Thank you Kja! It seems as though we have some options with the luggage. The Le Ghiande B & B in Poistano where we will be staying has offered to store the luggage. However, My preference now is to take it with us, becasue we would be going onto Rome from Capri

Getting back to going to places from Positano. It seems to make sense to go to both Amalfi and Ravello as a daytrip. What about going to Sorrento or Salerno; Are these places worth the time?

Re: Salerno, please see my earlier post on this thread.

Kja, thank you very much for the posting on Salerno; Would that be an all day excursion? It sounds like a must on our list of places to see.

I would highly recommend Salerno as a daytrip from Positano. kja pointed out some good sights in Salerno, and you can also take the (short) train ride to Vietri Sul Mare from Salerno to see the ceramics shops (and museum).

But leave yourself time in Positano for relaxing and exploring.

Thank you Ekc and all of you who added your comments to this thread. I think I have a much better handle on how to approach the area we are staying while exploring some of the Amalfi coast. Many thanks!

Re: Luggage. Thirty years ago we traveled with a big 70 lb bag and two "smaller" 30-40 pounders. We could take a trip for 3 weeks and live for the first week at home out of clean stuff left over from the trip. Once my wife and I carried home 4 cases of wine packed in our luggage.

On our latest trip we had two 18-20 lb rollers, no problems. Lighter and smaller is better, especially if boarding a train or ferry, using stairs, or traveling with the latest air travel restrictions and fees.

Lug-age: The more you age, the less you lug.

Thank you for sharing that AJPeadbody.

> Salerno; Would that be an all day excursion?

You can see the waterfront, cathedral, and ivories in the morning and then take the train to Paestum and spend the afternoon there. It would be a long day trip, but doable.

Thanks Kja. How much time should we allow for Salerno? And no it would not be an all day excursion. By some chance do you know the time it takes the train going from Salerno to Paestum? Our concern is that we do want to be rushing to get to one place to another. However, this is another option to consider rather than going to Paestum from Naples. I guess it comes down to what makes better use of our time.

Do I need to be concerned as to the location where I am staying while in Positano? I have a reservation at the B&B Le Ghiande in Montepertuso. Are there places close to bus lines, etc.?

To see Salerno AND Paestum would be an all day trip - partially due to the train schedule. If you search this forum or the Italy forum on Tripadvisor, you will find recent posts discussing how to get to Paestum via public transport from the AC.

Yes, you need to be concerned about location in Positano. The lower in the town the better - Montepertuso is actually a small town way above Positano.

Having never seen Greek temples before, we spent almost as much time at Paestum as we did at Pompeii, especially when you factor in the museum (but we came from the south). I do agree you can have a nice visit to Salerno and Paestum in one (long) day though. You have to pass through Salerno anyway, twice, so you may as well see some of it. It makes a good lunch stop.

If you like the b&b you have selected, then I would write them and ask if there is a bus stop close by. The website says there is. I like staying places like that (all reviews in Italian, nice!), but if you are doing many day trips, there will be some legwork involved--literally.

If you don't mind relying on a bus to get to and from your B&B, or walking (literally) hundreds of steps to get anywhere, then staying high above town is fine - it certainly is quieter up there. I just prefer to be closer to the shops, restaurants, beach, ferry, etc. I think if you use www.venere.com to search for hotels/B&B's, it will show the locations on a map.

I loved Paestum and would pick it over Salerno if you are having to decide between the two.

I believe that Salerno is on the same train line that you would take to get from Naples to Paestum. Paestum is just over 1/2 from Salerno. Wherever you start, be sure to buy a ticket that includes your return from Paestum before you get there, as the station is Paestum doesn't have a ticket booth (unless things have changed). As I've already said, if you plan to do both Salerno and Paestum in the same day be sure you know that the cathedral and museum in Salerno are likely to be closed during a very long lunch time. You can visit both in the same day with a sufficiently early start. I would think you would want to be sure you have at least 1.5 or 2 hours in Salerno before the lunch-time closure, but I don't know your preferred travel pace. Leave several hours for Paestum, perhaps 2 hours for the site and another hour for the museum. Make sure you know the hours so you can plan accordingly.

And I agree that if you have to choose between Salerno and Paestum, Paestum would be the likely winner unless you have a particular interest in Salerno's treasures.

Yikes, thank you kja, ekc and yorkshire. I do need to change my b&b to the lower area of positano. My traveling partner has health issues; being chronic fatique and FB. Closer to the mainstream trasportation would be more helpful. I feel a bit under the gun, thinking I had the accomdoations all set to go. :0 Thank you all very much!

Steve31,

Since it's your first visit to the coast, I would not recommend staying in Montepertuso. It's a hike- excuse the pun- from everything you're going to want to see and do, and transportation is not that great between there and Positano. The town itself is about a 15 minute up the mountain ride WITHOUT traffic from Positano.

I would look for something right in town so that you have easy access to restaurants, shops, beach, and town dock.

While in Positano, definitely take the seaside path that winds around the bend behind the hotel COVO DEI SARCENI towards FORNILLO BEACH. It's a gorgeous walk, and one of our fave restaurants ( LO GUARACINO) is on that path, about half a mile up on the right hand side.

If you post a budget I am sure that many people- including me- can make some recommendations for more central hotels/B&BS. Just got back from my sixth or maybe seventh (?) trip to Positano.

I'm not sure whether you are using a guidebook, but if you are, I don't think it is serving you well. I strongly encourage you to get at least one good one soon.

I would just take your bags with you to Capri. It would be an enormous pain to have to backtrack to the location of your bags unless you were planning to stay there again before you went on to your next stop.

Capri is worth the overnights.

ps. Montepertuso is beautiful but you will have to take the toodle bus down to Positano every morning and back again every night. It is better to be down on the beach where you can nip in and out of your hotel easily - after beaching, for a freshen up, after shopping, before dinner to change, etc etc.