Amalfi Coast to Capri Questions
 

We're planning a one-week stay on the Amalfi Coast in September and will want to spend several nights on Capri.

One question concerns the logistics of leaving the car and some of our luggage on the mainland during our stay on the island. Can I assume that there's secure multi-day parking in Sorrento?

Another question I have is what if, due to weather conditions, boats will not be making the trip on a given day and is this a possible problem if that day is the one for which we've made our Capri lodging accommodations?

Hi T,

>Can I assume that there's secure multi-day parking in Sorrento?<

No. I suggest that you ask the Sorrento hotel to hold your luggage for you, even if you have to pay.

>...what if, due to weather conditions, boats will not be making the trip on a given day; is this a possible problem?

You betchum, Red Ryder.

((I))

We paid 10 euro a day to keep our car in a parking lot in Sorrento, when we stayed at a centrally located B&B. I wouldn't have left my luggage in the car though.

The parking lot was at the other end of the main street from the marina where boats left to Capri. I'm not good on estimating distances, but it was probably something less than a mile. I don't know if there was a lot any closer, but there are quite a few steps both up from that lot and down again to the marina. (Just thinking about hauling luggage. You can take a bus down to the marina, though.)

Taxis are very expensive in Sorrento, by the way. We never took one but someone at our B&B said they paid over 10 euro just to get a few blocks to the train station one morning when it was pouring rain.

I don't know what your plans are as far as driving, but you might want to consider dropping your car off in Sorrento and renting another one later on if you are going to be on Capri and on the Amalfi Coast for several days. There are several car rental agencies in Sorrento. We had prepaid our rental, so we couldn't do that, but I wished that we had because we never wanted to drive anywhere once we were in Sorrento, so we paid to rent and park a car that we didn't use for 5 days.

In September there usually aren;t issues getting out to Capri. It's certainly possible - but quite rare - the problem becomes much more common in the winter months.

Thanks ira, nonnafelice and nytraveler for taking the time to reply with your helpful info.

It would be a good idea to double-check or verify information provided here by well-meaning posters – which is what I did. I found the following parking possibilities...
1. Garage Marina Piccola - Porto di Sorrento - Tel. 081/8781306 (near the harbor)
2. Garage S. Antonino - Via degli Aranci, 139 - Tel. 081/8782321
3. Via L. De Maio, 62 (garage)
4. Parcheggio Terminal - Via S. Renato - Tel. 081/8771477 (closed on Tuesdays)
5. Via degli Aranci, 25
6. Piazza marinai d'Italia
7. Via Fuorimura, 45
8. Autoparcheggio Correale - Via S. Renato, 15 - Tel. 081.8771477
9. Chiomenzano S.a.s. Parcheggio - Via Fuori Mura, 16 - Tel. 081.8072397

And here's an email I received yesterday..."it's possibile to book in advance a car-parking in Garage Marina Piccola phone 081.878.13.06 in Sorrento walking distance from the dock to Capri! The garage is safe ancd you can consider to leave your luggage into the car itself. Sincerely Sorrento Tourist Board Fabiola"

On a related matter, on another thread, a poster made reference to what Hotel Weber has to say on their website about the high rate of theft, “as many as 35% tourist cars are stolen on the mainland”. I wrote to Hotel Weber and received this response, “Sorrento is a safe place to leave the car.”

For a traveler who a) has a rental car on the AC and b) wants to not do a mere daytrip to Capri, the above information should be helpful. BTW, we’ll be taking public transportation to Pompeii, Positano, Ravello from our base near Sorrento.

Great that you found a parking garage in Sorrento by the dock - now that you mention where it is, that does sound vaguely familiar. Never travelling there with a car myself, I never noted where the parking garages were!

I believe that the reference to the high rate of tourist car theft is referring to Naples - many cars do get stolen there. Sorrento is, in comparison, safer. However....

Regardless of the fact that the garage is telling you that your luggage will be safe, I personally would not take the chance. If I were you, I would not leave ANYTHING in that car that I was not mentally and physically prepared to lose. You just never know....and parking situations, particularly in the south of Italy, can often be sketchy.

As told to me by MANY italians, and as I witnessed personally, there are "parcheggi custoditi" (attended parking areas) all over the greater Naples area. Now, these should be FREE parking areas, but instead someone charges you to park there. If you choose not to pay them, the insinuation is given that "if I have not been paid to watch your car, I cannot guarantee its safety." Crazy.

This garage you mention seems legit, but I still would not trust the safety of my things in a parking garage.

Just my two cents.

Oh, also, it is possible that the boats wouldn't run, but not very likely. The weather is quite decent in September and the water is rarely rough enough to stop all boats from running.

Thanks for your two cents Nicole - I agree with your point about the luggage despite what Fabiola says. In making our reservations, I'm making that a condition i.e., having the B&B hold it after we've left and while we're off to Capri.