hi fodorites:<BR>i intended to do dinner around amalfi/ravello or positano, can anyone tell me if the drive back at nighttime to sorrento base would be safe? an alternative option is to get back to A3 and try to do it in a 'loop' style; this may be longer but it might be a quick drive...any comments/opinions on this are greatly appreciated...<BR><BR>mike<BR>

Are you planning to go over the top or around towards Positano? I was in the area 2 years ago and traveled at night and it seemed safe enough.

we drove from Ravello to Sorrento at night following a meal at Cosimo Cumpa. The nice part about driving at night is interpreting a single headlight coming at you in the center of the road? A motorcyclist on his/her side of the road or a car with one headlight burnt out possibly on you side of the road. When its dark you can't see the folk standing in the road except by the burning ends of their cigarettes. But there was no pesky view for us to try and see as we were driving.

thanks for your input, dean...at least the drive back i'll be on the mountain side though i'm not sure what to think about spotting pedestrians until they are too close!...are the roads generally well lit and how's the traffic around 9:30-10:30 pm?<BR><BR>dean, the restaurant you mentioned (Cosimo Cumpa) sounds great...it seems everyone here raved about it; do they take reservations? they seem like a small local restaurant and i'm wondering if they are packed with people by 8:30/9:00 (usual time we eat)..<BR><BR>thanks!<BR>mike<BR>

I'm sure it's safe-- if you can see the road and avoid the people walking along the mountain side, and the oncoming cars that seem to appear out of nowhere.This is NOT a fun ride at night unless you really know the road. I think there's probaly SITA buses available until late, although they can be painfully slow. At least you wouldn't be doing the driving. Good luck.

My response what intended to be fairly sarcastic. Driving on the Amalfi coast is not a real problem if you are alert and you know both your liitations and those of your car. The biggest challenge is the trucks and buses which take up the entire road around the tight turns. <BR><BR>I actually enjoyed my driving there a lot, my wife was a little less enthusiastic. <BR><BR>As to Cosimo CUmpa, I know everyone raves. We had an okay meal there, nothing special. It seemed like they were going thru the motions. We had the 7 courses of pasta plate and only 3 or 4 of the pastas were truly outstanding. It was fairly edxpensive for what it was. We paid alomt $140 for a dinner of the pasta, a couple of antipasti and one socondo. <BR><BR>Much better in our mind was La Vela Bianca in Marina Grande. We truly pigged out, 5 antipasti, 4 pastas, 4 secondi, 3 dolce, 2 bottles of wine, plus driver service to and from our hotel all for about $250.00 for some of the most incredible fish and shellfish we have ever had. I am sure we could have found some little hole in the wall in Marina Piccolo or in Massa Lubrense where we could have eaten just as well for a lot less, but this was a superb meal. We enjoyed a fantastic bottle of Ischia Bianco but for some strange reason I cannot remember the name of the producer.

is this the correct address for La Vela Bianca in sorrento? <BR>Via Marina Piccola, 5 (Porto)<BR><BR>also dean, do you have any suggestions for naples as well?