Capri only vs Capri and Positano/Amalfi drive
 

Here's the skinny: if one stays on the island of Capri for a couple nights, is there much more to be "gained" by also driving the Amalfi coast/staying at Positano?

The background/details:

First, I appreciate the past and (hopefully) forthcoming advice in these forums, always so knowledgeable and helpful!

I wrote before about a 48 hour trip out of Rome next May 1 (I love to plan ahead!). We arrive in Rome FCO at 9am on Wednesday May 1, and need to be back in Rome Friday night May 3.

Two bucket list items for a side trip are Capri and Pompei/Herculaneum. A potential third is driving Amalfi coast and staying in Positano.

All of this assumes we can take a ferry to Capri on May 1 and that sufficient hotels/restaurants are open then to make it a nice experience. One guideboook says there is limited or no ferry service/open hotels on Capri from about November to May each year. I haven't been able to track this down for accuracy.

So the two options I'd like comment on:

A) take train from FCO to Termini to Naples (about 2.5 hours door to door) and take ferry to Capri Wednesday afternoon and stay there two nights. Take ferry back to Naples Friday morning and find a way to Pompei area for a few hours and then take early evening train to Termini. Advantage is not having to drive, and getting night time experience in Capri when tourists are gone (if there are any on May 1). Disadvantage is not having a car for side trips including Positano and Pompei.

B) Get car from FCO and drive to Positano (3.5 hours) Wednesday afternoon, Spend two nights there. Drive coast whenever. Take ferry from Positano to Capri for Thursday day trip. Have car on Friday to go to Pompei and then drive back to arranged dropoff for car at Termini train station, where there are no driving restrictions. Advantage is seeing Amalfi coast and convenience of car. Disadvantage is having to drive in Italy; everyone says its terrible but I'm used to Chicago traffic and have driven internationally a bunch. Also though, I've read its difficult for driver to enjoy Amalfi coast because of constant hairpin turns and traffic and what not.

Sorry for the long winded question, but basically it boils down to this: if one can stay on Capri for a couple nights, is one then "missing" much by NOT driving along Amalfi coast and seeing Positano etc? Cost of train tickets vs. renting a car is about the same, by the way.

Thanks so much!

Chris

We had a fabulous trip last year. We took the ferry from Naples to Capri. Loved staying at this hotel overlooking the water with a private terrace -
https://www.relaismaresca.com/en/index

Then we took the ferry to Sorrento and we were welcomed by the private driver LoveItaly recommended years ago. A fabulous way to experience the Amalfi coast and he will take you to Pompei/Herculaneum if you wish.

He delivered us to our hotel in Naples and we were off to Rome the next day.
A bit of a splurge for the private driver but a FABULOUS way to see all we wanted to see.

Just some comments:

Two nights in the area is only one full day plus a few hours. I doubt you'll have time for Positano, Capri and Pompeii unless you're just checking things off a list. It's easy to spend several hours at Pompeii, and getting around takes time.

May 1st is a national holiday. I don't know the impact, if any, on public transportation (train, ferry, bus), so you should look into that.

Ferry service to/from Capri does not operate when seas are rough. It might be a better plan to sleep on the mainland and ferry to Capri for a day if possible.

Driving nearly 5 hours (not 3.5) to Positano after getting off an overnight flight is not a good idea. Driving in Italy is not like driving in Chicago (I live in L.A.). It would be safer to train to Naples and have a driver take you the rest of the way. There's also shuttle bus service to Positano from both FCO and the Napoli Centrale train station.

There is a commuter train that runs between Naples and Sorrento with a stop at Pompeii. It takes about 30/40 minutes to reach Pompeii from either end.

If it's raining, none of this will be much fun.

Thanks Starrs and Jean.

A couple quick follow-ups please. I now see that May 1 is Labor Day in Italy, so I would expect retail businesses to be closed I guess.

Is there a way to see historically the likelihood of rain/bad weather in early May in Naples region?

How much does a driver cost for the day?

Thanks again, Chris

>>>All of this assumes we can take a ferry to Capri on May 1 and that sufficient hotels/restaurants are open then to make it a nice experience.<<<

That has not been my experience as there have been plenty of hotels open in early April and ferries/hydrofoils running. Your issue would be ferries which don't run late. The last ferry may be around 5 or 6pm that time of year. Being a holiday, it might book up.

>>>Two bucket list items for a side trip are Capri and Pompei/Herculaneum. A potential third is driving Amalfi coast and staying in Positano.<<<

You need to decide what is most important. What do you want from Capri? Do you want to stay in Capri and experience that at night as opposed to the marina area or Anacapri? Do you want to do other things on Capri?

Do you want to see Pompeii and Herculaneum? Do you prefer one over the other? They are both on the commuter train line between Sorrento and Naples (train cost is about 4€ with Herculaneum being a bit closer to the Naples side.

>>>A) take train from FCO to Termini to Naples (about 2.5 hours door to door)<<<

Perhaps. At times, FCO can be a zoo and you might end up being there an hour or better after you get off the plane. Then the trek to the train station (you will want to get some euro in FCO at an ATM first). If you are lucky, there will be a train departing as you arrive. If not, you might have to wait 30 minutes and then travel time so you are talking about an hour or better just to reach Termini. At Termini, there is a bit of security to reach your train so you need to allow some time to reach your train, but if you book a fast train, travel time should be a little over an hour. Then you need transport to the port (taxi, bus). It can take time to pick up a car also.

