Feedback on Southern Italy itinerary
Oct 23rd, 2005, 11:31 AM
#1
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Feedback on Southern Italy itinerary
After receiving helpful tips / advice from this forum and doing some research, Ive come up with the following itinerary for travelling in Campania and then down to Sicily for next May / June. Any advice and help would be appreciated.
Day 0: Fly into Naples at night. Overnight Naples
Day 1: Naples. Overnight Naples
Day 2: Day trip to Paestum. Overnight Naples.
Day 3: Day trip to Pompei. Overnight Naples.
Day 4: Morning Mt Vesuvius, afternoon Naples, hydrofoil to Positano. Overnight Positano.
Day 5: Positano. Overnight Positano.
Day 6: Either Capri by Hydorfoil or walk The Path of the Gods. Overnight Positano.
Day 7: Hydrofoil to Ravello (Question: is there one?). Ravello. Overnight Ravello.
Day 8: Walk to Amalfi. Amalfi. Overnight Ravello
This is where it gets tricky
Day 9: Hydrofoil to Naples. Hydrofoil to Lipari. Hydrofoil to Salina (are these quite regular?). Overnight Salina
Day 10: Salina. Overnight Salina.
Day 11: Salina. Overnight Salina.
Day 12: Back to mainland (Im guessing via Lipari?). Train to Taormina. Overnight Taormina.
Day 13: Taormina. Overnight Taormina
Day 14: Train to Catania. Catania. Overnight Catania.
Day 15: Day trip to Mt Etna. Overnight Catania.
Day 16: Catania. Fly out that night
I realise that Im fitting in quite a bit. Is there anything in these areas that you think is a must see that I havent inlcuded. Or alternatively is this too much? Should I just concentrate on Campania for the whole 16 days, or would that be too long in that region.
I have also travelled to other areas of Italy, so would appreciate it if people did not recommend other areas of Italy other then Campania and Sicily please.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Day 0: Fly into Naples at night. Overnight Naples
Day 1: Naples. Overnight Naples
Day 2: Day trip to Paestum. Overnight Naples.
Day 3: Day trip to Pompei. Overnight Naples.
Day 4: Morning Mt Vesuvius, afternoon Naples, hydrofoil to Positano. Overnight Positano.
Day 5: Positano. Overnight Positano.
Day 6: Either Capri by Hydorfoil or walk The Path of the Gods. Overnight Positano.
Day 7: Hydrofoil to Ravello (Question: is there one?). Ravello. Overnight Ravello.
Day 8: Walk to Amalfi. Amalfi. Overnight Ravello
This is where it gets tricky
Day 9: Hydrofoil to Naples. Hydrofoil to Lipari. Hydrofoil to Salina (are these quite regular?). Overnight Salina
Day 10: Salina. Overnight Salina.
Day 11: Salina. Overnight Salina.
Day 12: Back to mainland (Im guessing via Lipari?). Train to Taormina. Overnight Taormina.
Day 13: Taormina. Overnight Taormina
Day 14: Train to Catania. Catania. Overnight Catania.
Day 15: Day trip to Mt Etna. Overnight Catania.
Day 16: Catania. Fly out that night
I realise that Im fitting in quite a bit. Is there anything in these areas that you think is a must see that I havent inlcuded. Or alternatively is this too much? Should I just concentrate on Campania for the whole 16 days, or would that be too long in that region.
I have also travelled to other areas of Italy, so would appreciate it if people did not recommend other areas of Italy other then Campania and Sicily please.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Oct 23rd, 2005, 03:43 PM
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Hi Simone,
I think you are staying in too many different towns for the Amalfi Coast part. I can't speak on Sicily, haven't been there yet.
I just came back from my 3rd 3 week trip. If it were me I would do it this way:
Naples - Capri - Positano or Ravello - Salerno, then on to Sicily and the islands.
