I stand corrected again...thanks GAC...and I should know better...My niece just returned from Milan on Delta, and did indeed have to stop in New York.<BR><BR>But you can still fly non-stop to Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich, London, Amsterdam, etc...then fly to Naples.

OK....a quick visit to expedia.com shows a non-stop Delta flight from LAX to Paris (Orly airport)...with a transfer to Naples, also non-stop, on Air France.

try Brussels.<BR>You fly direct to Naples with Volare Airlines. <BR>They are also with Alitalia now and you might be able to work out a good deal.<BR>Anything is better than having to go through both Milan and Rome.<BR>The most recent posts above give you other great options.

If you go anywhere, go to the island of Capri -- awesome

The problem with taking the nonstop flights from California to either London or Paris (or elsewhere in Europe, for that matter), is that you arrive in Naples in the mid-afternoon (or later), a little late to connect to train service to Salerno. And, if transferring in London, you have to go from Heathrow to Gatwick. This can be done, but you arrive in Amalfi no sooner than 18:00 or 19:00. With my proposed itinerary (see posting above), which concededly takes longer, you arrive in Amalfi (by bus from Salerno) at 15:30. In addition to the SITA bus, there is also a boat to Amalfi (and Positano) which leaves Salerno at 15:30 and arrives in Amalfi at 16:00. This is more scenic than the bus, but the boat dock (long pier at Piazza Concordia) is about 600 metres from the train station, whereas the bus to Amalfi leaves from the front entrance of the station. When Alitalia resumes non-stop service to MXP from SFO and LAX, it will be possible to connect at MXP and arrive in NAP around 15:30, but once again, arrival in Amalfi would be in the early evening.

I think I've found the absolute quickest way to reach Amalfi from Los Angeles. Schedules are very tight (unrealistically so?):<BR>Leave LAX 15:35 AF non-stop to CDG<BR>Arr CDG 11:15 next day<BR>Leave CDG 12:00 AZ non-stop to NAP<BR> (this is a code-share with AF)<BR>Arr NAP 14:15<BR>Take a taxi to the SITA bus station in Naples<BR>SITA buses leave at 16:15, 17:15 and 18:00 for Amalfi, arriving in two hours.<BR>NO BUSES on Sundays. This is slightly faster than taking the train from Naples to Salerno, followed by the SITA bus to Amalfi.<BR>I challenge anyone to find a faster itinerary!!!!!!!!

This whole thread started with the statement "Have to first fly to the east coast U.S."<BR><BR>Certainly doesn't just mean that the origination is "west coast". People in Arkansas, Indiana, Oklahoma or South Dakota would also say "Have to first fly to the east coast U.S."<BR><BR>So, although CDG does sound compelling, there are numerous U.S. gateway connections to Gatwick. Without clarification of the actual origination, this has become nearly a pointless exercise.<BR>

Thank you so much! I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of the advice on this thread!<BR>I'm still not sure what I'm doing. I'm weighing inconvenience vs cost, and have a lot of homework to do, analyzing all the possibilities. All of your suggestions are of great help to me!

I just returned from Amalfi Coast-Praiano June 20th miami-naples limo pickup at airport to amalfi coast 1 hr drive. Perfect, beautiful and we didn't drive it. Took buses to Amalfi, Positano, and the ferry from Praiano to Capri.<BR>Enjoy!!

I would do the whole trip and just get it over with. It will be worth it to wake up at your beautiful destination. In 1999 and 2000 we (middle aged couple) flew from Seattle to Sicily (Catania and Palermo) through Copenhagen and Milan. The Catania year we had a 2 hour wait for a bus in Catania to take us to Siracusa (1 hour).<BR>When we went to Palermo we didn't arrive until midnight on the second day. Although we were very tired and we grumbled, we felt it was worth it to get all the traveling over with and have more vacation time.

You might save a lot of money and wear and tear if you just fly to London, then Ryanair.com to somewhere in Italy. Go to Amalfi the next day.<BR>