Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

Please help us plan for Amalfi Coast with 17 month old baby

Please help us plan for Amalfi Coast with 17 month old baby

Old Jun 28th, 2012, 08:29 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Please help us plan for Amalfi Coast with 17 month old baby

Hi there, we are taking a last minute trip to Italy, leaving next week. We just got a great fare to Rome and snagged it, so have not had time to read and plan as we usually do.

Please comment on the feasibility of the following:

Day 1. Monday. Flight arrives in Rome at 10am. Somehow get to Rome train station and get train to Naples. Have driver pick us up in Naples and drive us to Sorrento. We know a place we can stay in Sorrento. Unpack, stroll around, buy food and supplies for baby (we were planning to pack 3 days worth of diapers, anyone know if the Italian brands are similar to Pampers? Last time I was in Italy was 10 years ago, and babies were not an issue!)

Day 2 . Tuesday. Relax in Sorrento, or if there is something easy to do near there, e.g. A nice beach, please let us know. We read that the beach in Sorrento is not great, but maybe a few km away?

Day 3. Wednesday. Take the bus ride down the coast to enjoy the apparently death-defying views. Would like opinion if it is better to get off bus in Amalfi or stay on until Salerno? Ideally, we would love to take a ferry back to Sorrento from one of those places. Read on these forums that Amalfi has a direct ferry but Salerno requires a transfer . Also: Do they have seat belts on Italian buses? Or some way to strap our baby in a car seat? If not, how wild is that bus ride - could we hold on to a strong and squirmy almost 1.5 year old?

Day 4. Thursday. Paestum.. Perhaps rent a car to get there, and on way home visit one other place, e.g. We read Ravello is worth a visit.

Day 5. Friday. Arrive early at Pompeii and spend about 3 hours. Return to Sorrento and rest in the afternoon as we need to vacate the apartment the next day.

Day 6. Saturday. Take ferry to Capri and spend either 1 or 2 nights there. Read that it is super-touristy, but hey, that's what we are, in high-season no less. Is it nicer to stay in Anacapri than Capri, or other options? Read conflicting opinions, eg that Anacapri is nicer, but you can't see the sea, others wrote it is too far from things. Also, is it safe to go together with baby into Blue Grotto, or should we plan to take turns, and go individually.

Day 7. Sunday. Relax on Capri.

Day 8. Monday. Take ferry to Naples. Check in, relax, Archaeological museum (it is closed Tuesdays, so must go the day we arrive.) Spend night in Naples.

Day 9. Tuesday. Walking tour in morning, check out, catch early afternoon train back to Rome.

Day 10, 11. Rome.

Day 12. Friday. Leave Rome for flight back to USA.

We have not checked timetables yet, but am looking for feedback on this itinerary.

Also, generally wondering if the bus down the coast will let us hop on and off in some of the scenic towns. Do they have different feels or if we visit town of Amalfi, Positano will feel largely similar?

If you traveled with or without a baby, we'd love to hear advice and suggestions!

Thank you in advance.
BeckyG115 is offline  
Old Jun 28th, 2012, 08:41 AM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hey BeckyG115...can't comment on the part of Italy you're travelling to, but my wife and I have travelled quite a bit with our daughter since she was just a few mmonths old (including two trips to Italy).

My biggest tip in terms of travelling with your child is to leave yourself more time than you think you need. Everythnig takes longer, and sometimes you need to be flexible with your plans. We've found that you can be better off modifying an afternoon's agenda to better accomodate your baby's mood/energy level than forcing a situation that deep down you know isn't going to work. Doing something different with a happy baby is better than whatever you had planned with a cranky baby.

Not suggesting you can't pushyour child a bit, or have to accomodate them at every turn. Just be smart and be aware. We've found travelling with our daughter (now 3 years old) is very rewarding for us and educational for her. Just have a little more patience.

Have a great time!
uflecku is offline  
Old Jun 28th, 2012, 09:02 AM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sorry - buses and trains have no seat belts or facilities for babies. You just hold them - unless you want to buy them a seat. (They are free as far as I know - but that presumes they are not taking a seat that could be occupied by a payign customer.)

the bus ride is not "wild" at all. it is slow and extremely tedious - since both the curves and the traffic mandate a very slow speed. But do be prepaed for it to be mobbed - SRO.

