We wanted to travel from Germany (where I now live) to the Amalfi Coast for 5 days in June. My plan so far, is to fly via Ryan Air to Pescara ( the airfare is incredibly cheap) and then rent a car in order to drive to the Amalfi Coast. I would welcome any suggestions in regard to how to spend the 5 days. We would also like to include a boat trip or two within this plan.

Is there a reason you aren't flying into Naples? There are more flights from Germany to Naples than to Pescara. It seems the cost of a car would wipe out any savings for airfare to Pescara. Fly to Naples, ferry to Capri, Sorrento, Positano or Amalfi or fly to Naples and train to Sorrento. You don't really need a car to tour the Amalfi Coast.

Hi anne,

I agree with KyB. A car on the AC is like a fish with a bicycle.

You might want to consider the Hotel Le Sirene in Praiano.

See www.lesirene.com

Ditto. No need for a car. Sorrento is fablulous. Hotels outside of town on the south side were convenient to town and beautiful views. Bus station in town allowed travel throughout the area.

I thought to fly to Pescara since the airfare for 2 persons on Ryan Air from Frankfurt-Hahn airport round trip is 146 euro ( about 180 USD) as opposed to about 800USD for 2 on either Lufthansa or Alitalia. And the flights on the latter airlines would involve a change and take about 5 hours as opposed to 2 hours non-stop on Ryan Air. But the trip by car might not make up for the savings in airfare. I will have to research a lower airfare to Naples from Frankfurt. Any suggestions?

Check whichbudget.com for other low cost airlines from Germany. There should be something if not from Frankfort from somewhere closeby to take to Naples. There are other low cost airlines besides the ones listed on whichbudget so do some more checking. I think you can get the same prices to Naples (or better although we don't know your dates)that you got for Pescara. Can you fly from anywhere else in Germany?

I plan to fly out on either JUne 1 or 2 and then return to Germany on June 7. I live about 1 hour east of Frankfurt airport so that is most convenient for me. Frankfurt -Hahn ( which is really a misnomer as it is about 1 and 1/2 hours north of Frankfurt) is amost 3 hours from where I live but the prices are very cheap so I have used Ryan Air to fly to Pisa recently. The other airports which are possible are Munich and Stuttgart. Actually Munich makes more sense to fly out of to go to Italy as it is south of where I live and in the direction of Italy. I will look on the website you suggested. Thanks for the information!

We hired a boat and crew to take us to Capri. It was a wonderful day.

Volare flies from Stuggart to Naples. Price is about 180 Euros, might be cheaper or more depending on the actual day of your flight. I used their new Naples-Zurich flight last week and was very pleased (esp. as Alitalia was on strike that day). Take a look at volareweb.com for information.

While probably not cheaper than Ryan Air, it is certainly better to fly into Naples than to drive from Pescara which would take you something like 5 hours. From Naples you can get to the Amalfi coast in about an hour by car, a bit more by bus, train or ferry.

I totally agree with the above comment that a car in Amalfi is more of a hindrance than a help. Take the buses and the ferries plus the odd taxi if necessary. Besides the traffic and the roads, parking is very hard to find and expensive, your hotel may charge you 25 Euros or more a day to park.

Anne - Hapag Lloyd fly Stuttgart-Naples
http://www.hlx.com/en/index.html

Air Dolomiti fly Munich-Naples
http://www.airdolomiti.it/index.asp

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Thank you all for your suggestions! I have now given up the idea of flying to Pescara and found the wonderful website Kybourbon recommended (whichbudget.com). I found a flight onAir Berlin from Nuremberg to Rome for a total of 188 euro each. This is more than Ryan Air (196 euro for two) but Frankfurt-Hahn is almost 3 hours from where I live in Germany (Wuerzburg) as opposed to 1 hour to Nuremberg. Unfortunately I was not able to find a flight to Naples on the dates I wanted (Leaving June 1, returning June 7). So now I think we will fly to Rome and make our way down to amalfi coast. So, if we take a train from Rome - where to take it to? And what town would be a good home base for about 5 days as we will return on June 6 late in the evening.

Hapag-lloyd that Steve mentioned has a flight from Stuttgart to Naples on 5/31 with a return on 6/7 for 150E.
If you fly to Rome you take the train from the airport(9E) to the main station Termini and catch a train(ES 22E) to Naples. Go downstairs in the Naples station and catch the Circumvesuviana train(4E) to Sorrento.

I just returned from sorrento Friday and have the following to say.

Sorrento is great, lots of choices for restaraunts and shopping, much better prices for shopping than other places we went.

Amalfi was beautiful, as was Capri. If I were going back, I would try to spend more time in those two.

I chartered a motorboat from amalfisails to see Capri and the coast and it was wonderful. Also, Carmine and Leo were great when we bumped into them in amalfi a few days later. I would highly recommend this splurge.

We stayed at the Hotel Settimo Cielo on via Capo in Sorrento. It is a bit of a wlk into town, but not unbearable, and the views from the hotels on via Capo are unbeatable, but I would still consider staying in town next time as you end up not going back to the hotel to drop off purchases etc. as often as you may like.

We rented a car and it was a good idea. It let us avaoid crowds and tourbusses as much as possible and see things at our own pace. Also, it allowed one of the highlights of our trip, a stop at montecassino, the most beatiful church I've ever seen (better than the sistine chapel and st peters).

Of course traffic will likely be much worse in June and negate the benefits of a car. When we were there there was ample parking everywhere except Sorrento, where we had parking at the hotel.

The car allowed us to stop at all the scenic overlooks on the amalfi drive and just generally enjoy ourselves at our own pace.

I would say that Sorrento and Amalfi would be the best choices for a base. Sorrento seems more central but the traffic trying to get to pompeii seemed to negate any benefit. On a clear day the views from the hotels on via capo are unbeatable anywhere.

Just my ramblings, try to relay what I learned.

Jason

Well, I am back ( not from Italy but from doing some more research for the trip. Thanks to kybourbon and Sauce for the information. Although I love to travel (especially on trains in Europe) the trip from Wuerzburg to the Amalfi coast is quite a "traveller's challenge". So far this is what it would entail to get from Wuerzburg,Germany to Amalfi Coast :train from Wuerzburg to Nurnberg airport;plane to
Rome;train to main station in Rome;train to Naples;boat to Positano ( as that seems like a good spot to settle into and then take day trips). I am not flexible enough with my schedule to leave on the 31 of May as kyb suggested in order to fly directly into Naples. So I will ponder the plan for a while longer. Any suggestions about where to stay in Positano? I have a vague idea of where we would travel once we make the trek to the Coast (e.g Capri, Ischia, Amalfi, Sorrento) but I am open to any other suggestions. By the way if any of you are interested in Germany, Wuerzburg is a lovely and interesting city to visit!

I've been to Wuerzburg and stayed I think at the Dorint hotel.

If you are going to do day trips you don't really want to stay on Capri. The ferries don't run late (last ferry about 7pm) and can be cancelled for bad weather. Sorrento is the easiest to get transportation because of the train station.

I will be in Sorrento and Capri the 1st week of June. If you don't mind, Sauce , would you elaborate on the restaurants you liked best, shopping in Sorrento and your motorboat charter (cost).

iamles