Rome, Positano and Capri Review
Jun 15th, 2011 | 05:02 PM
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Rome, Positano and Capri Review
Below are my reviews for Rome, Positano and Capri. Also, here is a link to my pictures if you're interested. (They also include a side trip to Madrid, Spain to visit friends.)
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/...hotos-_-Sharee
Rome
Hotel 47
We stayed in a standard room on the first floor. The room was modern (albeit small) and the bed was comfortable (bed not as hard as I expected, but not particularly soft either). The room was a little loud from street noise, so I’d suggest requesting a room on a higher floor if that might bother you. It didn’t bother us enough to request another room—we were so tired from sightseeing each day that we slept very well. There were electric blinds that did a great job of keeping the room dark and kept out a lot of the street noise. The bathroom was nice with a large shower with rainfall shower head.
We enjoyed the breakfast buffet (it was my husband’s favorite of the trip). I enjoyed the focaccia bread and my husband enjoyed the doughnuts the most. We also had drinks one night at the rooftop bar—expensive- but the drinks were good and the view was nice.
I thought the reception employees were friendly and helpful. They made a dinner reservation for us and were a big help with figuring out the buses.
Free internet was included in our rate, but we didn’t have a 3 pronged adapter, so couldn’t charge the laptop. They did have two computers to use in the lobby—but they were very slow, and one of them had no mouse. We alerted the front desk about the missing mouse, but I guess they didn’t have an extra one to replace it with.
I thought the location of the hotel was great. Close to ancient Rome and walking distance to many of the sites. There was a bus stop next door to the hotel which we took to the Vatican and the Catacombs. We also took the bus back to the hotel a couple times when we were just tired of walking.
Activities in Rome
I had been to Rome a few times before, but my husband had never been. We spent most of our time visiting the most popular, must see tourist sites. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, because I realized how much of my previous visits I didn’t remember (since it had been 12 years!).
We did not arrive our hotel in Rome until about 5 pm and were exhausted from our trip. We were hungry so went to the first restaurant we saw (big mistake!). After dinner, we walked around a little, then went back to the hotel to go to sleep early.
On our first full day we walked through the Circus Maximus surrounded by hundreds (maybe a couple thousand) of people who were doing the Susan G Komen walk. That was an interesting site and I didn’t know they had those internationally.
Next we visited the Colosseum. Unfortunately it was Sunday and very crowded. I knew that we should have purchased the Roma Pass before going to the Colosseum, because we’d be able to skip the line. But since it was Sunday the travel agencies were closed so we couldn’t purchase it ahead of time. So we waited in the line for about an hour to get in. So I suggest buying the Roma Pass first thing to avoid this. Next up was the Palatine Hill and the Forum. There was not much of a line here and we walked right in.
After lunch we stopped by the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain—but it had begun pouring down rain and of course I didn’t have my rain jacket with me. We bought cheap umbrellas from the street vendors, but decided to take the bus back to the hotel after a gelato stop.
Our next day was devoted to the Vatican. First stop was the Vatican Museum. I have never been anywhere so crowded in my life. It was so jampacked that it was just not enjoyable at all. We really could not appreciate it with all the hoards of people around. Plus, it took us longer to get in that I thought it would (3 hour line), so we were trying to rush through it so we could make our scheduled Scavi tour. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful, but again, it was just too crowded to enjoy it.
Luckily, we made the Scavi tour with about 15 minutes to spare. One tip is to leave through the guide exit of the Sistine Chapel—this put you out just by the entrance where the Swiss guards are to get to the Scavi office. The Scavi tour was quite the opposite of the Vatican Museum experience—it was a highlight of our stay in Rome. We were in a small group (about 10 people), and our guide was very enthusiastic. It was well worth it. If you want to do it, you must contact the Vatican months in advance because it’s very popular, and they only allow a limited number of tours each day. We booked our tickets in February for our May visit.
On our last day in Rome, we took the bus to the Catacombs of St. Callixtus. It was nice because our tour group was small and the catacombs were not crowded with tour groups like I thought it might be. It probably helped that we arrived pretty early in the morning. It was an interesting tour and worth the trip out there, but I enjoyed the Scavi tour more.
Next we went back to Rome to just walk around. We went to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, then back to the Trevi Fountain to get some pictures since when we went the other day it was raining. We also visited the Capitoline Museum and a few churches.
The Roma pass gave us free bus rides for 3 days. We did notice that hardly anyone ever paid for the bus though—apparently they just do spot checks occasionally and if you don’t have a pass or a ticket on you, you could be fined. If you plan to use the bus a lot, I’d suggest getting a bus map. There were a couple of times that we had trouble figuring out which bus stop was close to certain sites.
Restaurants in Rome
Mad Jack’s—we went here on our arrival evening. We were hungry and went to the first restaurant we saw. It was ok, but nothing special—I wouldn’t recommend it. I had margarita pizza and my husband had pasta with walnut cream sauce. In hindsight, we should have kept looking for restaurants as there were many other good ones nearby. We didn’t even know the name of it was Mad Jack’s until after we sat down—if we had seen that we probably wouldn’t have sat down in the first place!
