Bees28

I'm planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast with our kids and I can't seem to find the exact location of the beaches in town. Does anyone know which hotels are near Marina di Praia or The Gravitella beach ? Also, I've read upper and lower section of Praiano- is one part better than the other? From looking at google earth, looks like the town spreads East/West so I don't really understand upper and lower?? Thanks for any help on this.

Dayle

Hi bees,

Are you expecting wide sandy beaches on the Amalfi Coast? Their beaches are mostly rocky fishing coves. Positano has a small, sandy beach which I imagine would be quite crowded during the day. I visited Positano in the very late afternoon and there were a handful of kids playing.

To reach Praiano's "beaches" you need to go down about 300 stairs. Then up again at the end of the day. The one "beach" I walked down to was a small cove with fishing boats, very little sand at all.

When they are describing upper and lower Praiano, they are referring to above the coast road, or below it. Everything on the Amalfi Coast is VERTICAL. Lots and Lots of stairs.

I hope this helps give you a better picture for selecting a town and hotel!

ira

Hi B,

Praiano has a small beach to which you walk a goodly number of steps down from the town.

Unfortunately, you walk a goodly number of steps back up.

For your hotel, I can highly recommend www.lesirene.com, from which you can walk to the beach.

>From looking at google earth, looks like the town spreads East/West so I don't really understand upper and lower?<

It goes up and down as well as side to side.

nytraveler

Amalfi Coast beaches are nothing like the Carib - or even FL. they are small, narrow and stony (to me not really beaches at all - just rocks meeting the water. (This is true of many european beaches - we in the US are spoiled since ours are so often very wide, white and very fine grain sand.)

Bees28

Thanks for your responses. Please advise on where you would stay with 3 kids (ages 11, 9, 7). Praiano or Positano? I was thinking Praiano but now I'm not sure there is enough of a town there. We like to walk around after dinner, get gelato, browse the shops... I'm not sure that I want right in the middle of Positano town either-but maybe the fornillo side? Is it quieter there and can you walk over to main part of town, anyone know?

Grinisa

Between Positano and Praiano I'd pick Positano, but neither is an ideal vacation spot for fairly young kids. Unless your kids like looking at stores filled with women's resort wear and ceramics, the shops are not really kid-oriented. The beach in Positano is certainly larger than the small coves of Praiano, but neither the main beach or the Fornillo beach are very big and they are much more rocky/pebbly than sandy. Fornillo is quieter and you won't have to deal with climbing lots of steps back to your hotel at the end of the day. You can easily walk between Fornillo and the main part of Positano in about five minutes.

ira

Hi B,

One nice thing about Praiano is that the kids come out to play, under parental supervision, every evening at the plaza in front of the church.

Very nice views of Positano from the plaza, as well.

Do you kids play soccer?

Bees28

Thanks for your responses. I'm still considering Praiano. Does anyone have a preference to stay in Praiano near San Luca church or in the section they call Vettica Maggiore, also Praiano? Thanks!

bellastarr

Hi Bees,

The San Luca Church is in the part of Praiano above the coast road, so if you want to be more accessible to the beach, You might consider the Vettica section, which has the beautiful San Gennaro Church wil its tiled Dome. The hotel mentioned earlier "le Sirene" is near there.

But there is also another beach area further down the road called Marina Praia, and there in the cove you will find a couple of restaurants, a trattoria, boats and swimming. Not a big beach though. Just across the cove is the Onda Verde hotel and another casual restaurant where you can eat and reant a beach chair-called La Pirata.
One fun visit would be going to the Saracen tower, which is the studio of a gifted local artist who also teaches art to local kids. He's quite a wonderful character, so you kids might enjoy meeting him.

For shops though, Positano is the place.

Bees28

THanks for all the help.
When I read reviews on villas in Praiano, they often say their villa is 10 min or so walk into town. Where is the town? Is it down on the main road-a couple of blocks worth?

SeaUrchin

The main road goes right through Praiano. There is not much of a town. Be aware that walking on those roads into town, you are not on sidewalks and are right in the traffic lanes for the most part.

I would suggest Positano.

Dayle

Bees,

Maybe this will help.

Positano is beautiful and caters mainly to tourists. Therefore, there are lots of shops with high end clothing, ceramics, etc. Lots of restaurants. Lots of walkable paths and stairways.

If you do a google for Positano, you will see how most of the Amalfi towns look. As I said, it's all vertical. There is almost nowhere to walk that is level. Stairs, stairs, stairs, it's either up or down.

Praiano is much smaller in terms of tourist accomodations. It's more of a locals town, one or two bars and a couple restaurants. No shops to speak of. A handful of hotels and B&Bs. If you are talking about how big the town is, measuring along the coast highway, maybe 2 blocks. Much quieter.

If your villa is a 10 minute walk to the town of Praiano, it's going to be a bit out of the center, such as it is.

Bees28

I want to thank you all for your responses. I've finally decided on Positano and now reasearching villas. I will start a new post to see if I can find people who has actually stayed in some of the villas I'm looking at. Anyone know why the rental agencies won't give out an address so that you can pinpoint location? Thanks again!!!

SeaUrchin

Probably they are afraid you will contact the owners directly and bypass their rental company.