I would not try to see Paestum as a day trip from Naples. It would take far too long. It took me 2 1/2 hours each way from Paiano, bus, boat, then train and a good walk. It is south of Salerno by train 1 hour. I believe it would take you 3 or more hours in travel from Naples - unless you find a day tour via bus.
Check out the boats/ferries/aliscafi from Salerno and see what can get you to either Lipari directly or Sicily.
My experience in September was that the SITA buses on the coast were horrible - late or no show, and jam packed with short-tempered, sweaty tourists. If you want to travel around the coast a lot, stay either in Positano or Amalfi, where there are marinas and you can go by sea. Ravello would be great to stay, but you might want to spring for taxis down to Amalfi.
If you are interested in seeing my trip report, type in my name and read the part on the coast.
Hope this helps you! Buon viaggio!
I think you are staying in too many different towns for the Amalfi Coast part. I can't speak on Sicily, haven't been there yet.
I just came back from my 3rd 3 week trip. If it were me I would do it this way:
Naples - Capri - Positano or Ravello - Salerno, then on to Sicily and the islands.
I would not try to see Paestum as a day trip from Naples. It would take far too long. It took me 2 1/2 hours each way from Paiano, bus, boat, then train and a good walk. It is south of Salerno by train 1 hour. I believe it would take you 3 or more hours in travel from Naples - unless you find a day tour via bus.
Check out the boats/ferries/aliscafi from Salerno and see what can get you to either Lipari directly or Sicily.
My experience in September was that the SITA buses on the coast were horrible - late or no show, and jam packed with short-tempered, sweaty tourists. If you want to travel around the coast a lot, stay either in Positano or Amalfi, where there are marinas and you can go by sea. Ravello would be great to stay, but you might want to spring for taxis down to Amalfi.
If you are interested in seeing my trip report, type in my name and read the part on the coast.
Hope this helps you! Buon viaggio!
Oct 23rd, 2005, 04:39 PM
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Hi Simone:
I agree with Dayle, stay in either Positano or Ravello and use it as base
for your daytrips. They both offer good modes of getting around the coast. You
For the Sicily portion, you can stay in Taormina for your day trip to Mt Etna.
There are local hydrofoils- buses-trains that can get you there without having to move to Catania.
Enjoy 4 nights in Taormina. Soak in the town, enjoy a marzipan (a confection of ground almonds-sugar-egg whites), enoy the views of the sea and Mt Etna, take in a classical concert at the Greek theater, & enjoy your day trip to Mt Etna.
You can still take either the hydrofoil-bus-train to visit Catania as well, it's sooo close to Taormina. You could also see Siracusa on the same day. I'd go there first and stop in Catania on way back to Taormina.
By keeping the number of times you have to move from one base to another will make for a more relaxing trip.
Di
I agree with Dayle, stay in either Positano or Ravello and use it as base
for your daytrips. They both offer good modes of getting around the coast. You
For the Sicily portion, you can stay in Taormina for your day trip to Mt Etna.
There are local hydrofoils- buses-trains that can get you there without having to move to Catania.
Enjoy 4 nights in Taormina. Soak in the town, enjoy a marzipan (a confection of ground almonds-sugar-egg whites), enoy the views of the sea and Mt Etna, take in a classical concert at the Greek theater, & enjoy your day trip to Mt Etna.
You can still take either the hydrofoil-bus-train to visit Catania as well, it's sooo close to Taormina. You could also see Siracusa on the same day. I'd go there first and stop in Catania on way back to Taormina.
By keeping the number of times you have to move from one base to another will make for a more relaxing trip.
Di
Oct 23rd, 2005, 05:02 PM
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You appear to like doing the hydrofoil rides. I don'tknow about the hydroifoil from Positano.
FYI, the Sita bus from Positano to Ravello takes under 40 minutes. It goes though Amalfi (about 20 minutes) and then Ravello (another 20 minutes).
