amalfi would be the best place to have a decent access to these places. Would it be better to stay in Naples and do the day trips from there? Would Capri be the best option? We want to see the beauty of Amalfi but we also want to visit around.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated since I feel a little overwhelmed with this planning since I do not have much experience.

Thank you!!

If you search this board (use the "search the Forums" feature at the upper right), you'll find LOTS of relevant information. Some examples:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...sportation.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...xperiences.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...fi-finally.cfm


In general, Capri is delightful IME, but NOT a great option for exploring the coast -- you would be too reliant on limited ferries, which might not run if the seas are too high.

Naples is a great city, IMO, but a bit too far for an in-depth experience of the Amalfi Coast per se, IMO.


Sounds like you might benefit from a really good guidebook or two ... JMO.

Good luck!

I think Amalfi is the best transport hub on the Amalfi coast (using buses and ferries) - considering Sorrento is not on the Amalfi coast. However, I think a day trip to Pompeii would be too far and Paestum would be a very long day (have been there but not from the Amalfi coast so not sure exactly how long that would take).

Although I normally would recommend staying longer in each place, if you have four full days, you may be best served by having two days in Naples or Sorrento (visiting Pompeii and Capri); and two days in Amalfi or one of the coastal towns nearby. If you don't actually have four days then I'd consider dropping something from your wishlist and staying in just one place.

You will find debate rages on this site about the relative merits of Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi. And of course, there are other towns to choose from along that coastline (but check transport connections if you choose one of them).

You don't have enough time to do anything you are contemplating down south unless you drastically pare back what you want to do.

Does your 9 nights include inbound and outbound travel or is your 9 nights your time on the ground?

Presently finishing a weeks stay in Sorrento.
Like you, we had an ambitious list of places to visit but reality has bitten on Day 6, and we have consigned a few places for what we hope will be a return trip.
This is not a criticism of Sorrento as a base by the way; it would get our vote again.
In terms of the practicalities of your trip, Sorrento is relatively easy to access from Naples using the Circumvesuviana commuter train - and this also gives you the option of ticking Pompeii off your list en route.
From Marina Piccola in Sorrento, there are plenty of ferries to give you the option of a day trip to Capri.
There is also a once daily ferry serving both Positano and Amalfi.
There are also scheduled bus services to the AC towns, plus more tourist orientated trips by coach.
One issue about trying to explore the area - and this is not a problem exclusive to Sorrento - places that appear relatively close to each other still eat up a hell of a lot of time to get to. Still, nowhere we visited proved to be unworthy of the effort!

Sorrento - around the corner form the AC and on the Bay of Naples is the most convenient place in the area for making day trips. While not being a big city like Naples it does have many more restaurants, shops and hotels that the much smaller towns down the coast.

It also has excellet transit options:

Local train to Pompeii and Naples (train does not go beyond sorrento)
Bues down the coast and also to Naples/Naples airport and Rome
Many ferries and hydrofoils to Naples, Capri and also the towns down the coast

It does not have major sights but is pleasant to explore for the day or in the evenings

Capri is an issue due to the limited hours of ferry service

Towns down the coast are great for relaxing but have limited transit options - the mobbed (often SRO) and slow SITA bus and only a couple of ferries per day - meaning you may be reliant on cabs for many trips

So you may want to spend a few day in Sorrento for sightseeing and then a couple in Positano or ? for just relaxing

Thank you for all your helpful comments, we get to Rome on August 31st in the morning and leave for Dublin on the 8th from Naples at 12:25.
After reading your comments, this is what we were thinking of doing; we leave Rome to go to Naples on the 4th of September, and from there we go to Amalfi where we stay two nights. We visit Capri one day and Paestum the other day (perhaps with a private tour), if this option is too expensive we can use the other day to visit somewhere else.
On the 7th we leave to go back to Naples, where we check into a hotel and then go visit Pompeii from there, since from what I've read the access is simple enough.

"perhaps with a private tour"

Tours are not necessary unless that is your preference. You can easily visit these places on your own.

There are ferries Amalfi to Capri - departure is at 8.30am and it costs 35 euro one way and a 1.50 euro landing fee.

http://www.coopsantandrea.com/it/ser...i&arrivo=Capri

From Amalfi to Paestum, take the ferry to Salerno and then the train from there. Use the same ferry link above for services Amalfi to Salerno.

So you'll stay the night of the 4th in Naples, then nights of the 5th and 6th in Amalfi, then the 7th in Naples? That sounds like a lot of very short stops. It's can be up to a half day's travel to move from your hotel in Amalfi to your hotel in Naples - do you plan to visit Pompeii that afternoon? Sounds fine if you make an early start and you're okay with a busy day. Also, we visited Capri from Positano but I have read a number of times on this forum that Capri is more easily visited from Naples or Sorrento (but perfectly possible from Amalfi as described above). Capri and Paestum would both be full day trips so you won't get to see much of the Amalfi coast itself. When visiting Capri, unless you are a passionate shopper, take the time to walk (literally) away from Capri town. The coastline out of town is beautiful.