Trying to decide on a guided tour or planning this trip on my own. I've never been to Europe or Italy, first time and feeling a little overwhelmed trying to decide. My husband and I will be travelling likely in Sept 2017, any suggestions on places to stay or recommendations from folks that have travelled here would be appreciated. We are travelling from Canada, my husband is Italian. Travelling with a moderate budget in mind.

Thanks in advance.

Julia

Hi Julia,

Sept is still busy season on the Amalfi Coast. To help, we need to know: what is moderate budget to you? Exactly what in Canadian $? How long is your trip? What do you expect to do or see, so what are your interests?

Many Fodorites have traveled to the Amalfi Coast and there are a few who go every year. You will get lots of good advice here!

No need to take a guided tour unless that is your preference. Consult some good guidebooks or take a look at a few at your local library -- you'll learn things you would never even have known to ask, and find it all in one place! Then do reading online, here at Fodor's and elsewhere, and then come back with your questions.

Its a lovely part of the world!

Start here

http://www.positano.com/

A good guide book will help. Naples & the Amalfi Coast by Lonely Planet is a good start.

The Amalfi Coast is only 30 miles long - you don't need a tour. Stay in a central location like Positano or Amalfi as they have ferry access to other places, like Capri.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Dayle, a moderate Canadian budget would be $5000.00 per person budget.

We would like to see points of interest as well as some country side and beaches. A little bit of both exploring, eating, culture and relaxing.

If you don't mind a work out to get up there, climb the steps to Nocelle for wonderful views. We regret not having lunch at La Tagliata (you can also just have the pick you up at your hotel)! We passed La Tagliata as we walked through Montepertuso to get back to Positano.

If you are interested in wine, take a look atSwirl the Glass. We were picked up at our hotel and driven along the coast up to Tramonti and Tenuta San Francesco....lovely property and the tasting included a home cooked Italian lunch. We thoroughly enjoyed it and got great views of the coast on the way from Positano.

The local buses on the Amalfi Coast make getting from one town to another a breeze. You can cover a lot of ground.

The Amalfi Coast is very easy to visit on your own. If you are going to be there for a week, you can look into renting an apartment, which is what I always choose to do when visiting Positano. Ferries are still running in September, so it is easy to travel via ferry (buses can be horribly crowded).

Do some research and then choose your base for the week. Once you give us a budget in euros and what amenities you are looking for, we can give specific suggestions.

Your total of $10000 Canadian is about 7000 euros. Should be more than moderate depending on how long you want to stay.

I assume this budget includes plane fare. Have you investigated the cost of flights from nearby airports to Naples (preferably) or Rome? It's more complicated to get to the Amalfi coast from Rome's airport.

The Amalfi coast doesn't lend itself to driving except in the very off season. But you can get between towns by bus or boat.

There's lots to do in this area. In addition to the towns of Amalfi coast there's Sorrento (makes a good base for Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Capri), the archeological museum in Naples with the choicest artifacts from Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, Paestum, Ischia....

Time to find out about these places so you'll know what you want to see and do and then how long you want to stay. Check guidebooks and DVDs out of the library or buy them and search this site and elsewhere on the Internet.

Now there is a hop on hop off bus along the amalfitan coast! I would use this, it is really nice and brings you everywhere! You can find a lot of information on the internet or in books, I think you do not need a guide, you can do it easy by yourself!