To get into the Blue Grotto you need to lie down inside a row boat (after a mid sea transfer from a larger launch with perhaps 25 or so people). Or - there is a stairway cut into the side of a cliff that you can descend and get straight into a row boat. I would not reco taking a baby - who will not be interested and may be cranky, bored - and trying to get out of the boat.
nytraveler is offline  
Old Jun 28th, 2012, 01:07 PM
  #4  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks uflecku, it is great to hear that you've successfully been on trips to Italy with your little girl. We did go to the Caribbean this winter (shortly after she started walking) and the pace was indeed a lot slower than our usual, but it was more of a beach vacation, with a little sightseeing in town, vs. this vacation, where we did want to see more sights. So I hear you on the need to be flexible. My husband is not quite as interested in antiquity as I am, and he would happily go back to the hotel and nap while she does or sit with her in a piazza eating ice cream, while I go into a museum or whatnot.

nytraveler, thanks for the info on trains and buses. Somewhere I read that the ride down the coast was "stomach churning" so I took that to mean the buses went fast around hairpin turns. Glad to hear that is not the case.

In light of how you described getting to the Blue Grotto, we will just take turns seeing it, while the other plays with the baby. She would be fine on the little row boat but I don't think the transfer sounds so great. And I would selfishly like to just relax and enjoy it and not worry about her getting whiny or crying and disturbing other people.

Thanks.

Anyone else who has visited this area, please weigh in on the itinerary. Hope tonight to google the schedules for buses, trains, ferries, etc. and see if some things are feasible.
BeckyG115 is offline  
Old Jun 28th, 2012, 05:31 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We did the option with the mid sea transfer - and it was easy for us - since we are both tall. (Stepping down into the row boat is not that difficult - but climbing back UP into the launch does require some degree of flexibility. In the row boat with us were an elderly couple, the wife being very petite - about 5'. She had trouble getting down and much more trouble getting back up into the launch. The rest of us got back in the launch first - the older man with a push from the row boat rower, to get the woman back in the boat two of the men from the launch had to climb part way down and each pull her up by one arm while the rower in the smaller boat pushed up on her behind with all his might. They finally managed to get her back in - but I could just imagine her falling in the water. Her legs just weren't long enough to step from the row boat up to the launch.

I think that for people who are very small, or not very flexible, descending the stairway directly to the row boat might be easier.
nytraveler is offline  
Old Jun 28th, 2012, 05:49 PM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,525
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I just got back from Rome this week where the weather was hot and more hot so prepare yourself for extremely hot and unbearable temperatures which is more common in August than in June.My daughter and I ended up going back to our A/C room everyday between 3 and 5 to regroup as the heat just zapped everything out of us.
I work for the airlines and travel to Italy usually everyweek for work so hope that you have a seat for your child as the flights are packed like sardines and 10-11 hours with a toddler on your lap is going to be horrible.
dutyfree is offline  
Old Jun 28th, 2012, 11:39 PM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 24,834
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
Some people experience motion sickness on the Amalfi Coast bus.

If/when you go to Pompeii, take an umbrella to give you some shade and take water. I probably wouldn't go to the effort to see Paestum too. It would be a long, hot day.

Regarding the Blue Grotto, I'd be surprised if they'd allow a child your daughter's age on the row boat anyway. If she is allowed but they don't have a life vest her size, forget it.

JMO, but if your daughter has trouble with jet lag, any plans you have for the first couple of days could be out the window. Depending on where you're coming from, that first travel day will probably be brutal. Plane (or two?), train, train, car. From the time you land at Rome until you arrive at the Sorrento apartment could easily be 4 hours in the hottest part of the day.
Jean is offline  
Old Jun 29th, 2012, 08:45 AM
  #8  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hi and thanks again for the feedback.

Yes, we always buy a seat for her and strap her car seat into it. We also have a Coast Guard certified life vest for boating (although we decided no Blue Grotto, she can wear it on other boats or ferries.)

We were planning to try to get her to nap during the hottest part of the day, either in her stroller or by going back to the room on Capri or in Sorrento when possible. Sounds like we may be joining her.
BeckyG115 is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
mymatemarmite
Europe
4
Jun 9th, 2017 07:45 PM
Jynx
Europe
25
Jul 5th, 2011 08:01 AM
schmerl
United States
13
Jul 9th, 2010 03:52 PM
chatangal
Caribbean Islands
7
Oct 7th, 2006 04:46 AM
Elizabeth
Europe
22
Sep 1st, 2002 08:18 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -