appletea

Hi all,

I am interested in visiting Capri, Positano, and Sorrento. The pics look amazing and so romantic. A little background: We're both 30 and we love Europe and we've been to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence, and Venice). I would love to visit Europe every year if I could.

I would love to experience the history and culture and the just sulk in the beautiful landscapes. I want to get lost in the little streets and explore the town. We're not looking for a whirlwind tour type thing. We want to relax and hang out.

How many days would you recommend in each city? I would prefer to not change hotels too much. I was thinking 2 days in Capri, maybe 3? And a couple days in Positano . . . could we visit Sorrento as a day trip from Positano? Also maybe a day trip to Pompeii? We would probably fly into Naples and then head down to Sorrento? Any other places around the area you would think worth visiting or staying over?

Please help! with my itinerary. I've gone to the book store and combed through these forums and I'm still unsure.

Thank you for all of your help.

~apple

TuckH

I think you have a good itinerary.

I like your idea of spending 2 or 3 days on the Isle of Capri. That's ideal "to relax and hang out".

And a couple days in Positano YES . . . could we visit Sorrento as a day trip from Positano? YES Also maybe a day trip to Pompeii? YES We would probably fly into Naples and then head down to Sorrento? YES Any other places around the area you would think worth visiting or staying over? MT VESUVIUS + PAESTUM

thursdaysd

I flew into Naples, took the ferry to Capri for three nights and then the ferry to Sorrento for six. Turned out, I much preferred Positano to Sorrento, but Sorrento is a better base for transport to Pompeii, Herculaneum (better than Pompeii in my opinion) and the museum in Naples, especially out of the main season. Definitely plan to overnight on Capri, and to get out of the too main towns.

tuscanlifeedit

Hi appletea

We spent 3 nights on Capri in May, and had a wonderful time. We did a lot of hiking, and I mean a lot. One must really walk to see this beautiful island. We found most food to be costly, but that didn't stop us from enjoying our time there.

We spent 4 or 5 nights in Positano nearly 5 years ago. We loved it there, too, but found it a little more difficult to see the sights because we needed boats, buses and rides to get around. We enjoyed the food in Positano very much. Thought it was delicious and priced well enough.

What about 3 nights on Capri and 2 in Positano?

Of course, basing in Sorrento would make a visit to Pompeii a little easier. In any case, if you want to relax I personally don't feel that you need to see more than one ancient city, but that's just me and my idea of relaxation.

This past May, I wasn't really looking to relax, and we saw many ancient places, including Ostia Antica outside of Rome, and Paestum, south of Salerno.

But when we went to Positano five years ago, we spent our time relaxing. We had a hotel with a pool (splurged for the Poseidon) and fabulous food. It was heavenly.

Steve_James

Hi Apple - Your itinerary looks good - but PLEASE don't sulk

Steve

ira

Hi A,

You can take a daytrip to Paestum - best Greek ruins outside Greece.

Take the ferry from Positano to Salerno.

Train station is about 3 blks from the ferry docks.

Train to Paestum.

On return, take the SITA bus from the train station to Positano via Amalfi.

Enjoy your visit.

Fra_Diavolo

Just suggesting that you might want to spend a couple of nights in Naples, which has its own attractions and from which you can easily visit Pompeii and Herculaneum. Skip Sorrento, and divide the rest of your time as you will.

socaltraveler

We are just back from a trip that included several nights on the Amalfi Coast. We spent two nights in Sorrento, and used that as a base for Pompeii. You should consider that, or staying in Naples for a night or so, because I think trying to do Pompeii from Capri or Positano is more complicated.

We chose to spend four nights in Positano and see Capri as a day trip combined with a boat tour around the island. We knew Capri deserves more, if you realy want to see it, and we were right. The highlight of that day was the boat around the island, not our 4 crowded hours on the island.

Loved Positano, so you should think about spending some nights there.
In your situation, I would suggest a few nights either in Naples or Sorrento (for Pompeii), a few nights on Capri itself and then some time in Positano. From Positano we took a ferry one day to Amalfi and Ravello, which was a wonderful way to see the coastline, as opposed to the winding bus ride along the coast.

I would also pack a whole lot light next time, particularly if we went to stay on Capri - negotiating the ferries and the steep climbs with luggage did not look like fun.

appletea

Thanks for all of your replies.

I'm leaning towards:
1 night in Naples or Sorrento to get situated - which do you recommend to visit pompeii and/or paestum herculaneum? I've heard some not to great things about Naples.

4-5? nights in Positano.