>>>There's also shuttle bus service to Positano from both FCO and the Napoli Centrale train station.<<<

Jean - What is the name of the FCO/Positano bus? Buonotourist used to run from FCO to the coast, but they quit a couple of years ago. Is there a new one?

>>> We arrive in Rome FCO at 9am on Wednesday May 1, and need to be back in Rome Friday night May 3.<<<

Have you already booked this flight? If not, why not fly into Naples? Do you need to be back in Rome May 3 or at FCO?

Thanks kybourbon (I like Woodford Reserve myself!).

We got a very good price to fly non stop Chicago-Rome, so never looked into open jaws options such as flying into Naples.

As an interesting side note, a friend who trained at my hospital 25 years ago eventually returned to Spain and became Dean of his medical school in Pamplona but resigned that to return to seminary; so we are seeing him ordained in Rome on May 4.

We have rented an airbnb two metro stops from Termini so would like to get to that rental by 7pm Friday. So whether we take the train from Naples or have a rental car, both would take us to Termini.

I have never been to the Naples region so am putting together ideas. I saw Capri was a bucket list/top 10 item on some lists. We enjoy hiking and taking in scenery, maybe just a bit of checking out village shops or museums there, but mostly we want to stay outdoors. I'm guessing that the scenery and life around Capri is pretty much the same as around the Amalfi coast? That's why I wondered if seeing the Amalfi coast or staying at Positano was much of a "bonus" above and beyond staying on Capri.(or conversely, if one is staying in Positano, is there much of a "bonus" to see Capri?)

I hadn't anticipated a ferry perhaps not running because of rough waters, so am trying to figure out how often that happens or what time of year. Kybourbon, your comments about the delays in getting on a train out of FCO are well taken and make me wonder if just driving a rental out of FCO is the better option and staying in Positano. That way we stay on the mainland and can always daytrip to Capri if weather looks good.

Thanks for all previous and perhaps future comments!

https://www.naplesbayferry.com/en/t/capri/positano
This website might be of help.

After a flight, I would not drive the AC, only do that when you have more time and are rested. Also, the coast and Positano viewed from the water are beautiful. Capri is great for walking.

Personally, I am a slow and lazy traveler, and would not try to do everything you want to do in that time frame, just do two things, enjoy that and call it a day. However, if you must, see if ferry schedules work for this.
May 1, Get to Naples, take ferry to Capri for the night.
May 2, catch mid-morning ferry to Positano or Amalfi. This ferry can be crowded. Buy tickets ahead. Have lunch. Catch afternoon ferry to Sorrento for the night. Views will be spectacular!
May 3, take Circumvesuvia train to Pompeii. Stash luggage at entrance storage. Tour Pompeii. Head on to Naples, then Rome.

Not statistical, so not predictable, but I have been to Capri and the AC twice in early Spring, March and April. It did rain, a real downpour, but not for long and ferries ran. If you have to miss something, that happens, but chances are all will go well in May. You could always stay the day on Capri, catch a ferry to Sorrento on May 3, and see Pompeii on the way to Naples and Rome as planned. Keep an eye on the weather to make sure you can get a ferry from Capri that day.

https://www.positanoshuttle.com/services/shuttle-bus/

IMO, driving 5 hours from FCO to Positano after getting off an overnight flight is a bad idea, but you don't seem to be deterred. I wouldn't want to drive back to Rome or into Naples on a Friday afternoon to return the car. (Personally, I wouldn't choose to drive into Naples period.) You could probably return the car in either Sorrento or Salerno, but the logistics of both options don't work well with your compressed timeframe. Having a car does not make getting around this area much easier, just more expensive, and parking in the coast towns is difficult.

The rough seas in the Gulf of Naples are not seasonal and can occur at any time of year if conditions are right. Ferry cancellations may not be frequent on an annual basis, but if they happen while you're there it doesn't matter what the historical weather records say. Your itinerary has no flexibility for delays anywhere along the way, especially as you have an event in Rome on Friday evening.

If this is just a bucket list thing, OK, go and do what you can. But if you want to see and do the best the area offers, you need more time. Pompeii is fascinating, and you could spend hours there. The artifacts from Pompeii, however, are housed in the archeology museum in Naples. Positano is lovely, but the views from Ravello are stunning and Amalfi has more history.

To each his/her own! I have absolutely no interest in driving the Amalfi Coast and preferred Ravello to Positano. I thoroughly enjoyed a night on Capri, and found a one-night stay (so close to 2 days there) delightful.

Re: A) IMO, Pompeii deserves more than a few hours and is best paired with time to see the National Archeological Museum in Naples. You don’t have time for side trips, so I wouldn’t worry about that.

Re: B) If you are driving, you don’t really get to see the Amalfi Coast – you get to see the pavement. And a car is not likely to be particularly convenient in that area., although it shouldn’t be too bad in early May.

Jean is absolutely right in urging you not to drive after a flight: Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely after crossing multiple timezones. The issue has become a bit of a cause célèbre for me….

For historic climate data, see timeanddate.com, but as others have noted, rough seas can always occur.

Thanks for the comments.

kja, that was quite a post! As an aside, each time I fly to Europe I work with my colleague who is a circadian rhythm expert who consults for NASA. She gives me a sleep/wake schedule for the week prior to my eastbound trip, along with a bluelight box, and these work great!

I've been traveling overseas for 25 years and have consistently scheduled "more" into these trips than others have recommended. Have never had a regret. As someone said, to each their own. I can always catch up on sleep at home, and only have so much time and money for trips, so have done more than others would choose. One never knows when one's time is up or ability to travel expires, so I squeeze things in as best as one can!

Thanks all!