Okay, here's a first stab, comments very welcome. This is a 2 week trip, so I usually do it by days.

Day 1 - depart Washington DC
Day 2 - arrive Naples. Go to Capri. (How difficult is it to get from Naples to Capri if we get to Naples early in the afternoon?)
Day 3 - Capri
Day 4 - leave Capri, go to Amalfi (Ferry, right? Not hard to arrange).
Day 5 - Amalfi - get a car either this day or Day 6.
Day 6 - Amalfi
Day 7 - Amalfi
Day 8 - Amalfi Note that using Amafi as a base, we would do day trips to Pompeii, Ravello, Positano, etc.
Day 9 - leave Amalfi, go to Benevento (actually, we could day trip somewhere enroute)
Day 10 - Benevento
Day 11 - leave Benevento, go to Naples - ditch car.
Day 12 - Naples
Day 13 - Naples
Day 14 - depart Naples, home to Washington DC.

What do you think? Right amount of time in each place? Alternate suggestions for places to stay? I think 4 locations to stay in is about right for 2 weeks, And actually, I usually like to stay 3 nights each place, but here we're staying 2 nights in Capri and Benevento, using Amalfi as a base so staying 5 nights there.

This trip will be sometime in May through early June, depending on airfare, I'll have to snag that first. (suggestion on the best airfare alerts also welcome).

Thanks as always for your considerable expertise (and I promise to do a trip report afterwards, particularly for Benevento, since there's so little info in the forums about that area).

Alice

I haven't read through your other plans and ideas (aside from Benevento) but I don't think the car in Amalfi is needed at all...cars are huge pain in Amalfi (so much so that I usually park mine in Salerno and take the bus) You will need to be sure your hotel has parking...and, even if it does, that they do not charge a crazy amount for it. There also aren't any car rental agencies in Amalfi, so, you would either be paying a premium for the hotel to arrange one and get it to you, or you would be spending a good portion of your day heading somewhere to pick one up. I think it would just be a hassle to drive to Ravello and Positnato - they are easily reached by bus and you won't have to deal with parking. (because, even if your hotel does have parking...where will you park in Positano, etc? the public lots in most of these towns will be full end of May-June and there is not always enough street parking.)

If you want to drive to Pompeii, rather than take the train or bus, I think you would be much better off starting somewhere other than Amalfi...or...maybe head out on the bus in the am and get your car in Salerno and drive out from there? It should only be a 30min drive on the highway from Salerno and you could just head to Benevento after the day at Pompeii. (no big deal to drive to Pompeii, BTW - there is a parking lot, etc. right there.)

Hope this doesn't sound negative...it's not meant to be! I would just rethink the car for your time on the coast unless you have other reasons for needing one (i.e. you are staying in an out-of-the-way rental or have other trips planned that can't be reached by bus or ferry.)

correction: I don't KNOW of any rental agencies in Amalfi ;-) I'm sure there is somewhere to rent something (local travel agencies, etc. sometimes rent out cars), but not from one of the big agencies like Hertz, etc.

Hmmm. I've seen varying ideas about the pros and cons of having a car. I know I'll have to have lodging with parking. But I thought driving to Ravello and environs would be nicer with a car, as would driving to Pompeii.

I'll look further into it, and see where we might pick up a car - maybe we ferry from Capri to Sorrento and get a car there and head off to Amalfi - or don't get a car until day 7.

We generally like having a car, but last year in Greece, we rented a car for only one of our 3 days in Santorini and for one of our 3 days in Naxos. Then no car in Athens, of course, and then a car for the Pelopennese.

But what do you think about the itinerary in general, car aside?

Alice

Hi A9,

Looks good to me.

Have you considered a stay in Sorrento or Positano before Amalfi?

I don't think that you would want a car until you leave the AC for Benevento.

There is good bus and ferry service from Sorrento to Salerno.

Naples is not easy to navigate by car. Do you know where you will be dropping it?