3 nights in Capri - thinking about hotel la minerva - any opinions on that?

Also would it be better to go to Capri or Positano first? Which one is easier to get to Naples airport from and how long does it take from each?

If I wanted to visit Paestum or Herculaneum, where would be best logistically to stay?

Thank you all so much for your opinions and information.

~apple

Steve_James

Hi Apple - You can reach Pompeii and/or Herculaneum easily from either Naples or Sorrento (- both are on the Circumvesuviana train line).

Logistically Paestum is easiest from Salerno (30 mins) or Naples (1hr 20').

From Positano, Paestum is 3 hrs+ each way (- depending on connection time at Salerno).

.....

For your return to Naples airport, journey time from Positano by car is approx 1hr 30'. By public transport it's 2 hrs+ via Sorrento (- from where there is an airport shuttle bus - operator: Curreri).

From Capri it's 45 mins by hydrofoil to Naples (- Molo Beverello), plus 30 mins approx by Alibus (- airport shuttle) or taxi.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

ekscrunchy

But while the magnificent temples at Paestum are in a remarkable state of preservation, we can hardly say that they are the "best Greek ruins outside Greece!"

Nevertheless, Paestum makes a wonderful day trip destination. If you want to remain overnight (which I considered but ultimately did not) this place looks very good:


http://www.casale-giancesare.it/index.html

ekscrunchy

And here is a place we considered, if by chance you want to overnight in Paestum (you can, of course, visit easily on a day trip as mentioned above by Steve James)





http://www.ilgranaiodeicasabella.com/

ekscrunchy

Also, I have to put in a great word for the hotel we stayed at in Amalfi, for 5 nights in May, just in case I can sway you to choose that town over Positano!



http://www.hotelfloridiana.it/

socaltraveler

We went to Pompeii from Sorrento, and also spent time trying to figure out if we should do it from there or Naples. It was very easy to get on the Circumvesuviana in Sorrento, and I think we are glad we had dinner in Marina in Sorrento after a long day of train, Vesuvius and Pompeii. Plus, we were going on to Positano the next day and it was a shorter journey.

jag1jag1

We spent 3 nights on Capri. The Minerva was fine.

We spent 5 nights in Positano at the Poseidon, which was great. We hired a driver to take us to Pompeii, and we took the ferry/bus to Amalfi and Ravello. I wanted to take a ferry to Sorrento for a day, but my daughters liked hanging out in Positano too much, so in the end we didn't do that.

appletea

thanks steve and everyone else for all of your detailed information. very helpful. i'm not sure if i'm going to go to paestum. maybe i'll just stick to pompeii . . .

what time do you think would be a good time to fly into naples which would make it convenient to travel and check in to our hotel in either positano or capri or sorrento?

jag - the minerva was fine? would you stay there again?
also how did you feel your total time there was? 3 night capri, 5 nights positano. that's very similar to what i am interested in doing except maybe adding 1 night at the beginning to get situated and stay in sorrento and go to pomeii. did you go to capri or positano first and would you have switched it around?

thanks all.

ekscrunchy

Appletea:

If you are flying into Naples from the US, you are not going to have all that much choice of arrival time since you will probably have to make a connection before arriving in Naples airport. So it is unlikely that you would be arriving at your hotel before normal check-in time..

I suspect that you might want to go to Capri first, so that you can then travel from Positano to the Naples airport on your return. From what I read here, it can be problematic to travel from Capri to the Naples airport in time for some return flights..

From Positano to the airport, figure from 100 euro if you decide to go by private car with driver. That is only one option.

socaltraveler

On our recent trip we used this car service for our transfers from Naples train station to Sorrento and then back from Positano to the Naples airport:

http://www.johnnystourservice.com/

His fee for the return was 80 Euros and we thought that the service was excellent.

Jim_Tardio

You might consider dividing your stays between Sorrento & Capri. Sorrento makes a great base for exploring the entire Amalfi Coast. While Positano is great, there's very little to do there in the evening...but you may want it that way.

Personally, I find the evenings the best time to be out & about.

Day tripping from Sorrento is so easy via buses or ferries. And there's also train service to Pompeii or Herculaneum.

You don't say how long you're going for, but I would recommend 4 nights in Sorrento and 2 nights on Capri.

Have a great time.

appletea

I haven't quite figured out how many nights yet but I was thinking 8-10 nights.

eks - thanks for the airport info. that helps. i'm still not sure which day is best to leave from the us and arrive there.

jim - what types of evening activities can you do in sorrento that you cannot in positano?