Hi all, there's SO much great advice here, and I'm sure these questions have already been answered ad nauseum, but...I need some help!

We're planning a quick, 6 day trip to Italy, hitting Rome and the Amalfi Coast. After Rome, we would like to see Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano, Ravello, Amalfi, Paestum, and maybe Ischia. Our thought was that Sorrento was the best base to do everything from but I'm hearing such great things about other towns (Positano, Amalfi) that it's making me second guess myself - right now we plan to hit all the Amalfi towns in one day.

Here's our current itinerary:

Monday - arrive Rome
Tuesday - Rome
Wednesday - Rome in AM, then hit Pompeii on the way to Sorrento for the night
Thursday - do the coastal bus drive to Salerno, hit Paestum for a few hours and hit one of the coastal towns for afternoon/dinner - back to Sorrento for the night
Friday - spend the day roaming around any town we missed - Positano, Ravello, Amalfi...then make our way over to Ischia for the night
Saturday - Ischia, then make our way back to Rome for early Sunday flight

It's tight, I know. But I don't want to miss anything! Any advice, feedback, suggestions would be most appreciated!!

I think you've planned an exhausting itinerary for six days. And I don't know if you've really considered the travel times between places, or the fact that you really won't have much time to enjoy anything at that pace. Too, , travel in Italy can be notoriously SLOW, especially on coastal roads in the summer.

For all the above reasons, I'd cut out the coastal bus to Salerno, and definitely forego the one nighter in Ischia. Leave yourself some time to really savor your trip!

From Sorrento, you can easily take a bus or boat ( the boat is more pleasant in the summer) to Positano and Amalfi. There's also excellent hydrofoil service to Capri.


HOpe you have a great time!

From Sorrento, I would definitely head to Ischia and forget Capri!
We were in both last month and ended up staying in Ischia for 2 nights!
Had a wonderful taxi driver who took us to the most fun places.
There are boat rides from Sorrento to Positano etc...Skip Paestum and Salerno.....
In 6 days tho, you cannot do justice to Rome and AC coast...I would suggest Rome another time.

It's one whole day to see Pompeii and Herculean from Sorrento
Also, when we were there...there is only 1 boat from Ischia to Sorrento and that is at 5 PM....That might not give you time to get back to Rome the same day!
Hope this helps your plans...

Hi iffy,

To put it gently: You are nuts to even consider this.

Yup, realized I was nuts so now I've reconsidered. New plan:

Monday-Rome
Tuesday-Rome
Wednesday-Positano
Thursday-Positano - day trip to Paestum
Friday-Positano - day trip to Amalfi
Saturday-head back to Rome for Sunday flight, stopping at Sorrento for a few hours

I considered Sorrento as my base but consensus seems to be that Positano is nicer and more memorable. Does this sound at all better?

Hi

>Does this sound at all better?
Yes

>I considered Sorrento as my base but consensus seems to be that Positano is nicer and more memorable. <

For what you want to do, Sorento might be better.

You can take the ferry from Sorrento to Amalfi (sightsee a little)to Salerno. (Time on the ferry about 2 hrs.) Train to Paestum.

Upon returning to Salerno, you can take the train to Naples (see some of Napoli) and then the Circumvesuviana Commuter train back to Sorrento.

From Sorrento you can take the SITA bus to Positano (sightsee) and then on to Amalfi and Ravello. Then take the bus back.

Sorrento did seem to make more sense...but my feeling from the board was that Positano was much prettier. Is Sorrento as nice of a place to stay in? Any recommendations?

Hi iffy,

Sorrento is quite lovely, though not as spectacular as Positano.

For places to stay, do a text search here for "sorrento and hotel", you'll get lots of suggestions.

PS,

It's much easier to get to Pompeii from Sorrento, if that interests you.

You might find the Naples/AC part of my trip report helpful.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

ira, you're the best. Thanks for all of your quick responses and helpful insight. I'm going to spend today doing some more research - stay tuned!

