Hi. Planning mid-May trip to Amalfi coast so time is short. This board has been so helpful in the past, hope to repeat the positive experience. So what do you think?

We fly in to Naples. We will have a car. DH is a fearless driver. Thought we'd spend first night in Naples. Day of arrival walk around old city, visit museum, etc. Or if too tired, see Museum next morning.
Next day: Drive to Pompei and Ercolano. (Too much for one day?) Drive to Sorrento.
Question: Spend 3-4 nights in Sorrento and make lots of day trips via car or boat?
OR spend each night in a different town, e.g. Capri, Positano, Praiano, Ravello, Salerno, other?
After the Amalfi coast we plan to drive up to Rome and spend maybe 3-4 nights.
Rome: We've been before but have yet to see the Vatican, Trastevere, Borghese Gardens, or anything other than the major postcard sites. Have seen Castel Sant'Angelo, Forum, Colisseum, Piazza Navona, Parthenon, and several of the larger churches. DH has already experienced the joys of driving and parking in Rome. But if we could find a great place to stay and use public transportation once in Rome, that would be preferred (by me).

Any recommendations on great places to visit or stay overnight between Amalfi coast and Rome?

Because we have a car we don't want to restrict our lodging options to the cities or even towns. Don't want to spend a fortune, don't need a pool, but do look for magnificent views, good plumbing, solid mattresses, and good customer service. Also appreciate fine dining.

I've heard a lot about Praiano. Not sure if that would be a better base than Sorrento? Not sure if worth spending a night on Capri or limiting to day trip.

Your thoughts?
Thanks in advance!!

I think moving around to all o fthese differnt towns would be ahuge waste of time. This is a small area and these towns are not large and are all fairly close togehter. I would pick one hotel you like and then just do day trips from there - esp since you will already have a car.

We just base in Sorrento and see other places either by car or by boat/hydrofoil.

Stay in one location on the coast---do not drive in Naples. I would not get the car until Sorrento.
Here are May pics from all of that area:

http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=4481

Personally, I don't mind relocating with some frequency - I travel solo and light, and returning to a base would sometimes take longer for me than moving on. That said, I believe that most people strongly prefer to avoid relocating if they can.

I stayed a few nights in Naples (to see the city, Pompeii, and Ercolano), 1 night in Capri (especially lovely after day-trippers left) and Ravello (which worked well given my interests, but for most people, probably wouldn't work as well as towns right along the coast).

Enjoy!

Best option is to say in one place on the Amalfi Coast.
If you stay in Positano you are halfway between Sorrento and Amalfi/ravello.
I wouldn't drive from Naples to Sorrento. It's too risky. If you decide to do so, make sure you don't stop prior reaching Meta di Sorrento.
You can take the Circumvesuviana train from Naples to Sorrento and rent a car there. (there are Avis, Hertz, and Europcar.) When booking accommodation make sure it has parking or at least that it is possible nearby.
I wouldn't stop between Naples and Rome, better to have an extra day in amalfi or Rome. I wouldn't advice driving to Rome as you would waist lot of time.
Train will take you from Naples to Rome city center in about 2.15 hours.
Finally if you are looking for great homes with spectacular views on the amalfi coast, make sure you check at http://www.italianview.com
Some of them are even cheaper that hotels in May.

Have a nice trip!

I spent about a week on the Amalfi Coast a few months ago. I had a car and I had not 2 but 3 (!) different bases so that my friends could get an idea of the various towns. It worked out just fine for us but it is probably not worth the effort of switching hotels for most people.

One of the bases we chose was in the hamlet of Furore above the coast where we stayed in a simple (3-star) hotel attached to a very well-regarded restaurant. Another was Ravello and the third, Praiano. An important issue is choosing a hotel with free parking, or at least nearby guaranteed parking.

I think you ought to provide a price range so you can get some better advice on choosing a hotel.

I found the driving to be much easier than I had feared.

First it's no problem to pick up a car at Naples airport and drive to the AC - that's not "driving in Naples" as you go right through on the freeway and it's very close and easy to get on to from the airport.
Second, by all means stop to do the Pompeii etc ruins on the way.
Third, I would drive from there to somewhere on the AC unless you have a yearning to see Sorrento (we much prefer the Ac side and since you'll already have seen Pompeii etc).
Almost everywhere has a great view A lot depends on your budget. We stayed in Praiano (at the Onda verde) and we didn't love it or the OV although we love the AC. Last time we stayed in Positano (at the Ville delle Palme which we did love). A more out of the way choice we have pondered for next time is in Nocelle high above Positano. Eg here
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Campania.html
We hiked there on the Path of the Gods last summer (an awesome option for a day if you like walking) and thought Nocelle is amazingly serene and wonderful with absolutely incredible views.

We spent a week in Positano last April for four adults and two young kids. Had the best vacation of our lives... We rented a fabulous villa through homeaway.com (as we always do).

Of course do Capri - Ischia Island is less famous but spectacular. We did Pompeii but the natural beauty of the Amalfi Coast is what I love about the area.

Thanks so much everyone. This is extremely helpful. Please keep it coming! Now we are thinking of making our first stop Ischia without even spending one night in Naples. Wondering if we can get from Naples airport to whatever ferry dock would take us to Ischia. Then spend one or even two nights on Ischia before taking ferry back to Sorrento or somewhere else on AC where we could then rent a car for the duration of our trip. Wondering if we visited Ischia would we regret not also visiting Capri? Then we could see Ercolano and Pompei en route to Rome or drop car off first in Naples and then take public transport first to Pompei/Ercolano and then on to Rome.

Also, anyone have experience with this hotel in Rome? --
Roma Boutique Hotel
Via Toscana, 1, 00187 Rome, Italy

Thanks so much!!!

Oh. I forgot our target range for overnight lodging would definitely be under $200 US Dollars per night and preferably half that!

Hi AMV,

>Spend 3-4 nights in Sorrento and make lots of day trips via car or boat?
OR spend each night in a different town, ....<

Apparently you like packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking....

If you like it so much, do it.

OTOH, the bus ride from Sorrento to Amalfi is only about 40 min. Since you will be leaving from Sorrento, you will have a good chance of getting a seat on the Starboard side of the bus for your visits to Positano, etc.

Also, starting from Sorrento, you can take the ferry to Positano or as far as Salerno if you want to visit Paestum.

You can also visit Herculaneum and Pompeii Scavi from Sorrento on the Circumvesuviana.

Why do you want a car?

A few years back I flew into Naples and took the bus from the airport to the stop nearest the ferry dock, where I boarded the ferry to Ischia. It is quite straightforward and I highly recommend a few days on the island. In fact, we had planned to spend the last few days of the trip on Capri but liked Ischia so much that we abandoned our visit to Capri. I wrote a trip report about Ischia, as well as one about one of my visits to the Amalfi Coast. You can find both by clicking on my name and looking in the list of my trip reports.

I would recommend other towns over Praiano for overnight stays. Amalfi, for example, where I can highly recommend the Hotel Floridiana which offers free parking.

Take a look at Nocelle, as Texas Trips mentions. And Furore.

We spent our recent overnight in Furore here; it would come in way under your budget. Their restaurant is very well regarded so you do not have to drive at night. The most famous vineyard of the Amalfi area is across the street.


http://www.baccofurore.it/index_en.asp


I paid 77 euro for a single with breakfast; a double room cost 114. Rooms have a stupendous view of the sea. You need to be comfortable with steep winding roads in order to reach Furore; the same is true of Ravello, where we spent 3 nights on the same trip.