Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Driver to Amalfi Coast from Rome

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Driver to Amalfi Coast from Rome

My husband & I would like to day trip down to the Amalfi Coast from Rome. Rather than going through the hassle of taking trains or taking our lives into our hands by driving, we were thinking of splurging to hire a driver/guide that could take us there and back. Have any of you done such a trip & are there any drivers/tours that you would recommend? Is it even possible to attack such an area in just one day & if so, which towns would you pinpoint? Many thanks for your insight!

I think this is going to be pricey, but one company that has been mentioned favorably here is www.positanocarservice.com To do what you want to do affordably, you might want to take the train to get closer (and maybe to return to Rome when you're done). Best wishes, Rex [email protected]

Ripley - The best & quickest way to do it as a day trip would be by train & ferry/hydrofoil. Take the train to SALERNO, then take the ferry to Amalfi/Positano. You could return by the same route or take the hydrofoil from Positano to Naples on the return journey. In high season the drive along the Amalfi Coast can be extremely slow, but if you really want to go by car you could try the Rome limo companies for a quote. It will very expensive. These two get good reviews here: www.limoservicerome.com www.airportshu ttle.it Hope this helps ... Steve

The drive from Rome will take you about 2.5 hours to get to Naples, and then another 1.5 hours to drive down the famous coast through Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and up to Ravello. (The train to Naples takes about the same time.) So the round trip, without stopping for lunch, walking any of the charming towns, shopping, and without any traffic would take about 9 hours. If you are going in the summer, traffic will definitely be a factor on the Amalfi Coast portion. My estimate is that it will cost you about US$300 round trip from Rome, and about $175 if you take the train to Naples and have the driver meet you there. Now you can see why people don't try to do this as a day trip. The coast really deserves a few days on its own. You will not see a sunrise or sunset, both a treat on the coast, especially the sunrise over the sea. Another draw back of a day trip you is that you could not see Pompeii or take a ferry to Capri. (Or you could see one of the two, but would have to sacrifice the Amelia Coast drive, which is fabulous and really the whole point of the trip.) If you really only have one day, stay in Rome where there is so much to see and do. Alternatively, extend your trip and spend at least 3 days on the coast. The ferry option mentioned below would save some time on the coast drive, but you will miss the high point of the dirve IMO, which are the views from the cliffs down into the sea. You will still need to get to Salerno from Rome, which will take about 3 hours. Also, you can't get to Ravello by the ferry, you have to take a bus or taxi up the mountain to the top. While ferries are frequent, you are somewhat tied to their schedule.

My husband and I stayed in Rome for two weeks last year and as I wanted to see the Amalfi coast this is how we did it: Doing it in a day is not worth the journey!!!!. We booked into a hotel in Sorrento for 2 nights. We travelled from Rome to Naples by Eurostar (I think about 2 hours or less). We took a tax from Naples Station to the harbour area and took the hyrofoil to Capri, spent the day until about 4 o'clock in Capri, then hydrofoil back to Sorrento, checked into our hotel, spent the night looking around Sorrento. The next day we booked a tour of Herculaneum (half a day), the next day we booked a bus tour which took us down the Amalfi coast, Amalfi, Positano, and Ravello and back in Sorrento about 5pm in time to get a train to Naples and return journey to Rome. I didnt find this too hectic over 2 days and we saw a good part of the Amalfi coast. Hope this helps.

Hi Ripley, You might want to contact Cuomo Renato Driver - Via Caprile 2 - 80069 Vico Equense (NA), Italy. Tel.(+39)339 16 12 081 or (+39)081 802 30 37 www.cuomonet.it [email protected] Although I think that Steve_James and Isobel have the better suggestions.