A friend and I would like to attend concerts at the Ravello Music Festival during our stay on the Amalfi Coast in mid-late September. The concerts start at 9:30 PM and probably finish at 11:15, or so. The venue is Villa Rufolo in Ravello and we will need to get back to our hotel, high up in the hills of Positano. This will be my first time traveling in the area, but I believe that Villa Rufolo is out of the main town area, further up in the hills.
Has anyone been to the Festival or know about night transportation, including the approx. cost, between Ravello and Positano?
Many thanks!

You will be able to get a taxi; I'm guessing that the cost will be in the range of 25-30 euro or so, probably the latter since it will be at night.

Actually, Villa Rufolo is right off the main piazza where the cathedral is located.

Villa Cimbrone is a little farther away, but a short walk.

I'd check that 25E estimate for a taxi. I've seen reports of 25E for just the Amalfi to Ravello leg. Here's some more info:

http://www.ravelloarts.org/rcs/index...=85&Itemid=138

Thank you all so much. I was interested, especially, to learn that Villa Rufolo is in town. The cost of a cab
isn't worth the quality of the music that we would hear. A shame, however.

OOops..My mistake! I was, indeed, quoting an estimate for the taxi fare from Ravello to Amalfi...it will be much higher from Ravello to Positano...closer to 60 euro, I am pretty certain.

I stayed in Ravello specifically because it would allow me to attend a concert at the Villa Rufolo. No regrets! Quite in contrast, it was, for me, a highlight of a trip that held many spectacular highlights.

But I'm willing to change hotels every night or two.

GAC has just posted a new schedule for the SITA bus on here and it shows that there is a bus from Ravello to Amalfi at 11:25pm and the last bus is an hour later. There is no bus from Amalfi at that time, but it might help reduce your taxi cost to get back to Positano.

Just FYI, it's 16 miles from Ravello to Positano but only 10 miles from Amalfi.

Thank you, Rubicund.

kJA: my husband and I will return together at another time and will be especially interested in going to the festival. ...this trip is more to accommodate a dear, elderly friend ( and former concert pianist), who wanted to stay in Positano. Unfortunately, neither of us were thinking about the festival when we made our other reservations. I am interested in how you found the town of Ravello and the quality of the artists performing? It is an important music festival, is it not? Is the town especially crowded because of this ( e.g. Salzburg in the summer)?
Any important info that you might give me about the festival would be very much appreciated ( best way to buy tickets, best seats, thingks to consider, etc.). Who knows, maybe we will manage to get ourselves there on this trip!
Also, are the gardens of Villa Rufolo worth visiting? other recommendations for things to see/do? We have 11days in the area and 2 full days in Naples. Thank you so much.

The website for the Villa seems to be down, but there is a wiki entry for it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Rufolo

There's also a shaky video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvv8soewMnI

I hope your elderly friend can walk well. A hotel in the hills above Positano will probably require lots of walking or rather climbing up and down hills.

Thanks, Rubicund.
Mimar....thanks for the heads-up; our hotel has a bus that goes to and from town.

Rubicund....can't thank you enough for the video links, which led to links showing excerpts from the Ravello Music Festival. Grazie!!

The gardens of Villa Rufolo have a lovely view over the Gulf of Salerno. I think the gardens at Villa Cimbrone are nicer though. They are large and have fabulous views which you have probably seen online or in travel publications.

I had a daily bus pass when I was there last fall. I was staying in Amalfi and took the last bus down from Ravello to Amalfi - it left around midnight. Separately I also took night buses from Positano to Amalfi (maybe 11pm ish - not sure how late they run). I think you could definitely get down to Amalfi (I'm sure concert is timed so people can take the bus back down). From there if there the buses to Positano are no longer running, it would probably be easier and cheaper to get a cab from Amalfi than Ravello.

Ravello is fabulous - I went to all of the villas and liked them all. BTW on a humorous I also tried hiking down (during the day) but the map was wrong and ended up on one of those insane curving roads with no sidewalk or even shoulder and had to flag down a car. Ha!

> I am interested in how you found the town of Ravello and the quality of the artists performing? ... Any important info that you might give me about the festival would be very much appreciated ( best way to buy tickets, best seats, thingks to consider, etc.). ... Also, are the gardens of Villa Rufolo worth visiting? other recommendations for things to see/do? We have 11days in the area and 2 full days in Naples.

I adored Ravello! It is one of the most beautiful places I have been fortunate enough to see - and I've seen some spectacular places! I like a fast travel pace, so I wouldn't want to spend more than a few days there -- for my tastes, 2 nights were perfect. For those who aim to relax, I would think it would hold great appeal (except that it's harder to get to other places on the Amalfi Coast than staying on the coast itself.) I was there in May, so there were others there, but not too many.

I can't speak to the general quality of the Ravello Festival music, but I can say that the performance I attended featured a truly accomplished piano soloist. He was amazing!

I bought my ticket for the Ravello Festival in advance using the ticket purchase link on its web site. At least when I went (in 2007), seats were assigned so that those who purchased first got the best seats. So if you hope to go, order well in advance! I did order WELL in advance, and had a perfect seat VERY near the piano with an unobstructed view of both the keyboard and pianist. Wow! I believe that many of the summer performances are outdoors; the one I attended was indoors. I don't know whether that was because it wasn't yet warm enough at night (it would have been a bit chilly by the end of the concert) or because it was shoulder season or what. Before the concert and during the intermission, one could roam some of the upper gardens of the Villa Rufolo (not the terraces). During intermission, attendees were offered a free sample of limoncello; I think that was an advertising event by a limoncello producer rather than a usual event, but I don't know.

Other things to see/do in Ravello: I loved the gardens of both the Villa Rufolo and the Villa Cimbrone and I loved being able to see the differences between them. The cathedral has an exceptional ambo, and with its museum, some other medieval works that I enjoyed seeing. The town has another church or two worthy of brief stops. A walk around town will take you through some interesting medieval lanes and to a once work-a-day (and IMO) very charming fountain. And from anywhere near the outer edge of this long and narrow village, stunning vistas.

And from Ravello, you can hike to Amalfi or elsewhere. (And as SusanC said, the trail is not well marked, and locals think it is, so be prepared to veer off track!)

> We have 11days in the area and 2 full days in Naples

I'm a great fan of Naples! If you are willing to put up with (or are intrigued by) its dynamic, gritty, energetic diversity, you might even want another day there, especially if you are planning to move at a somewhat slow pace.

When I was in the area, I'm very glad I spent a day and night in Capri (definitely worth spending the night if you are willing to see it after day trippers leave), visited Pompeii and Ercolano (I saw both in a single long day trip from Naples), Paestum (which I saw from Salerno), Salerno (IMHO an underrated location), and Amalfi.

Whatever you choose, you'll see some wonderful things!

Just to make it clear, Positano is built on a hillside. There are few roads in town, mostly stairstep walkways up and down hill. So it would be difficult to visit Positano without climbing up and down. Both Ravello and Amalfi (at least the center part close to the sea) are flatter.

Thank you all for your advice and taking the time to help.

KJA...thank you for your very helpful and informative response: I appreciate it!
Do you have any advice about a day trip to Capri in late Sept.? E.g.: best way to go, is there a way to avoid the crowds at the Blue Grotto, is it even worth seeing the Blue Grotto? Again, many thanks