ellimanjr

Hi - I'm trying to plan a honeymoon where the 1st part is on the Amalfi coast. I would love some hotel / travel feedback on a few ideas.

1) Travel from Rome to Amalfi: Rail/boat/bus or car? I had originally planned car, but think rail / boat might be easier, more fun, and less expensive.

2) Hotels: HELP!

a)La Fenice - Positano, but saw some recent negative reviews about sheets, towels, & the poor beach.
b) Hotel Lunca Convento - Amalfi - don't know much about it

c) Hotel Tramonto D'Oro - Praiano - Does anyone know this hotel? what is Praiano like? Practicality of travel from there w/o a car? We want something laid back.

Part 2 of Amalfi - go to Ravello for 2 nights

Ravello Hotels: Suggestions for around euro 200?

a) Hotel Giordano - looks great

b) Grand Hotel Excelsior - nice backup to Giordano, larger, more expensive

Thanks so much!

swalter518

When are you going?

Parker

I've only been to this area twice and stayed once in St. Agata (near Sorrento) and once in Positano. When we went to St. Agata, we took the train from Rome to Naples, the circumsuviano (sp?) to Sorrento, then a taxi up the hill. The next time, we drove to Salerno and took a private boat (missed the ferry) to Positano. It was fun to arrive by water! There are lots of opinions on how best to get to the Amalfi coast from Rome. Do a search to see all the recommendations.

My recommendation is to use Positano as a base for your whole trip to that area rather than moving to Ravello for two nights. The town is beautiful with lots of access to other areas for day trips. It's small enough to become familiar but large enought to provide a wide selection of great restaurants (La Cambusa is our favorite) and shops.

We took a day trip to Ravello and toured, ate, and shopped (great ceramics at great prices!). We also enjoyed day trips to Capri, Sorrento, Amalfi, and Marina del Cantone - all arranged on the beach in Positano.

The beaches in that area are all rocks and I didn't find one beach better than another. I did enjoy the beach there because it was full of sea glass! Can't recommend a hotel because we stayed in an apartment. But lots of recommendations have been posted which you can see with a search. It is very nice and romantic!

Bigbum

Positano is the perfect place to honeymoon! We honeymooned in Sorrento and visited Positano for the day, loved it so much, we went back last year for a week. We stayed at the Hotel Villa Franca, which was just perfect. If you are going summer time, I would reccommend a hotel with pool as it gets v hot, the villa franca has a small but lovely pool on the roof with amazing views. There are loads of wonderful restaurants in Positano, we dined at Le Sireneuse, San Pietro, La Strada (Praiano...v quiet), to name a few, all yummy! Let me know should you want anymore info.

Weadles

I'd definitely choose Positano over Amalfi. Positano is a much more interesting and dramatically beautiful town, and although the beach isn't great, it's preferable to the one in Amalfi.

As others have said, it's easy to arrange daytrips from Positano to most of the other towns on the coast and Capri.

If you do decide to base there, make sure to try a few of the restaurants in Montpertuso, a small mountain village that's about a 15 minute drive from Positano. You can also hike back to Positano from Montpertuso by following the walking path that begins at the church in the main square. Two restaurants I always recommend ( I know there are others as well) are: IL RITROVO and DONNA ROSA. IL RITROVO used to send a car to pick you up and take you back to your hotel if you call ahead. I don't know if they still do that, but it's definitely worth finding out. They have wonderful, fresh, reasonably priced food, and the view out the large picture window of the restaurant is one of the reasons so many of us love the Amalfi Coast.

Good luck and post again if you need more help!

Maggy

As far as getting there from Rome, it is so easy and fun to take the train to Naples. Then you have the choice of continuing with public transportation or having a driver pick you up at the Naples train station and taking you directly to your hotel. I've done both and for a honeymoon I would have the driver pick you up. Positano is an ideal spot and you can use this as your base. Depending on your budget, I would recommend Villa Franca, the Poseidon and a newer one called Punta Regina. Although they aren't cheap hotels, they are 1/2 the price of the more luxurious ones like San Pietro and Le Sireneuse but have same or better views and personalized service. On the Amalfi coast, my opinion is that the view is the most important feature of a hotel room so always ask for a 'room with a sea view' if that is important to you too. An alternative that is mentioned on this site but I haven't stayed at is Villa Rosa, rooms are around $130 p/night. One of the things I like about Positano is you can walk around the town and go to different restaurants and shops plus it's convenient to public transportation to get to Ravello, Amalfi, Capri, etc. Hope this helps!

lisasal

Having just gotten back from a similar trip I have to agree with what everyone's saying. Rome to Naples we took the Eurostar which is quite comfortable. Just be sure to book first class - it's not outrageously expensive but far more comfortable. Then from Naples we hired a private car - again it was worth the expense for the convenience. We stayed in Sorrento but I agree with everyone that Positano is a much better choice. It's central to all the towns, postcard pretty and the dining cannot be beat. From there you can take a SITA bus to Praino (it's a few minutes away) and either bus or boat to Amalfi. I'd say boat because the buses get congested. There's not much there but it's pretty to see and again great dining so don't miss it. It's 15 min. by bus from there to Ravello. You can read my trip report if you'd like - just click on my name.

donw

YES---Positano!!!

Rent a car and go all around the area.

infomania

palazzo sasso in ravello