squirrelhead

We are honeymooning in Italy at the end of Sept. (Positano, Florence, and Rome) We are going to drive ourselves straight to Positano the morning we arrive at the airport in Rome. Any recommendations for directions?..neither one of us speaks italian...is this going to be impossible/scary?

Natalia

No, it should be fun. Take your time and stop at the road stops for coffee or whatever and have a nice drive.

Once you get past Sorrento you will have about 100 turns on the Amalfi Coast Road to Positano, but drive carefully and slowly and you will be fine.

Invest in a good map before you go so you can spend time on the plane navigating your drive.

I believe most people in that area who deal with tourists speak English enough to point you in the right direction. Or learn some words before you go, so you won't be at a complete loss the whole trip.

Weadles

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't want to drive to Positano after flying for 8-9 hours. You could easily take the Eurostar from Rome to Naples ( it's just under 2 hours)then hire a driver to take you from there to Positano for about $120 US. I think you'll find this a more pleasant way to start your honeymoon!

Good luck, and congratulations!

Lizzie518

I agree with Weadles....I would not want to drive from Rome to Positano whether i had just flown for 8-9 hours or not. I guess I'm not that adventurous. I would also highly recommend staying one night in Rome, getting up early (to see St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel of course) and then taking off. We made the same trip (stopping in Sorrento before heading to Positano). What we did was take the train from Rome to Naples, and then the commuter train from Naples to Sorrento. From Sorrento, we just took a cab to Positano. Driving can be stressful in the States....I wouldn't want to be stressed about driving in a foreign country on strange (and winding roads) on my honeymoon.

ira

Hi,

I agree with Weadles and Lizzie. There is no need to have a car on the AC.

I also suggest that the stress of driving strange roads in a foreign country is likely to lead to a quick divorce.

Finally, it would be much less expensive to go first class on the train to Naples and hire a limo to Positano.

We are using Cuomo Renato. About $90.
www.cuomonet.it

Best wishes.

nocinonut

My friends and I drive back and forth from Roma to Sorrento all the time and it is a nice drive.

I am from California where maybe we are used to driving longer distances, so it all depends on your thoughts about driving, squirrelhead. (I feel like I am calling you a nut, lol).

I would rather sit with my sweetie alone in a car and drive down stopping in Sorrento, etc. for the views, then trying to navigate a train. Since you land in the morning you will have all day to get there.

If you would like, I have a very good restaurant in a small town between Rome and Amalfi Coast where we always stop for lunch on that trip.

Lizzie518

Sometimes driving with ones "sweetie" isn't so sweet. Particularly if you don't know the language, get lost, and are feeling tired and stressed. And what if you have to stop and ask for directions?

nocinonut: Did you do this your first time to Italy? Is it something for novices? (I know there's no tone in email....I'm not being snotty....I'm just curious if this is something you would recommend to a first time visitor?)

nocinonut

I drove on my second trip to Italy, but I could have done it on my first trip.

It depends on how much of a novice you are when it comes to reacting to new situations, some people can handle them better than others and don't become flustered easily. If I am rushed I tend to become disoriented, but if I can do something at my own leisure I go with the flow.

But then I am the person who bought a stick shift car, having never tried one and had the sales person show me how to drive it out of the showroom, so maybe I am....what, impulsive, sure of myself...?

You all know yourselves better than anyone on Fodors does, so if you think you can do it and think it would be an adventure, go for it.

Pwem

I agree with many of the posts before me. After a long flight you will be tired and stressed. This is not the time to learn a new car, new roads with signs that are in a new language, and how to pay at unattended toll booths where everything is in Italian.

We drove from Rome FCO to Sienna after a long flight and it was a mistake.

We too are going from Rome FCO to Positano in Mid September and have opted this time for a driver to pick us up at the airport and take us to Positano.

I have nothing against renting a car in Italy... just not after a long international flight.

swalter518

I'll be the disagreeable one-we're driven to destinations after long flights and plan to do it again this time, personally, the last thing I want to do after being on a long flight is more mass transportation. That way you can stop for lunch or go on your own schedule. As for driving, we drove the Amalfi coast and many other equally intimidating drives with no problem. You won't be there in high season so I wouldn't worry about it.

Weadles

Squirrelhead,

I don't like to push my opinions on others, but I just wouldn't recommend driving down there for the first time, especially after a long flight and because you admit that you know little Italian. If it's at all possible, why not splurge and get picked up from FCO? That way, you can stop as you please at the restaurant that another poster recommended, and catnap for the boring parts of the nearly 3 hour ( without traffic) trip to Positano. We just did this same trip in July, and believe me, if we'd had to drive ourselves and figure out all the signs which obviously are in Italian ( and I actually know a fair amount of Italian) we would have wound up in divorce court.