Rosie7235

We will be traveling from Rome down to the Sorrento/Amalfi coast area for 3 nights starting July 1st. We would like to stop in Pompei on the way down and the next day, we will take a day trip to Capri. The 3rd day we will just stay in whatever town the hotel is in, or walk around Sorrento. We have been looking at hotels in the town of Sorrento, but I feel like I'm looking for something a little different. I had always wanted to go to Positano, but it doesn't really seem to make sense given our schedule. I see many hotels that I like along Via Capo and Via Nastro Verde or in Sant'Agnello. Would it be inconvenient to stay in these areas given our schedule (can you walk to town easily)?

I feel like I want to have a hotel with a pool and an outdoor breakfast area/bar area that overlooks the water, but I want the convenience of being able to wander into town and back whenever I want. What does everyone recommend? Is there a town that I'm not mentioning that might work? Thanks for your help.

ekscrunchy

Be aware that Sorrento is not on the Amalfi Coast, although it is close.

See if this helps; I asked a lot of questions about Sant' Agnello a couple of years back but opted to spend that week on Ischia instead. Lots of good replies on this thread.


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nt-agnello.cfm

Better to give a price range when asking for hotel ideas..

qwovadis

www.hoteldelfino.com for me in April

paid $60/nt BB booking on Otel.com plus

10 eu pp upgrade to a sea view suite had

awesome views over Capri/Ischua

FREE shuttle to/from Sorrento

was perfect for me.

For Pompeii Huruclaneum acess closer by have stayed at

Majestic Palace in San Agnello nice price sea

views from upper floors sort of an old Brit enclave hotel

was nice but not as nice as Delfino best stay food of my trip.

Happy Hunting,

Lifeman

Rome to Pompeii is about two and three quarter hours by road, 150 miles or so. Apart from the ruins, there isn't that much in Pompeii to see as the new town is like any other town.

If you leave Rome early enough, you can be at the ruins before 11:30am, leaving at around 4pm and that will give you lots of time there. I know that you can spend all day there if you want, but if you want to get aflavour of the place, 4 and a half to 5 hours is fine.

Positano is around 25 miles from Pompeii, about an hour and a bit by road. That allows you to spend your three nights in Positano, avoid the hassle of changing hotels and do your day trip to Capri from Positano. Sorrento is only 20 minutes away if you want to see it and you can combine seeing Sorrento with the day trip to Capri, catching the ferry of Seacat from the dock.

ekscrunchy

Qwovadis: You often tell us about the Hotel Delfino and your $60 rate. While I am in no way doubting you, I checked the price on www.otel.com for this hotel for mid-September and the rates are $210 per night. You certainly got lucky.

CUFFLNX

Positano is the better choice and the Best Western has good rates and a GREAT view with room accessed patios. We were really disappointed with Capri, better to spend the time in Pompeii and do not miss Hucurlenium(sp) both available by train from Sorrento.

Rosie7235

Thanks everyone. Ekscrunchy, I am aware that Sorrento is not the Amalfi coast and I think this is part of the reason that I am hesitant to book a place in Sorrento. It doesn't seem to have quite the same feel. When we were talking with travel agents, both of them had us staying there, even though I said we wanted to go to the Amalfi coast. We decided not to use either of them though.

My only concern with Positano is all the steps. My mom is 59 and her knee bothers her sometimes. Would Positano be too tough on her? Would Amalfi be better and is there enough to see in Amalfi?

ekscrunchy

Sorry--I did not realize that you already know that. You would be surprised at how many people think that Sorrento is ON the Amalfi Coast.

Personally I like Amalfi much better than Positano. Amalfi, in my opinion, has more of a local feel while Positano, while very picturesque, is more of an international resort with glitzy shops. Positano is very popular with American tourists.


Positano requires walking fairly steep streets.


The center of Amalfi is quite flat and would present no problem that I can foresee for someone who has some trouble walking. The thing to see in both towns is really the town itself--Amalfi also has a very famous Duomo.

Can you offer a price range for the hotels?

With only one day, be sure to choose a town with good ferry connections to Capri; I am quite sure that all three of the towns you have mentioned have these.

Rosie7235

No offense taken, I know with so much information people tend to be unaware of many things, myself included.

From what I've read, there are ferries from all of the towns.

One other thing I should mention, we are flying out of Rome on our last day and the flight leaves about 11:50 a.m. We are planning on taking the train to Rome. Would this change your recommendation of staying in Positano or Amalfi?

ekscrunchy

Rosie I hate to say this but that would be tight for me.

You have to be at the airport by 9:50am if this is an international flight, which I am sure that you know. (Others may tell you that you need to be there earlier but I figure two hours in advance) The only way I myself would do this is if I had a driver take me from my Amalfi coast hotel to the train station in Naples. And even then, you need to leave very early.

Do you have the schedule of trains from Naples to Rome?

Rosie7235

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I know there is a 6:50 train from Naples that gets you into Rome at 8:00 and then there is the half hour trip from the train station to the airport, so I'm guessing we could be at the aiport by 9:00. There is also a 7:20 train and 7:35 train that get you into Rome at 8:30 and 8:42, respectively.

So I guess first question, would you recommend either the area of Via Capo and Via Nastro Verde in Sorrento or Sant'Agnello instead? I hate to have to take shuttles to the town, as I'd prefer to walk everywhere, but I don't think I want to stay in the center of Sorrento. I just feel like Sorrento is going to be touristy and Americanized to some extent.

Also, approximately how much would a private driver cost either from Amalfi/Positano, or the Sorrento area be? FYI, there are 5 of us. When hotels offer transportation to the train station, is it usually expensive?

Mimar

I would never try to make it from Sorrento to Rome's airport the same day as my flight, especially a fairly early flight. Too much can go wrong and does so regularly: traffic jams, accidents, train strikes, power outages. In Italy you need to allow wiggle room in your travel plans.

What happens if you miss your flight? Will you have to pay full fare for the next flight out? Will there be seats available on other flights that day? Not worth it to me.

cathies

I agree with Mimar that there's too much that can go wrong. I would probably leave the Amalfi coast (regardless of where you decide to stay) sometime in the late afternoon and stay at an airport hotel in Rome overnight so that I could be relaxed and on time for the flight.