nickimom

WE are in the initial stages of planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast in early July 2009. We have previously been to Rome, Florence and Venice and thought a 7 or 8 night trip would be perfect for our 25th anniversary. Would appreciate any thoughts on where to stay and how many cities we should visit. I would have no problem renting a car to travel. Budget is $500 USD per night. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

TuckH

We spent a week at a B+B located in the hills above Sorrento. Nothing fancy; it was about 80€/night as I recall.

www.agriturismo-belvedere.com

We had a car and roamed the area, including off the main road, hiking and picnicking.

A highlight was an overnight stay on the Isle of Capri. Our hosts allowed us to leave our car with them and they transported us to and from the ferry at Sorrento.

Weadles

I think Positano is the most romantic and beautiful of the Amalfi Coast Towns. From there, you can daytrip to: Amalfi and Ravello. Sorrento isn't far either- about 45 minutes by boat, about the same on the SITA bus.

You can also easily daytrip to Capri from Positano, but I think it's worth staying there for a few nights. In Capri, we've stayed at the HOtel Luna, which is very close to town, and has beautiful rooms some with views over the sea.

Our favorite hotel in Positano is the 4-star Hotel Poseidon. It's a small family-run hotel just uphill from the famous LE SIRENUSE. The room are lovely, the food is amazing, and the views are gorgeous, especially from the restaurant terrace.

There are other hotels that are very nice, too, that would require less climbing back and forth from your hotel to town. As you may have heard, Positano is a vertical city, so you do need to be in decent enough shape to deal with that.

I would try to reserve ASAP, since many of the Amalfi Coast and environs hotels are booked a year ahead by repeat guests!

tuscanlifeedit

I second the rec for the Hotel Poseidon, we loved it. It was a splurge for us, but worth what we spent there. Dinner is delicious. I think having the pool in July will be a big plus.

I too loved Capri, where we spent 3 days and nights this past May. We were in budget digs, but I swear if I was there in July I would want a pool.

We found Positano a great place to day trip from, but the busses and taxis made me sick. Boats were much better.

Weadles

I agree with tuscanfeedlit. We took boats whenever possible since the buses were overcrowded, hot, and generally made us feel sick!

nickimom

Hi Weadles,Tuscanlifeedit and Tuck H,

So would your advice to stay in both Positano and Capri? How far are they from each other or can we do day trips from one to the other?



Also, you would take boats rather than driving?

We would be coming from New Jersey, so what airport would be most convenient to fly into?

Niki's Mom

nytraveler

The Amalfi coast isn't cities. It's town and even smaller towns.

The "stuff" there is to do is farily limited (even including Pompeii and a visit to the archeological museum in Naples). Essentially this is a resort destination, pretty, island to sail to, etc - but not a city visit with museums etc.

We have stayed in Sorrento (a bigger town) up the coast a little on the Bay of Naples. Hotel was the Excelsior Vittoria - very nice, pretty grounds and pool, terraces and balconies looking out over the bay - but don;t know what prices would be now with the dollar so low.

Weadles

Hi nickimom,

Yes, you can day trip from Positano to Capri, but we thought the most beautiful part of the stay there was the evenings when the daytime crowds mostly disappeared.

Positano is about 30 minutes or so from Capri by boat. Sometimes the boat service is cancelled even on sunny days if the water conditions aren't "right". This is less likely to happen in Sorrento, which apparently has a deeper harbor.

Anyway, if I were lucky enough to go back for a visit, I would split the time like this: Positano-4 nights, Capri-3 nights.

Weadles

About the airports: Naples is closest to the Amalfi Coast. EUROFLY, a subsidiary of ALITALIA used to fly from the East Coast into Naples, but I'm not sure what their status is these days given Alitalia's plight.

You can always fly nonstop into Rome, then take the Eurostar down to Naples, and either arrange a private pickup from Naples to your hotel, or take a train/bus combo, or a boat from the port.

There's also another way, often suggested here, of arrving at your Amalfi Coast destination from Salerno, but I'm not sure of the details. Maybe somebody else like Steve James can post those again?

nickimom

Is there much of a diference in the weather between early July and early September. THis will help us decide when to go?