Enjoy your visit.

great point about Naples...we ditch our car at the airport and take a taxi to a hotel from there (Naples airport is very close to the city center, so taxi's are not very expensive and less of a pain, IMHO than bothering with the bus.) There is a taxi lot right across from the car rental lot and they will usually just take you from there (rather than walking back to the taxi stand at the terminal or taking the little shuttle.)

We've done the same thing with a rental car before getting to Rome - ditching it at the airport and then taking a cab. Good idea about doing the same for Naples.

ira, I didn't think about staying in Sorrento or Positano (well additionally staying in either, I did think about both as a base, but ended up favoring Amalfi). I don't want to move around TOO much - everything seems so close I thought we could day trip most places (whether by bus, ferry or car). Do you think it would be better to add one more move?

Alice

Suppose I switch this around a little, to make the car rental easier. Getting a car at the airport should work and dropping it off in Sorrento should work too, right?

Day 1 - depart Washington DC
Day 2 - arrive Naples. Pick up a car and drive to Amalfi
Day 3 - Amalfi
Day 4 - Amalfi
Day 5 - Amalfi
Day 6 - Amalfi
Day 7 - Leave Amalfi arrive Benevento
Day 8 - Benevento
Day 9 - Leave Benevento, go to Sorrento, ditch car, ferry to Capri.
Day 10 - Capri
Day 11 - depart Capri arrive Naples
Day 12 - Naples
Day 13 - Naples
Day 14 - depart Naples, home to Washington DC.

Same number of nights each place, different order. Seem reasonable?

Alice

Alice: In early June, with your general itinerary, I think I would choose to rent a car for the entire trip. You can always ditch it at Naples airport which is very close to the city center, and take a cab from the airport for about 20 euro more or less. The alternative is to ahve one delivered to you in Amalfi from the office in Sorrento; I think I read that this costs about 50 euro or so.

But where is the plan to visit Cetara and the Paestum/Battipaglia area? I was hoping you might fit that in.

I absolutely would not recommend that you stay in Sorrento, based on your previous thread. I think Amalfi is the best fit; Hotel Floridiana has free parking, or did when I was there in 2008.
It is a superb hotel if you can live without a sea view. If not, there are quite a few promising options..let us know your price range for hotels and we can suggest a few more..

I think you have a great trip in store!

You should be able to get to Capri from Naples after an early afternoon arrival...have you checked the ferries on Capri.net? The only problem I foresee will be finding the June schedule online now...you can always ask your proposed hotel on the island...there are many ferries from Naples to the islands; less so from the ACoast towns to the islands.

ekscrunchy, I think we're looking at May, not June, the airfare goes up a LOT in June. Probably mid-late May. So you like the first itinerary better? I figured I didn't need a car to start since we were going to Capri first - but then someone said we couldn't rent a car in Amalfi, but we COULD in Sorrento. So I moved the itinerary to rent a car when we got there, and then ditch it in Sorrento (we're NOT going to stay there, we'll base in Amalfi in either itinerary), and not have a car for Capri and Naples.

I think Cetara is part of a day trip from Amalfi - possibly Paestum too, but the addition of Benevento might preclude Paestum (SO hard to decide what to include/exclude).

Itinerary 1 or 2?

Alice

IMHO I also think that a car in the Costiera is more of a minus than a plus. What is really, really beautiful in the Costiera is the trip itself going from Salerno all the way to Sorrento, or vice versa. And you will not be able to enjoy it if you are driving, unless of course you will have someone doing the driving for you.

Public transport in that area is excellent. BTW, if you DO decide to use public transport, make sure to ask for a tourist pass, not the regular pass. Wife and I were ousted from the Bus in our first trip from Salerno to Amalfi and forced to go out of the bus in Cetara, because the ticket we had bought till Amalfi was only for the residents of the Costiera.

As a matter of fact, being kicked out of the bus turned out to be a blessing, because we simply LOVED Cetara and would not have stopped in it if it were not for the rude controlore.

Don't skip Paestum. Caserta is also nice. You still have the Vesuvius, Herculanum, Pompei, etc... Sorrento and Positano are nice and merit a visit.

