Positano questions
 

My boyfriend and I will be in Positano from the 4th or August to the 7th. We are looking for any hotel or B & B suggestions under 250ish euros a night.

Some that I like are : La Villa Tartana, 170 euros, http://www.villalatartana.it/
Hotel Savioa, 170-210 euros, http://www.savoiapositano.it/
La Rosa dei Venti, 150 euros, Ostra or Maestrale room,
http://www.larosadeiventi.net/
Hotel Royal Prisco, 170-190 euros, http://www.royalprisco.com/
Palazzo Marzoli Resort, 200 euros, http://www.palazzomarzoli.it/

While we are here we want to take a day to visit Pompeii, what is the cheapest/fastest way to do this? Hydrofoil to Salerno, then train to Pompeii? Is it too crowded on the roads to hire a car? or for a bus to Sorrento? Boat to Sorrento, then Circumvesuviana to Pompeii?

We will then need to get back to Rome on the 7th. How should we do this?

Grazie!

Oh, and I forgot to ask about getting up and down the town. If a hotel or restaurant is at the top of the hill and we are coming from the beach or something else, is it to much to walk that far uphill. If so what do we do about this?

Most of Italy and Europe for that matter is on vacation during the August month. It's high season and the roads will indeed be very busy. I'd say your best bet is to take a bus or boat to Sorrento and then train to Pompeii. I'd say hire a driver, but that wouldn't be the cheapest way.

Gosh, I just cannot remember everything... and because we can't change our plane tickets we will be coming from Venice, I am not sure I want to take an overnight train. Are there better ways to do this?

You can fly relatively cheap from Venice to Naples - tickets range from $33 per person (w/o luggage) on easy jet to $111 on Alitalia. http://www.sidestep.com/r/P7HEgf

The slow train (8hrs) is 72E first class or 52E 2nd class. The fast train which is 5 1/2 hours is 149E 1st class or 107E 2nd class. That is only to Naples, so you still need to add getting to Positano.

The train back up to Rome is easy and not that costly.

Which would you recommend if we flew? Alitalia or EasyJet?

We were in Sorrento for a day on a cruise. We took the Circumvesuvia train to Pompeii, and it was pretty easy, with the stop being pretty close to the ruins. I'm not sure if it runs from Positano or not, but I would guess so!

It doesn't :[

Any hotel suggestions?

I'd start searching on www.venere.com for hotels in the area. Alot are going to be booked up already for those dates.

I'm staying at Hotel Marincanto during my visit to Positano, but it's a bit more than the hotels you asked about in your OP.

There are plenty of hotels with availability. I really don't understand why people assume that posters asking for hotel suggestions haven't searched for them. I have been on a computer for weeks. Venere, hotels.com , booking, tripadvisor... When I post this I am asking for YOUR opinion. Half the people that leave reviews on tripadvisor etc, are either the owner of the place, or have never been to Europe and don't understand that hotels are completely different,than ones in the States So I ask seasoned travelers on a travel site...

I can't comment on the hotels.. it will be my first trip to Positano.

I have stayed at Villa La Tartana and highly recommend it.

I would suggest first checking the sister property, Villa Rosa, which is a very similar hotel but higher up, and in Positano, higher generally means better views. Villa Rosa was booked when I went, but I would have preferred it if it had been available.

"If a hotel or restaurant is at the top of the hill and we are coming from the beach or something else, is it to much to walk that far uphill. If so what do we do about this?"

Not much. If you can't walk up and down stairs, you probably should not stay in Positano. It's all stairs, everywhere. Villa La Tartana does not have an elevator and we stayed on the top floor for the best view, and it was 4 flights up and down each time.

But having said that, I am far from an athlete and I managed the steps just fine, and they aren't that steep. But there are few elderly people walking around in Positano because it just doesn't cater to anyone whose mobility is impaired. There is no way to get around the stairs.

PS - I did not mean to imply that all elderly people are unable to manage the stairs. There were some who were taking the steps a lot faster than me. But there were noticeably fewer elderly tour groups in Positano, as compared to say Sorrento.

Read my reply under my sign-in name in the recent thread. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-vs-praino.cfm

Thanks. We arent mobility impared, just have a lot of luggage. If we decide to take a boat to Positano from Sorrento or Naples, we will be carting a lot of luggage up many stairs. I thought I read somewhere that there was some scooter or something that would take up if needed.

@chazzarelli, I thought you were being preachy :] There are a lot of people on these threads that tell you to look on websites, assuming that you havent researched anything.

They have porters for the luggage.

I arrived in Positano via boat from Naples. (Highly recommended, btw - I loved arriving from the sea.) The porters were all there waiting at the dock. You tell them what hotel you're staying in, and they rush off with your bags, while you hurry to keep up. Of course you tip them, but it's well worth it, esp. if your hotel is high up. Villa La Tartana is not high at all, very close to the beach, but I was still happy to follow the porter because I'm not sure I would have found it very easily otherwise.

If you arrive via the road, from a driver or the bus, you will be near the top, and you may not need a porter. It depends on where you're staying and how many stairs, I guess.

PS -- More info on the porters in Positano:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ase-advise.cfm

If arriving by boat, you definitely should use their services, unless you stay at one of the places right on the beach like Buca di Bacco.

definitely use the porters. We stayed at Villa Sara which was 100 steps from the road and then 200 from it to the beach. I know becasue I'm a stair phobic but I did it. There is also a little bus that zooms a round the main streets.
We also had a driver to from Rome to Postano and back but with 5 persons it was a better deal.

Thanks!