newfie208

We fly into Naples on Monday Oct 26,2015 around noon and will depart Naples Nov 7 a Saturday at 7:20 am so will definitely need to stay in Naples that Friday the 6th.

We want to visit Capri, Sorrento and Positano, the Amalfi area. We will have 12 days for our trip with air travel separate, so where should we begin our trip, we obviously want to end it in Naples since we have an early am flight out on Saturday but trying to decide what to do and where to go first since we land around noon of Oct 26??

kja

I agree that you should definitely end in Naples, since you are flying out of it. And Naples easily warrants several days -- depending on your interests.

You are going to this area WELL outside of the normal tourist season, and I don't know what will be open or doable at this time of year -- I trust others will weigh in on that! Ferries will probably be limited and subject to weather, so I would think having back-up plans for anything that involves a ferry would be wise.

I would guess that Salerno, as a city with university, would be an option at this time of year, and it is vastly underrated IMO. It's also a great base for Paestum, which I heartily recommend.

If you haven't already done so, I strongly encourage you to consult some good guidebooks -- always a worthy investment, IME, but you could also go to a library.

Good luck!

Blueeyedcod

Ferries along the Amalfi Coast stop running on October 31.

They still run to Capri from Sorrento and Naples.

12 days isn't long. You should just stay in Sorrento - despite its expense and lack of any sights of its own. It's just a convenient launch pad for everything else you want to see.

kja

Blueeyedcod wrote: "12 days isn't long. You should just stay in Sorrento" -- I couldn't disagree more! With 12 days, you have several options for places to stay, and NO reason, that I can think of, to spend lots of time in transit every day if you can minimize that by selecting a few different bases. And at the risk of being repetitive, I strongly recommend a stay of several days in Naples. Otherwise, it really depends on YOUR interests -- and for that, I think you need to do a bit more research. JMO!

ComiteVirtute

Campania is really a wonderful region!! I've been there (mainly to Naples)7-8 times, but I 'd go willingly another time! Lots of beautiful sights, plus very good and cheap food (pizza, buffalo mozzarella, limoncello, seafood...) and value-for-money shopping (apparel, shoes....).
I would definitely try for:
1) Naples: all the main sites (Castel dell'Ovo, Castel del Monte, Duomo... strolling around to notice the famous "double-doorway" buildings...) plus Archeological Museum and Capodimonte Museum. Palazzo Regio interiors are beautiful. Also San Carlo Theatre for opera, I've never been inside, but it must be worth a visit, it's the most ancient opera theatre in the world.
I still remember as very impressive (been there as a teenager) the Solfatara (a place where there are natural sulfur emissions)and the Antro della Sibilla (place where the Sybill was thought to give oracles), they are located in the Neapolitan urban area.
Anyway, you could skip Palazzo Regio and just go to Reggia of Caserta. 4-5-6? days
2)Pompei AND Erculanum 1 day 1/2
3) Paestum, plus museum (I'm not sure, but I think one of the most impressive artwork, the "Diver's tomb" has been lent to Milan for the Expo: anyway, still a wonderful place). From there, you may head for Agropoli. 1 day
4) Amalfi coast: by bus or car/van with driver (I don't recommend driving by yourself, it could be rather stressful - the street is very very narrow), 2-3 days (all the small towns are sooo colourful and nice! And you eat really well!)
Salerno has a wonderful Duomo, but is a rather small town, less interesting than other ones. There is a virtual museum on the ancient (medieval) medical school, if it may be appealing to you. A rather nice city is Benevento (Longobard Churches and Roman ruins, and, if you are Catholic, Padre Pio's Pieterlcina nearby) but is rather off the track.
Never been to Capri and don't remember Sorrento: that is, I remember beautiful marine landscape, but... in the Campania coast is not unusual!
Enjoy!

newfie208

You all have made some good suggestions, this is a quickly made trip, had credit on an airline and did not want to lose the value of ticket. We are planning on at least 4 nights in Naples, I've read enough about it that wife and I would really enjoy it. We may well skip Capri, weather is very unpredictable. Since we land at noon in Naples, we wanted to continue to a place to get settled, Paestum how do we get there from Naples airport rather than going to Sorrento? Would that be a better base to start from then come back to Naples for a few nights?

ekc

IMO you wouldn't want to stay in Paestum itself for an extended period of time, but it is an amazing site for a day trip.

It makes sense to divide your time between Naples (to see Pompeii, Vesuvius, Herculaneum and Naples itself) and some place on the Amalfi Coast.

Where on the AC depends on what you want to see/do while you are there. Personally I adore Positano as it is the most picturesque of the AC villages IMO. But I am more into relaxing, enjoying good food and taking in the beautiful scenery and the sea when I am vacationing there.

I agree with kja that Salerno is highly underrated. It is a charming city with a lovely old town and many sites to see. Paestum is easily accessible from Salerno, as are the other smaller villages, via train or bus or ferry. If you are looking for a smaller village experience, Vietri Sul Mare is a charming town, just a short bus or train ride to Salerno. Famous for ceramics, it is a feast for the eyes.

Amalfi Coast Travel Essentials is a great ebook that has lots of good information on the AC.

kja

ComiteVirtute wrote: "San Carlo Theatre for opera, I've never been inside, but it must be worth a visit" -- oh, it is indeed wonderful inside! I once had the pleasure of hearing a chamber music concert there -- awesome!

Paestum is on the train line that goes south through Naples and Salerno. I agree that both the site and it's small museum are well worth visiting (the Diver's Tomb is incredible -- I do hope you get to see it! -- but it is not the only reason to visit that museum), and do take the opportunity to taste the local buffalo mozzarella. Ooooh!

I'm always a fan of putting all your time in your departure city just before your departure, so if you can get to Salerno at a decent hour, doing so would be well worth considering.

BTW, 4 nights is not much for Naples IMO.

Before proceeding much further with your plans, I think you would do well to see what options you have in late Oct. / early Nov. -- my sense is that parts of the Amalfi Coast "shut down" at that time of year....

itspat

Hi newfie

I don't know if you saw my recent thread. We have only 4 days for everything - Naples archaeology museum, pizza, Pompeii and possibly Herculaneum, Amalfi coast, and hopefully Paestum! Probably Naples is easiest to base for all 4 nights, but we still occasionally think about 1-2 nights in Sorrento or Salerno for a different vibe... Choices! We know this will be a bit of a rushed trip.

kja

itspat wrote, "We have only 4 days for everything ... We know this will be a bit of a rushed trip." -- yes, that is an incredibly compressed time frame. Several of us have tried to help itspat make the most of this very short amount of time, but I wouldn't necessarily look there for advice, not only because of the differences in amount of time on the ground, but also because itspat is going in Sept.