Glad to help, iffy

Actually I don't think there's much in it timewise to Paestum from Positano or Sorrento, Ira.

I went from Positano and it couldn't have been easier. The ferry docks 5 mins from the railway station at Salerno ...

[There is also a bus from Salerno to Paestum, but the train is quicker - though you have a short walk from Paestum station].

With an early start you would have time to include Amalfi and/or Ravello on the way back. You could do it by boat one way and bus the other between Positano and Salerno ...

Have you dropped Pompei from your itinerary, Iffy? You could include it en route to or from Positano, or as a day-trip to include Sorrento.

If you're still keen to go to Ischia it's possible as a day-trip from the Amalfi coast (departures from Amalfi only in high season), or from Sorrento.
Capri is another option, of course ...

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Personally I wouldn't waste 2 minutes in Sorrento when I could take the extra 15 minutes (that's all it is one way) , to go straight to Positano and use it as a base. Steve is correct, it's no further to Pompeii from Positano than it is from Sorrento, you simply go right over (or rather through) the mountain.

I honestly can't imagine why anyone would bother with Sorrento when they could be in Positano, Sorrento is bigger, uglier and more crowded. Not even on the same radar IMO. From Positano you can take a quick and easy water taxi and/or bus to Amalfi and Ravello, much quicker than from Sorrento too.

Let me make this kind of analogy, Sorrento is to Positano as Hyannis is to Nantucket. Now tell me, where would you rather be?

I love the beauty of Positano but common, 15 minutes one-way?
It is just not possible to get from Sorrento to Positano in 15 minutes. 30 minutes is a stretch too.

Of course it's not possible to get from Sorrento to Positano in 15 minutes, I'm not suggesting that. I'm suggesting eliminating Sorrento altogether, which would make the trip from NAPLES directly to Positano (by car and driver) only 15 minutes longer than going directly to Sorrento and then Positano.

Get it?

Hi nina,

I didn't suggest Sorrento because it is a shorter trip by limo from Naples. It has to do with what iffy wants to do on the AC.

Ira, I know that, I'm just hoping iffy considers carefully why he or she wants to even bother going to Sorrento with the limited time available to see the Amalfi coast. To me it just seems a waste of time, and I would sooner eliminate a town or 2 than miss the opportunity to stay in the heart of the Amalfi coast.

Oh and I do agree with you that it's too ambitious a plan. I'd rather take it slower and really get to see a few towns than rush through all of them just for the sake of going there. That's no way to truly enjoy the Amalfi coast, in my opinion.

Sorrento's about a 40 minute car trip to Positano without summer traffic.

Either place-- Sorrento or Positano is a good base, but for different reasons. Sorrento has a small city feel, and is not nearly as picturesque as Positano. However, it has excellent transportation options to most of the cities/towns along the coast, and a larger choice of hotels in every price range, many of which offer pools.

Positano is a spectacular, unforgettable destination, with a more intimate feel than Sorrento. But many of the hotels are more expensive, and few have pools. Also, it can be harder to get places from Positano. For instance, when we were there, the boats to Capri were cancelled for the day due to rough water. This is less likely to happen in Sorrento, which has a deeper harbor than Positano's.

Sorrento also has more restaurants/nightlife than Positano, although after a bottle of Prosecco on your hotel terrace, none of that may matter!

Anyway, it's your call. You really can't go wrong in either place.

Can I add my two cents? I just returned from my honeymoon in Rome and the Amalfi Coast. Did two nights in Rome, two on Capri and three in Positano, with a day trip to Amalfi and Ravello. I would have only stayed one night on Capri, and spent more time in Anacapri and on Monte Solaro. The rest of Capri was fun to see, but too commercial. Positano was a great place to stay as a "base" and we were fine with not spending any time in Sorrento. The one thing I felt really strongly on was seeing Amalfi was not worth our time and we should have spent more time in Ravello. I could have sat on the lawn of Villa Cimbrone for an entire day just taking in the view. Amalfi didn't impress me at all.