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Costiera Amalfitana: Is Agropoli a feasible base for day trips?

Costiera Amalfitana: Is Agropoli a feasible base for day trips?

Old Dec 20th, 2008, 06:55 PM
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Costiera Amalfitana: Is Agropoli a feasible base for day trips?

Wife and I are retired and are both 60 y.o. We enjoy slow travelling and are targeting to spend 30/45 days in the Campania province (Amalfi, Positano, Salerno, Sorrento, Capri, Pompei, Herculanum, Caserta, etc...) in April/May 2009.

I speak Italian and have contacted several owners of apartments in Agropoli which seem to be quite interesting as regards price/benefit.

I wonder if it is feasible to make day trips to all of those places taking the train from Agropoli to Salerno and from there to the final destination in either train or bus(maybe as far north as Napoli).

An occasional overnight stay in a hotel might be all right, but would we rather avoid it, if possible.

Any comments will be most appreciated.
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Old Dec 20th, 2008, 09:36 PM
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I would consider a more central location for the areas that you want to see. Perhaps Amalfi, Minori, or that area. Agropoli is quite a bit south and would require a lot of time going back and forth.
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Old Dec 21st, 2008, 05:37 AM
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You must be kidding. That is much too far to visit the AC. Stay on the coast or in Sorrento--have you looked at summerinitaly.com
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Old Dec 21st, 2008, 05:40 AM
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Hi jf,

Agropoli is about 0:45 hr by train to Salerno. Figure another 1:15 hr to Amalfi and another 0:40 hr to Positano by bus or ferry.

See SITA bus schedules at
http://tinyurl.com/7lh52c

You will have to go to Naples, about 1:45 hr, for Sorrento, Pompei......

Those are rather long commutes.

However, you will be only 6 min from Paestum.

Train schedules are at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

Enjoy your visit.

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Old Dec 21st, 2008, 06:52 AM
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If I were you, I would rent two apartments: Rent the first along the Amalfi Coast, perhaps in one of the towns on the eastern end of the AC; these may be less overrun by foreign tourists than some of the more famous names: Minori, Maiori, Vietri, Cetara..

The second could be in Agropoli or even in Santa Maria di Castellabate. There is a poster here who is very familiar with that area..hopefully he or she will read this and comment.
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Old Dec 21st, 2008, 07:51 AM
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Agropoli is the north gate of Cilento but it is far enough from Amalfi Coast and it is close enough to Paestum.
Agropoli is a good base to visit Cilento but not, as you want, almost the whole region Campania.

Ciao.

Vincenzo
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Old Dec 21st, 2008, 08:01 AM
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Consider staying in Sorrento overlooking the Bay of Naples, Naples, and Vesuvius. Walking about is easy as the town itself is not hilly. Spend time strolling about, visit the Old Town at night. Do have a cocktail a bit before sunset at the Excelsior. Last year found many listing for apts.
Castellamare di Stabiae is close by, with its recent uncovering of palaces of the Ancient Roman elite covered, like Pompei, by the eruption of Vesuvius
Want to take day trips to Capri, Ischia, Positano, Amalfi, Naples -- take a ferry or a hydrofoil from Sorrento.
For videos about Castellamare visit the Campania Channel of www.WebVisionItaly.com and choose Castellamare.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2008, 11:34 AM
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Thanks everybody for the inputs.

I guess ekscrunchy's idea of splitting in two might be a good idea.

One last question now, if I may:

What places can be reached in about 45 minutes to an hour from Salerno?

Thanks once more.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2008, 11:49 AM
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To name a few:

Paestum

Vietri

Cetara


Amalfi might take a bit more time by bus

And, I am guessing here, Santa Maria di Castellabate on the Cilento coast.

In case you want to slog through a food-heavy report, here is the one I wrote after my most recent visit:

ttp://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=35128776



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Old Dec 23rd, 2008, 06:53 AM
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I think you can make Agropoli work. Your days to further away destinations will be longer with the travel time, but I note you're planning to stay for a long time (lovely!) so you'll be spreading your away days out. I think you could get a good price for apartments in Sorrento or the Amalfi coast at that time of year, but for sure Agropoli will be cheaper - plus you'll be surrounded by Italians rather than swamped by English and American tourists, and it's much less touristy generally. I'm not sure how often the ferries run from Salerno to Amalfi etc in the spring - that might be worth checking. That's a delightful boat ride although the bus from Salerno along the coast is much cheaper but slower. I think the Naples etc destination won't take as long as Sorrento etc because the train from Salerno goes straight north rather than running around the peninsula of course. There are a LOT of discussion threads on the trip advisor Campania forums about how to get to Paestum on public transport from Sorrento etc so that would give you a more concrete idea if you check those.
We split between Santa Maria and Sorrento on our last trip, and will split between Santa Maria and the Amalfi coast next time. (And we went happily and successfully for a wonderful day trip to Amalfi from Santa Maria via car and ferry from Salerno). Santa Maria di C is lovely and quiet, but no train station so Agropoli is a better base for a longer stay bases on public transport.

