We will be in Italy 1st week of April and will spend 5 days on Amalfi coast. Leaning towards Praiano so we can get a more localized, real Italy experience. Questions:
1. Pompeii: hire private car or take bus/train?
2. Amalfi Coast "drive": one family member gets bad car sickness on windy roads. We are better on the water. Can you get a good experience by hopping a ferry to Positano, or Amalfi? April is early, are ferries running?
3. Capri: want to spend one nite there, can you get ferry from Praiano?

Grazie!

No, You cannot get a ferry from Praiano. The ferries were running when I was there last April but bad weather can halt them. So you may have to depend on a bus or car; you will not know this in advance.

Praiano is lovely, but you can also get a great "real" Italy experience in Amalfi or another largerer town, which I might favor so early in the season.

Obviously, it is easier to visit Pompei with a private car--if you do not want to spend the money for that, and I am not suggesting that you do, it is not difficult to make the journey by bus to Sorrento and train from there. There are also tours offered a couple of times a week by many hotels/travel agencies.

Hi Am,

1. Take the SITA bus to Meta. Then take the Circumvesuviana train to Pompei Scavi.

On the return, get off the train at Sorrento to take the ITA bus back to Praiano.

2. Rake the bus and sit on the left side going to Amalfi and the right side going toward Sorrento.

2A. The ferry stops are Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Salerno.
Take the Orange bus from Praiano to/from the Positano ferry docks.

I think that a nice tour would be the SITA bus to Amalfi and the ferry to Positano - or vice versa.

3. The ferry to Capri leaves from Positano.

It's under 15 min to go from Praiano to the Positano dock by bus.

Enjoy your visit.

There are also ferries to Capri from Amalfi.

Thank you all this is so helpful. Leaning towards Amalfi as a base but thinking we like a night or 2 in Capri.

Is it too offseason on Capri April 5-8?

If it's a ghost town like Martha's Vineyard in offseason then our experience may not be as enjoyable. We need activity. From what I've read things may be getting active as it's right before easter.

We love to hike, explore ruins, see ancient churches and buildings and of course dine well.

Ira is consistently helpful and generous in providing information. Just because it's not always exactly what you would do Bellastar, he is a great asset to Fodors forums.

Micheline: Ira has made one trip to the Amalfi coast, spending a total of about 5 days there, on his one and only trip to Italy in recent years. He offers his help constantly about many destinations, including many that he has not visited. If such help contains factual errors, do you not think that these should be pointed out?

On another current thread, a person who LIVES in Positano pointed out an error in Ira's advice. Do you disagree that such errors should be pointed out, and corrected. (see link below)

I have admonished Ira, in a current post about Paris, to make a distinction between places that he has actually experienced and those that he mentions only because he has read about them on another person's report, or in a guidebook. (see link below)

Bella is one of a few people who have spent much time on the Amalfi coast on many trips through the years. I think we are lucky to have her, and others within-depth knowledge, on this forum.


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35168058


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35181724

Bella: I know that I speak for many of us here when I say that I am most appreciative that you will continue to contribute your extensive knowledge to this forum.

When one person on a forum becomes the principal advice-giver, and no one speaks up with corrections, errors get repeated over and over again, and novice travelers may be mislead.

I think it is helpful when people distinguish between advice or opinions based on personal experience, and advice based on hearsay.

I had luck in getting Ira to update some info although it took multiple times of pointing it out. I think he was just copying and pasting from his trip years before which was no longer totally accurate and perhaps didn't come back to the threads where other were correcting it.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35181447

Bella, "I plan to change that moving forward".

Good for you. I would love to hear about some of your time recently on the Coast. You have been there so often it is like reading what a local has to say and I am glad there is now a Positano citizen joining in too.

There are a number of posters who really know the area, some come and go, such as Vincenzo. I would follow his advice to wherever he would lead me!

Isn't it Steve James who knows all the timetables too?

Thanks for posting, Bella!

Yes, Steve James has a wealth of information based on an in-depth knowledge of the area that he is generous about sharing.

Hi bella,

1. Sorrento is between Pompei Scavi and Meta.

You get off at the bus at Meta outbound and off the train at Sorrento inbound in order to get a better seat.

The Meta SITA stop is 5 km from the Sorrento SITA stop. How can the difference add an hour?

2. I wrote "Take the Orange bus from Praiano to/from the Positano ferry docks".

Repeat "ORANGE" bus.

You are talking about the SITA bus.

> I wish some people (in this case Ira once again) would make some basic effort to give accurate information about a travel destination.<

Physician, heal thyself.
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Thank you for the kind words, Mich
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ek,

>Date: 02/12/2009, 09:41 am

Are you actually saying that the SITA bus from Praiano stops at Sorrento before Meta?

Are you saying that the Circumvesuviana train from Pompei Scavi stops in Meta before Sorrento?

Do you agree that it takes an hour to go the 5 km from the Sorrento train station to the Meta train station?

Are you saying that the Orange bus doesn't go from Praiano to the Positano docks?

Or are you and bella just engaging in a love fest?
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ky joins in,

>I had luck in getting Ira to update some info although it took multiple times of pointing it out. <

Yes the price for reservations at the Uffizi has gone from 3 to 4 Euro.

