Capri or Amalfi Coast
 

We are going to Italy with our kids in October. We were really wanting to go to Amalfi coast for 3 days. But we are having a hard time finding a place to start for only 3 nights and for 5 people! We are now looking at Capri instead. I want to see if what people recommend. Capri or Amalfi Coast? Also do you have any recommendations for a house or hotel for 2 adults 3 kids.

Also do you have ideas for things to do with the kids? They are 11,10,& 8

Are youse going to day trip from either - like to Pompeii?

Sorrento is a popular watering hole from which you can take boats or buses to the Amalfi - the train to Pompeii or boats to Capri or mini-vans up Mount Veusvius to the crater.

If you just want to sit around a lovely place Capri is neat and swimming of course and any Amalfi town is too.

In October you can't find something in any Amalfi town - Amalfi, Positano, Ravello and others are all neat and on or close to the sea.

Sorrento has a beach but much of the town is high above the sea but hotels abound there and there is a certain ambience at night with the nightly stroll for many folks.

We just returned from the trip of a lifetime to Italy, and we stayed 4 nights in Sorrento, in an Airbnb and had an excellent experience. Our group was 5; 2 moms and 3 18 yr old daughters. One day we went to Pompeii, one day we took a ferry to Ravenna and then rode the bus between towns, ending up back in Sorrento. Our last full day we took the morning ferry to Capri and took a boat tour around the island with a stop at the Blue Grotto, which we all though was really cool. A day on Capri was enough for us; but that is just our opinion. I know you can do some hiking and they have a nice beach, but Sorrento was a nice central location for us. I suppose it really depends on what you want to see or do. Our apartment in Sorrento was within walking distance of the beach/water, and there was a nice market across the street where we could get stuff for breakfast, sandwiches, etc. It's truly a gorgeous place and the girls felt it was a nice way to end the trip after our trekking around/train rides in Venice, Rome, Florence and Naples.

cgranning - I'm impressed you took a ferry from Sorrento to Ravenna - which is 600km from Sorrento. You may need to re-check yo travel diary.

Ravello - that is perched high above Amalfi town but not reachable by ferry either.

minor blip in a good info-filled report.

We stayed in Ravello last week and loved it. We were interested in hiking, beautiful views, gardens and the music festival. Ravello more than delivered on those fronts. Kids might find Amalfi more interesting and lively.

Leely2-where did you stay in Ravello?

@cgranning it looks like you spent a lot of time in italy. Did you spend a lot of time on the coast? If so was Sorrento your favorite? did you like it better then Amalfi?

Sorrento is not a place to do things - it is a place to get to other places from. It is a larger town than the mall villages down the AC (Sorrento i onthe Bay of Naples) and has many more hotels, restaurants and shops - but not sights.

You can get to Pompeii or Naples by train. Take a ferry to Naples, Capri, or towns down the coast And a bus down the coast road.

But I'm not sure when the ferry schedules change for the season. It may be late October so do check on that. Also by end of Oct some places will be closing for the season.

I hope you are going early Oct.

Capri is fascinating but once there you are limited - ferries don;t run later than late afternoon - so you need to watch times carefully if heading to or fro the mainland. And be aware that the Blue Grotto can be entered only when the sea is perfectly flat. If there i even a small well the opening is too small to get through - even in the bottom of a row boat.

Thanks @nytraveler

What do you want to do while in the area? With your family configuration, I can imagine Capri being a perfect fit for a 3 night stay, but that really depends on what you want to see and do. Three nights would, I think, give you time for a boat ride around the island (weather permitting), a trip to the top of Mt. Solaro, a visit to the Villa San Michele and Chiesa San Michele, a hike of whatever length works for you, maybe a garden or two, etc.

macdogmom, Hotel Parsifal, a bit old-fashioned and homey. I was worried when I booked that it would be too funky given the other hotels I had been looking at, but I ended up really liking it. Added bonus: it felt like a relative bargain for Ravello in the summertime. We had two rooms, one with a sea view and terrace--highly recommended. Another friend had a garden-facing room that was nice, but we all just hung out on the terrace together most of the time.

http://www.hotelparsifal.it/en/hotel.php

Oooh, I loved the Hotel Parsifal! It's been re-done since I was there, but the location is stunning and the family that runs it could not, IMO, be kinder or more helpful. And as Leely2 notes, it is more affordable than most hotels in Ravello. :-)

That said, I would not consider it a particularly good place for a 3-night stay for a family -- it's a bit too distant, IMO, from things that young people are likely to enjoy.

I would say the amalfi coast, from there you also can go to Pompeii, Naples, and Salerno. From Capri you have to take always the boat to go somewhere. In october it can be raining, so you need some alternatives to do like Pompeii! I think for young kids Capri is nice one day, but not three nights!
I can reccomend you Pepperland In Amalfi Coast, it is a nice, big apartment in a typical town of the amalfitan coast!

Oops, yes, we took the ferry to Amalfi, then the bus to Ravello, not Ravenna. I would choose staying on Amalfi coast over Capri just because there is more to do. Our group started as 3 moms/4 daughters and we had 15 days. One mom and daughter traveled as far as Naples with us, then headed back up to Zurich to fly home. We flew into Zurich and spent 2 days in Lucerne, then took the train to Venice, Florence, Rome, then Sorrento; spending 3 days in each place (2 in Venice). It was a wonderful trip! There is so much to see and do you will just have to decide what are things that are most important for your family to do and then plan accordingly. Have fun!!

My friends who took children to the Amalfi Coast said the young kids were bored there. It is very beautiful but is that what kids prefer?