Enjoy!
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Old Dec 23rd, 2008, 07:01 AM
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Texas: I would love to learn more about your time in Santa Maria. Did you stay in an apartment or in a hotel or B&B? Was this in high season?

Did you explore the Cilento area when you were there?

Many thanks!
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Old Dec 23rd, 2008, 08:01 AM
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If you enjoy slow travelling you will hate Sorrento - it's like Blackpool. Janis's suggestions are much better.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2008, 09:34 AM
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I see that I am not the only one who is getting awfully tired of the plugs for that "webvision" website..posted under a variety of names and often not addressing the original question..why in the world is he/she posting about Sorrento and Castellamare in a thread asking about Agropoli?

On another thread, he/she is exhorting people to patronize certain restaurants in Florence and mention his name...
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Old Dec 23rd, 2008, 04:26 PM
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Ira: Thanks for the links to trenitalia and the SITA buses.

From the Trenitalia site I see that the first train leaves Agropoli at 05:35 and there are 5 trains between 05:35 and 08:40.

Another great plus in terms of day trips is the fact that the last trains from Salerno to Agropoli leave at 20:41 and 22:01.

This is really a plus. (I spent sometime in Asiago(VI), and the last bus left Vicenza at 18:30. That was a real limiting factor in terms of day trips).

Since the trip takes an average of 40 minutes, it does not seem too absurd.

I will probably stay overnight in a hotel in Capri and also in Ischia. Maybe another couple of nights in Naples,too.

Texastrips: thanks for such a lengthy answer. Your experience with the day trip from Santa Maria di Castelabatte is very, very important as far as my questioning is concerned. Thanks a lot. By the way, did you make any report of that trip in particular?

ekscrunchy: Thanks again for your answers. I am slowly digesting your "food-heavy report" 8D

caroline_edinburgh: Thanks for your input. Your information early this year regarding staying over at a monastery in Rome was excelent, but unfortunately I ended up not using it in because my April trip ended up lasting no more than a week which was spent in the Veneto.

Now on a different subject: is it possible to go from one city to another on foot along the road that links the various cities on the Costiera Amalfitana? I saw a couple of videos and the views seem fabulous, but may be it is too dangerous, or is it safe to walk on by?
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Old Dec 23rd, 2008, 06:18 PM
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You can walk along the road, but the distances between most of the towns are pretty long and there are stretches with no sidewalks. We walked begtween Amalfi and Atrani a number of times, though.

But there are many trails in the hills that offer stupendous views.

See these:

http://www.giovis.com/hikesamal.htm
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Old Dec 24th, 2008, 01:39 AM
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There's a good book of walks called 'Landscapes of Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast', published by Sunflower.
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Old Dec 24th, 2008, 04:29 AM
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Hi jf,

Check out the Path of the Gods at http://www.hotelondaverde.com/sentiero_deglidei.htm for your walk.



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Old Dec 24th, 2008, 05:05 AM
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The Path of the Gods is just one of the walks that I posted above in the Giovis link. That walk, perhaps the most famous and well-trod in the region, is just one of eight listed on that site. Next to having a copy of the Sunflower guide, which I believe is out of print, the Giovis site is the most comprehensive resource that I've found to the trails of the area.
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Old Dec 24th, 2008, 11:57 AM
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JF: Here are some photos of the Cilento that might interest you. The site also has info on car and bike (and boat) rental
from Agropoli and other locations:


http://www.antares91.com/image_cilento.asp
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Old Dec 25th, 2008, 05:28 PM
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Great information, folks! Thanks indeed.

Restricting myself to the Sentiero dei Dei, that goes from Bomerano to Nocella or Montepertuso/Positano, I presume one can reach Bomerano by motorvehicle. This way the walking would be downhill, which would be less tiring.

I got dizzy by just looking at some photos!!

It seems to me that in order to do that "caminata" one needs to have at least a pair of mountain goat cromossomes 8D

Really great piece of information.

Thanks also to ekscrunchy for the link to the car rental in Santa Maria. Prices seem pretty reasonable. I am thinking of renting a car to explore the Cilento region.
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