URBANTALK1

I have no idea of the lay of the land on the Amalfi Coast - just know have to see it. Horrified that I'll reserve a room (2nd week of October) in an isolated village or B+B with no access to transportation.

Can anyone recommend a village, town or reasonable place to stay that would be a good home base?

ekscrunchy

There are no isolated villages along the coastline. Every town has bus stops. There are heaps of threads here discussing the "best base" on the Amalfi Coast, so you might want to take a look via a search, and return with more questions.


http://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=...w=1208&bih=877




Also take a look at the DESTINATIONS section of this forum, above.

Amalfi and Positano are probably the most popular towns to stay in, but you should define "reasonable" if you want to receive hotel recommendations.

Sassafrass

It would help to know what you want to see and how long you will stay. Are you going to Pompeii or Naples? Capri? Paestum? October is past the summer season, so you have plenty of time and there will be vacancies. Check ferry lines and times to see what is still running. You might use mostly buses or the train. Positano is beautiful and actually on the AC. Sorrento, however (on the Bay of Naples), is a good base for getting around with easy train access to Pompeii. Check out a guide book and look at a map to get yourself oriented. You don't have to make a rushed decision. Decide first what it is you want.

rosemaryoz

We stayed a week in Vico Equense, just 12km north of Sorrento, and it's 10 minutes on the Circumvesuviano trainline. We were really glad we did as it had everything eg restaurants, alimentares, gelato and cake shops etc, and is a lovely 'living village' with good train access to Pompeii, Herculaneum, Sorrento, and then Capri via ferry from Sorrento. We took a car up to ravello for the day which was stunning. Sorrento is incredibly crowded and lots of traffic, so it was good to escape back to Vico at the end of a busy day.

URBANTALK1

Thanks for all the input. I'm going to try and wait until tonight, after work to look into your suggestions. There's a limit to how may hours I can steal from my work day to reach my trip - and I think I hit it.

The cruncher is I have to book the air by May 11th or my Delta vouchers will expire - so I need to decide on departure and return dates and cities. I think I want to fly into Venice on Sept 1 - go to the vineyard in Tuscany where I'm volunteering for three weeks (room and board free!), head to Rome on the 29th and stay a week - After that I have no idea how much time to allow to head to Amalfi Coast - and if I should plan a few days in Naples, since I'm passing thru twice - one to get to coast and again for flight to NY.

As fars as budget for hotel and B+B, I've had great luck finding centrally located, really nice places to stay (with great reviews from guests) on Airbnb for $70 - $120 a night - and all will do with price if I commit to a week. Hope to stay in that range on coast, and if I stay in Naples. But I might go a bit higher if you there's a place you highly recommends.

Would love feedback on Postino, or other town you might suggest as home-base - and specific places to stay.

Thanks again - you're lifesavers!

ira

Hi UT,

We very much liked our stay at http://lesirene.com/ in Praiano.

Praiano is about 6 km E of Positano, on the route of both the SITA bus and the Orange bus.

Enjoy your visit.

Anna_Galea

I agree with rosemaryoz that Vico Equense is a good place to stay - lovely view of the Bay of Naples and not as touristy as Sorrento or Positano. The town also has the famous Pizza al Metro restaurant. There is also a restaurant called Vic's Street which I wanted to try as it has good reviews, but did not manage to go. So if you do go there try and dine in this restaurant. We stayed at the Cubo Apartments which are brand new luxurious and very high tech, and most importantly with very reasonable rates. They offer a free light breakfast and have a cafeteria and restaurant below. If interested in staying there, try and book an apartment with a full view of the Vesuvius and Bay of Naples, as some of the apartments have just a partial view. Accomodation on Sorrento Bay right near the harbour would also have great views and the hydrofoil from the harbour leaves for Capri at scheduled times. I also liked Praiano as a village, very close to Positano but not as busy and touristy.

ekscrunchy

Vico Equense should be a great place to stay if you want to get a glimpse of local life away from the tourist centers. Amalfi would offer the same, albeit with more tourists. But my favorite would probably be Cetara, although accommodations are limited there.

I've stayed in a few towns in this area and of these, Praiano, where I spent 4 nights last fall, was my least favorite. I found very little sense of a town there..just a collection of businesses strung out along the main road. No sense of an evening passegiata.
Perhaps I missed something.

The decision ultimately rests on your own taste, I suppose. If you want to be off the tourist track..chose Vico, Cetara, Maiori, Minori--the last 3 are on the Amalfi Coast and all 4 have good transport options. If you want to be in the thick of the tourists, but in perhaps the most beautiful village of all, Positano might work and even there, you can get away from the thick of the tourist action. Amalfi has great transport connections and is a gem of a town.

URBANTALK1

Ira - Thank you! I went to Le Sirene's website and is beyond beautiful - and only 50 Euros a night! Checking for availabliity now.

If you have any recommendations for Florence or Naples - please let me know.

Thank you all!

HG001London

hey there, check out my post underthe "HelpAmalfi..." post, and i would definitely spend a night in naples if you can, its quite unique