Also the Hotel Poseidon and Luna look very nice. What would you recommend in Naples.

I'm thinking 3 nights in Capri, 3 in Positano and 2 in Naples since we need to fly back from Naples. Or 2 nights in Capri, 4 and 2. We would then use Positiano as a home base, unles you think there is a better option.

I wish we didn't really lose an entire day due to flying, but we do.

Weadles

Sorry, I've never stayed in Naples. With your limited amount of time , I'd recommend skipping Naples and going straight to your first destination. Capri is a fairly short boat ride from the port. Positano is a little over an hour by car; more by boat.

A few more recommendations for hotels in Capri: Casa Morgano,Villa Brunella, Mamella, Minerva, and Hotel Flora.

And finally, try to find previous posts about EUROFLY before booking with them. Friends of ours complained about delays and lack of customer service out of New York.

Jean

I like Naples, so I say keep the 2 nights there at the end. If that $500 a night budget is just for the hotel room, look at the Hotel Excelsior (waterside) or the Hotel Constantinopoli 104 (hill).

nickimom

so..there's no non stop to Naples. We need to fly either to Brussels, Heathrow or Madrid with a 2 hour layover before our flight to Naples. And then a boat ride or car ride. That's quite a long journey and I'm getting tired just planning this.

Is ther no easier way to get there?

Weadles

Unfortunately, if there's really no non-stop service into Naples, your best bet is flying non-stop into Rome. You could either arrange for private pick up from FCO ( we've done it in the past, but it's probably incredibly expensive by now) to your hotel or port, or you could take the Eurostar down to Naples, and make arrangements from there.

SusanP

I think flying directly to Naples with one layover is a lot easier than flying into Rome and then having to take the train, since you first have to get to Termini in Rome in order to take the train. I flew into Naples and went directly to Capri. For more details, here is my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35146132

Ashley9779

I am flying into Venice and out of Naples on Swiss in late June 2009 - we are leaving from Boston with a quick layover in Zurich (honeymoon!). The tickets were $1500 each a couple of weeks ago. Seems like that could be an option for you if you haven't found tickets yet - I am pretty sure you could do round trip to Naples. If you call Swiss they will help you, no waiting on hold for their US number plus you can earn miles for the Star Alliance (United / USAir)

ekscrunchy

Last spring I researched this very carefully. The best prices and the easiest connections, from JFk to Naples were via Madrid on Iberia. They may fly into Newark as well, you have to check. Madrid airport is a joy to transfer through.

I recommend the Constinapoli, mentioned above, and this hotel, where I stayed, in Naples:

http://www.palazzoalabardieri.it/eng/index.asp

I liked Amafli better than Positano, but that is just a personal choice.

Steve_James

Vincenzo posted this recently about summer flights into SALERNO airport - very convenient for the Amalfi Coast:

Author: vincenzod ([email protected])
Date: 09/06/2008, 12:51 pm

'Salerno airport has domestic flights with Milano Malpensa, Catania and Verona, but also international flights and few of these are interesting for USA trip: Munich in Germany first of all, and also Barcellona in Spain.
Anyway, the best solution is, IMO, USA - Milano Malpensa - Salerno.'

So .. if you can connect conveniently via Malpensa, Munich or Barcellona, this may be an option for you.

Alternatively from Rome ...
- train to Salerno, then ferry to Amalfi or Positano is a scenic way to arrive by sea.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

mr_go

Hi nickimom. You're going to love the AC and Capri and Naples. We sure did.

Click the link below to see how we divided our time between the three, and what we enjoyed while there a few years ago. I hope it helps.

http://www.onelittleworld.com/campania_1.html

(Sorry if the report seems a bit lengthy.)

bellastarr

Just an update on the status of Eurofly. I am now on a RT ticket with them. ($794 RT NY to Rome). They are now affiliated with Meridiana Airlines. And they may not be doing flights in and out of Naples, you would need to check that. I just spoke with the Italian offices this past week and they said that flights weren't going in and out of Naples now. I'll still use them, just fly back and forth to Rome, since to me, it's easy to train to Naples from FCO.