I corrected that.

I also asked you if it is still true that if you make res by phone and don't use them that you will not be charged.

Can you give me an answer?

Ira - I've had no reason to call the Uffizi (even though I was in Florence in September) so have no clue whether they don't charge you to hold a reservation anymore. Neither do you if you haven't called in years.

I appreciate your posts, trip reports (love the food descriptions) and especially your political posts. I don't see a problem with people correcting old information or if someone has misstated something as it's usually unintentional. Up-to-date information is what makes this site so valuable to everyone.

Ira: In the past few days alone, you have recommended a restaurant in Paris that you have never visited. You offered to help plan (!!) a poster's trip to Spain, a country you have have visited. You have recommended a Ravello hotel that you have never patronized. What's next?

I fully expect to have you respond with a recommendation that I stay at the Bonaparte!

Why not be gracious enough to admit that you have made a couple of errors, and ventured into territory that you do not know first hand, and learn from this, rather than lashing out!

I've been to Capri the end of March before and there were plenty of tourists. It won't be empty and plenty of restaurants will be open.

Hi amore,

The schecule for the SITA bus line XV is at http://tinyurl.com/ybe6xk
Click "Campania"
Click "Localita"
Click "Praiano"

You will note that the SITA bus starts from Sorrento, arriving Meta 0:10 hr later.

Also note that not all buses departing Sorrento for Praiano stop at Meta.

My reason for suggesting that you take the Circumvesuviana into Sorrento is that at busy times you will have a greater chance of getting a seat on the bus than if you get off in Meta.

It is the same bus.

The schedules for the Circumvesuviana train are at http://www.vesuviana.it/

It is 0:07 hr from Sorrento to Meta.

The reason I suggest getting off at Meta is that it is unlikely, even in the busy season, that the train from Sorrento will be filled.

My thanks to all of you who have been valuable on this board, but I must say that I'm more confused than before in my planning to go from Amalfi to Pompeii and will most likely hire a private driver. The cost may be high, but there are four of us to split it.

I wish to apologize for the tone of my earlier post.

I broke my rule of not posting when one is irked.

That caused me to make a mistake of fact.

Meta is between Sorrento and Praiano, and also between Sorrento and Pompei Scavi on both the Circumvesuviana and the SITA bus line.
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Bella says,

>The Orange bus does NOT go to the dock in Positano. <

I stand corrected, and hereby amend my statement.

The Orange bus takes you ALMOST to the dock.

>YES, following your direction could well add an hour to a traveler's return trip from Pompeii to Praiano. SInce they would have an extra 15 minutes on the train and then an extra half hour to 45 minutes in the bus depending in the traffic, <

As I posted to the OP, the bus that starts in Sorrento is exactly the same bus that you get in Meta.

Whether you board the bus in S or M, makes no difference. You can either ride the bus in Sorrento or wait at the Meta bus stop.

Unless you know something that SITA doesn't, there are no buses originating in Meta on this route.

>It must be very difficult to simply admit an error and move on,......<

Not for me.

<b>I</b> admitted my error.
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ek says,

&gt;I fully expect to have you respond with a recommendation that I stay at the Bonaparte!&lt;

I like the people at the Bonaparte far too much to ever even consider such a thing.

I would greatly appreciate your giving me a link to the post in which I gave someone suggestions for travel in Spain.

AFAIK, the only remarks that I have made in which Spain was a factor were jokes.

Regarding the Ravello hotel, the poster was asking for delux accomodations on the Amalfi Coast.

I suggested the Palazzo Sasso.

Are you claiming that I was wrong?

Regarding Les Ombres, the poster was asking about restaurants for a spectacular evening with a view. Was I wrong?
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Hi ky,

Thank you for a gracious response. I apologize for my tone to you.

I would NOT rely on ferries the fist week in April (!) I do not know if &quot;officially&quot; they run...but, I spent the first week in April a couple of years ago in Positano ('06 I think) and there were no ferries at all - I was told at the tourist office that they start running &quot;after Easter&quot; when the official tourist season begins - which, was late that year (we were there the week before Easter) there were no weather issues - calm, sunny and beautiful. We had to take the bus to Sorrento to take a ferry to Capri. (not that that's a big deal - just wanted to mention that I would not count on it)

To bellastarr and ekscrunchy,

You both seem to have an obsession with requiring that <i>anything</i> that anyone says has to come from personal experience, and personal experience only.

Here are some FACTS:

The ORANGE bus does take you from Praiano to its stop by the Positano docks in about 0:15 hr.

The SITA bus gets you to the top of Positano in about 0:05 hr.

The bus from Sorrento to Praiano is the same bus that stops at Meta. One doesn't lose an hour by going into Sorrento.

Whether I have done those rides once, a dozen times or not at all, I can look up bus schedules and advise accordingly.

This is quite different from responding to a question that asks, &quot;Is the food at resto X better than that at Y?&quot; without having been to either.

I don't do that, and you know that I don't do that.

I certainly don't spend any time looking to see whether either of you are correct in the advice you give, unless it is immediately apparent to me that you have, most likely inadvertently, made an error.

I also don't expect either of you to either look up the bus and train schedules or to correct the inaccurate statements that you have made here.