FYI, the Sita bus from Positano to Ravello takes under 40 minutes. It goes though Amalfi (about 20 minutes) and then Ravello (another 20 minutes).
Oct 24th, 2005, 12:12 PM
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On the Sicily portion, base yourself in Taormina and relax. You can do a day trip to Mt. Etna a day trip to Catania (the train is very easy), and a day trip with or without an overnight, by ferry to Lipari.
Oct 25th, 2005, 03:02 AM
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Hi Simone,
I agree that there is no need to transfer hotels from Positano to Ravello (unless you are interested in the Sasso or other major hotel).
You can reach Paestum by train in 1:30 hr from Naples.
>Hydrofoil to Ravello (Question: is there one?). <
You take the ferry to Amalfi and the bus to Ravello. You can also take the SiTA bus from Positano to Amalfi where you change to the SiTA bus to Ravello.
I agree that there is no need to transfer hotels from Positano to Ravello (unless you are interested in the Sasso or other major hotel).
You can reach Paestum by train in 1:30 hr from Naples.
>Hydrofoil to Ravello (Question: is there one?). <
You take the ferry to Amalfi and the bus to Ravello. You can also take the SiTA bus from Positano to Amalfi where you change to the SiTA bus to Ravello.
Oct 25th, 2005, 03:32 AM
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Should we assume that you've already visited other areas of Sicily, and that's why on this trip you plan to spend several days on Salina, possibly visiting the other Aeolian islands from there, but you're skipping all the usual destinations in western Sicily and southern Sicily?
Nov 20th, 2005, 06:57 AM
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We visited rome/amalfi coast/salina/palermo on our honeymoon last june - here are my suggestions:
-Positano is a good base. If you want to go to Capri for a day trip go through Lucibello. You can buy a ticket at your hotel. The tour (about 10 people on a small boat) leaves in the a.m., goes to capri and around the island before letting you off to explore for about 4 hrs. He will take you to the grottoes, let you get out and swim in a few places. It was perfect.
- definitely to to Ravello for a day. You can take water taxi to Amalfi from Positano (leaves from the beach) and then take the bus up to Ravello from Amalfi. We actually hiked down from Ravello back to Amalfi, which was fun..
-To get from Amalfi to aeolian islands, we had a driver take us to Naples and then took overnight ferry to salina. It was very long. The hydrofoil is much faster but if you get seasick i'd take the ferry. our driver was great - his name was giancarlo and his website is called "tour of italy." He actually took us from naples to pompeii and then from pompeii to positano.
-Salina is BEAUTIFUL. If you don't want to rent a car/moped stay in Santa Marina or Malfa. We stayed at capofaro, it is out of the way but beautiful. For detailed info about Salina, Rough Guide to sicily has most specific info.
-We didn't go to Taormina but wished we had.
If you have more specific questions let me know!
-Positano is a good base. If you want to go to Capri for a day trip go through Lucibello. You can buy a ticket at your hotel. The tour (about 10 people on a small boat) leaves in the a.m., goes to capri and around the island before letting you off to explore for about 4 hrs. He will take you to the grottoes, let you get out and swim in a few places. It was perfect.
- definitely to to Ravello for a day. You can take water taxi to Amalfi from Positano (leaves from the beach) and then take the bus up to Ravello from Amalfi. We actually hiked down from Ravello back to Amalfi, which was fun..
-To get from Amalfi to aeolian islands, we had a driver take us to Naples and then took overnight ferry to salina. It was very long. The hydrofoil is much faster but if you get seasick i'd take the ferry. our driver was great - his name was giancarlo and his website is called "tour of italy." He actually took us from naples to pompeii and then from pompeii to positano.
-Salina is BEAUTIFUL. If you don't want to rent a car/moped stay in Santa Marina or Malfa. We stayed at capofaro, it is out of the way but beautiful. For detailed info about Salina, Rough Guide to sicily has most specific info.
-We didn't go to Taormina but wished we had.
If you have more specific questions let me know!
