Pawleys

We'll have a rental car for a week at a villa in Panzano. Afterwards we want to head to the Amalfi Coast. We are thinking of driving, stopping for about two hours at Pompei or Herculaum and taking a ferry to Capri for two nights. ( is all of this possible in one day?) Then we would take a ferry to Amalfi ? Positano? get a cab to Ravello and spend 3 nights there.
Where could we turn in our car and get a ferry?
Where can I get a ferry schedule to see what is possible?

bobthenavigator

Drive as far as Sorrento to drop the car, but do not stop. Use Sorrento as your base to visit Pompeii---only :30 by local commuter train.

Ravello is lovely but also hard to access and rather remote.
How many days do you have on the coast?

Pawleys

Hi Bob, We haven't booked our flights yet, but right now we're planning five days. We plan to fly out of Naples at 12:45 on Sep 17th. I've visited the coast once before and stayed in Positano but I have my heart set on spending a few days in Ravello.

kja

As I recall, I spent about 6 hours at Pompeii and was well aware that I was skipping a lot. I spent about 2.5 hours at Herculaneum and could easily have enjoyed another hour. SO if you really only have about 2 hours, you can either do a quick visit to Herculaneum OR perhaps visit just the Villa dei Misteri or another carefully selected site or two within Pompeii -- just be sure the sites you select are VERY close to the gates.

Will you not stop in Naples? The excellent archeology museum there holds a stunning collection of artifacts from Pompeii. It provides an incredibly valuable complement to seeing the sites themselves, so I strongly encourage you to give it some thought.

I adored Ravello. You can take a bus from Amalfi. If you have a lot of luggage, a taxi might be better.

As I recall, I found the ferry schedules by googling. You might also search this board for posts by GAC -- I think he posts links to schedules for the Amalfi Coast, but I could be wrong. Be sure to pay careful attention to the months, as schedules change dramatically with the season.

Hope that helps!

Pawleys

Thanks,KJA. I'll look at GAC's posts. I saw a recent ferry schedule , but, don't know what it would be in early September . It might make a big difference in where we spend more nights. I might need to add one night to either Capri or Ravello.
Right now I'm trying to determine where I should drop my car off and get the ferry or if it would be better to Drop the car off earlier and take the train.

Sue_xx_yy

Second the caution about ferries, the schedule can be very erratic in the off season. Second also the advice to drop the car off in Sorrento.

We spent 2 nights in Sorrento and did Pompeii as a day trip.

Then took the bus to Amalfi, changing to second bus to Ravello, where we spent 2 nights. From here we did half day trip to Positano by bus, and spent the remaining day viewing a Villa in Ravello.

Headed to Paestum by bus for a night (to see Greek temples) then took the bus to Salerno for the high speed train to Rome.

Very glad we got to just look out the window of the bus on the Amalfi coast, it is not a road I'd want to drive on. We saw cars having to back up through tunnels to make way for us as the bus had priority on that narrow road.

zoecat

You could drop the car in Sorrento and take a boat from there to Capri. But do some research on when the last boat leaves for Capri from Sorrento. There may not be one that leaves late enough. You may have to spend a night in Sorrento.

Another thought-
Drive to Salerno, drop car, walk the short walk to either the boat dock or bus stop and then proceed to Amalfi. Take a taxi or bus to Ravello.
Return to Amalfi for boat to Capri. After Capri, take a morning boat to either Naples or Sorrento, then on to Pompei by either taxi/train. There is luggage storage at Pompei.

GAC just posted great Rome to Amalfi information (including boat info links) on Slow Travel that might be some help to you-
http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...m/701009459001

tuscanlifeedit

Early September is high season. No worry about restricted schedules unless there is a weather emergency of some sort.

flygirl

One caution - in May, I found the SITA buses were full the few times I wanted to take them. The very first bus of the morning, leaving from Positano, was almost full. The person I was with (tour guide who lives there) said that the best chance for a ride is the first bus of the morning - and that is in May.

I looked at GAC's post and that is certainly thorough and helpful! The bus from Rome to Amalfi is a good deal. As long as you get a window seat and the bus is clean and comfortable, why not.

Pawleys

Zoecat and Flygirl, GAC's info is fabulous, but, I hope to go to Capri first for the very reason mentioned. I don't want to have to depend on the ferry to get back to the airport at the end of our trip.
I also, don't think I want to go into Rome or FCO to get a train or bus.

I guess my major concern is do we have time to do Pompei and catch the ferry from Sorrento Or should we eliminate Pompei and drop the car in Naples and ferry from there or is there another good place to drop it? I hate to eliminate Pompei but with two days for Capri and two days for Ravello, The only timemwe would have would be on the way to Capri.

flygirl

So it sounds like you are leaving Panzano (near Modena) in the AM and that first night you have a choice of either squeezing in Pompeii or going straight to Capri... could you play it by ear? I don't know what the ferry schedules to Capri are like for the late afternoon/evening. I will say though that arriving late to Capri might mess up your evening/dinner plans - no idea if there are good places to eat near Pompeii or not. If you verify ferry schedules, ensure you make the last ferry, and already have dinner rez you may be OK though. Capri is so charming in the evenings...

I agree that if you only have two hours for Pompeii that you should scope it out well and zero in on a few important things. I didn't do that and while I enjoyed it I would have perhaps seen more with a plan of attack. I just wandered in and started walking.

Do you only have four full days, after arrival on Capri and a night's sleep, before you have to be at the airport on day five? (arrival night, four full days, then departure day?)

If so, you are shortchanging both experiences I think. I had just shy of 72 hours on Capri and could have stayed longer. I spent 5 nights in Positano, and only an afternoon in Ravello, and just the travel time will take a chunk out of your two full days there.

If you've been there before you know what you like, but for me personally I would spend more time on Capri than Ravello. I had a very cloudy afternoon in Ravello, though, only. I would like to see it again for longer and in full sunlight...

Definitely visit Mamma Agata while in Ravello! Even if you don't take a class she may invite you to have her lemon cake - don't turn that down, make a point of it!

flygirl

ps. just gave the map a much closer look - I don't see how you'd get all the way to Naples before 4 PM unless you hit the road early. Then you'd have to park the car, do your visit, then get the car to the drop point in order to hit the ferry. I don't see how you could do this.. what a grueling march of a day.

Maybe see if you have time at the tail end of your trip and visit Pompeii on your very last day and stay overnight in Naples before going to the airport?

dwdvagamundo

Concur that the drive the first day is undoable. Naples traffic is the worst I've driven in anywhere.--drove to Sorrento one evening and it was a nitemare

What I'd do is drop the car at a train station on the outskirts of Naples and take the train just as close to the ferry docks as you can--probably Napoli Centrale-- and get a cab to the ferry docks which are not that far. There is also a drop for at least Hertz at the docks in Napoli itself, if you're feeling lucky.

For example, looks like a train arrives in Napoli Centrale at around 15:30 from Caserta. https://prm.rfi.it/qo_prm/QO_Arrivi_....00&alle=16.00 Caserta train station has lots of rental car drops. A hydrofoil leaves the Napoli docks for Capri around 16:30, and there are later ones.http://www.capri.net/en/ferry-schedule

Hit Pompeii and Herculaneum on the way back to Napoli, as flygirl says, and spend a nite in Napoli.