I don't see many references to Solfatara, but that was quite an experience, visiting an active volcano which blows a stenchy sulfur vapor. Quite interesting.

Have a great time.

Alice, sorry I did not mean that you need the car for the Capri-Naples portion. But I would have it on hand for your stay on the AC if you are a reasonably confident driver.

It is not necessary, of course, and their are drawbacks, but given how much you want to explore, I think that the pluses outweigh the minuses. It will be much easier to visit Paestum and around with a car, for example. The car will allow you to get further off the beaten path which is one of your goals. Yes, the buses are good for people who want to stick to the basics, but especially in May and with your inclination to explore, I don't think you will be sorry as long as you find a hotel with parking.

Okay, we'll stick with our plans to have a car for the non-Capri/Naples part. I'm going to take advice given in another posting about not agonizing about airfare and just DOING something (and never looking back!) so I can start booking hotels soon.

And as to itinerary #1 and the issue about not being able rent a car in Amalfi - I suppose we could ferry from Capri to Sorrento, rent a car there and drive to Amalfi. So either itinerary would work in terms of rental car.

Alice

have you checked the prices of cars? sometimes, I have held onto a car, even though we didn't need it, because it was much cheaper to drop and return at the (same) airport - not sure if price is a factor or not for you...but, if so, you may want to just wait and see the difference in price before you make a decision (I get an automatic, btw, so that adds quite a bt to the car price...probably less of a factor if you drive stick)

Well, we do drive stick (and you're right, the difference in price in staggering), but I'll see if picking up and dropping off at the same place makes a difference. Good suggestion, thanks.

Alice

Also, if you don't mind taking the time, you could check out the various sites for AutoEurope outside the US; for example:


http://www.autoeurope.it/

Maybe see what they can come up with, too:

http://www.antares91.com/

Another good suggestion! We've always used the American site, I hadn't even considered looking at the European ones. That's why I love this forum.

Thanks, ekscrunchy.
Alice

hi alice,
amalfi as a base to see ravello, positano sounds great. we loved ravello, villa cimbrone, definitely one of the most beautiful places in the world. definitely don't miss paestum. we did a day bus tour from our hotel in sorrento.
would you want to stay on capri another day? we fell in love with capri and stayed 5 nights =)

i copied my highlights since its buried in my post
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-sorrento.cfm

We're back. It was wonderful - relaxing and inspiring. Here are some of the highlights of our trip. Thank you all for your guidance in planning!

* Ravello - Villa Cimbrone - the Terrace of Infinity - just beautiful, the Temple of Baccus and the smell of the lavender walking up to it.

* Capri - we loved Capri - it felt like we were on our own private island. We loved exploring every corner of it. Hotel La Minerva was so peaceful and quiet and 5 nights was not too many days.

* Villa San Michele on Capri - I want a garden like Axel Munthe's - what a wonderful private garden.

* Pompei - the bakeries, brothel, amphitheatre

* Greek ruins at Paestum

* having parma (proscuitto) and local cheeses from the salumeria's

* the wonderful breakfasts from the hotels (la minerva in capri was our favorite breakfast - including a great selection of meats, cheeses, eggs cooked to order (3 min soft boiled - yum), fresh juices, cappucino, cookies, pastries

* La Tagliata and the hike there (1700 steps)- amazing food for an amazing value. Out best meal of the trip!

* Albergo Miramare balcony

* Hot chili oil with pizza - delicious! I don't know how I was eating pizza without it.

* Water with gas - this is my third trip to Europe and I have finally acquired the taste of sparkling water.

* Having access to good gelato, al dente pasta and wine cheaper than water everywhere.

* The bus ride from Sorrento to Positano - what a great work out for both arms!

* The ferry from Postiano to Amalfi - so convenient and what a great view.

* Hearing "buongiorno" and "buona serra" from the friendly locals.

* The old man, (he reminded me of Geppetto from Pinochio) making my sandals

appletea, thank you for so many good suggestions! I've been debating about Paestum, we were in Greece last year, I saw a LOT of ruins.

And I'm looking forward to my daily gelato!

Thanks again,
Alice