Angelino Ai Fiori- Although this looked like a pretty touristy restaurant, it had some great pizza! I had the four cheese and my husband had artichoke pizza. It was my husband’s favorite pizza of the trip and my second favorite. I thought our waiter was pretty funny too—my husband was trying to pronounce something in Italian, and butchered it. And the waiter looked at him and said no, no, no, Italian is a beautiful language!
Asino Cotto- I had the filet mignon parmesan style with potatoes and my husband had sea bass ceviche and gnocchi Roman style. All were delicious.
Café Risorgimento (?)- I had ravioli and my husband had spaghetti. Both were ok, but nothing special.
Il Portico- We loved this restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. It had a nice ambience and delicious food. The tables were pretty close together, but that fostered us to talk to our neighbors and get some great tips! We had an appetizer of the mozzarella fritte. I had tortellini and my husband had pasta with mushrooms. We also had a half carafe of delicious house white wine.
Nonna Betta- another great restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. I had lasagna and my husband had pumpkin fritters with couscous and pasta with sea bass.
There were a couple more restaurants, but I can’t remember their names or much about them, so I don’t think they were very good!
Rome to Pompeii to Positano
We took the 9 am high speed train from Termini to Naples. I had prearranged a driver with Sorrento Cars to pick us up from the Naples Train Station, drop us off at Pompeii for 3.5 hours, then take us to our hotel in Positano. The driver was waiting right by our train with a sign with our name on it. He was friendly, spoke English well and the van was comfortable. He wasn’t much of a tour guide, but that’s not what we were paying for so, no complaints. Their price was much better than other quotes I had received (120 euros) for this trip. I would highly recommend this, even to just not have to deal with the luggage so much! Also, if you’re planning to visit Pompeii from Positano, I think this is the way to do it. Then you are not backtracking, nor paying for additional transportation to get to and from Pompeii from Positano.
Pompeii- We used the audio guide in Pompeii. In hindsight, I wish we would have gotten a tour guide. We spent too much time looking for where we needed to be for the audio guide. Pompeii is a great site and I enjoyed it. I had always wanted to visit, but for some reason it just wasn’t as wonderful as I was expecting. Maybe I’d feel differently if we had a tour guide. But if you are interested in history, I would still recommend a visit. Also, I twisted my foot about halfway through our time in Pompeii, so that may have affected my reaction to it. (Could there be a worse time to twist your foot, when you are about to visit Positano and Capri—which are worlds of steep hills and steps!?)
Positano
Marincanto Hotel
We really enjoyed this hotel. The views were magnificent. Actually, I don’t think I have ever stayed in a hotel that had as beautiful views as the Marincanto. We were in room #228, which was in the lower part of the hotel, but still had wonderful views from our small balcony (I think our balcony was one of the smaller ones in the hotel, but that was ok). The front view from our balcony was a view over the sundeck to the blue sea (and lots of boats moored), and the side view was of the town and beach. The room was spacious and comfortable, but not particularly luxurious. The bed was pretty comfortable, but a bit on the hard side as I expected it to be. The bathroom was quite spacious. We did have a problem with the refrigerator leaking all over the floor one day because the master power switch in the room had been turned off. I’m not sure if the staff turned it off, or if my husband did. But it was never explained to us that there was a master switch—actually no one ever went over the features of the room once we were in it. If they had, I’m sure we would have steered clear of that master switch.
The breakfast was good with lots of choices of breads, meats, cheeses and pastries. If you wanted scrambled eggs it was an extra charge. We also had lunch there on our first day. I had some delicious ravioli and my husband had risotto. After the meal they gave complimentary chocolate mousse which was a nice treat. Surprisingly, it wasn’t anymore expensive than the restaurants in town.
There is a small but refreshing pool. Also a sundeck with lots of chairs and umbrellas, along with chairs on a lawn below, and even more chairs on the “beach” for rental (actually on the rocks). The beach chairs were part of a beach club and hotel guests received a discount at the club.
Even though the hotel was fully booked, we never saw many people around. This was a great respite from the crowds in Positano town. The hotel was also in a great location- high enough up for a great view, but just a short walk into town. There was also a bus stop very close by which was convenient.
Activities in and around Positano
As I mentioned before, I twisted my foot in Pompeii and I was in a lot of pain by the time we arrived our hotel in Positano. I mostly relaxed in the room and enjoyed the gorgeous view from the balcony of our room.
On our first full day, we still took it pretty easy and I walked as much as I could handle. I didn’t want my foot to get in the way of all the things I wanted to see and do on this vacation. I probably walked on it more than I should have, but took it easier than I had planned (for instance we did not walk to path of the gods like I wanted to). We just explored the town. There were so many picture perfect views in Positano that I found myself stopping every couple of minutes to take photos! We walked through the gardens of the Palazzo Murat, which I highly recommend.
The next day we took the bus to Amalfi. We went to the maritime museum, visited the Duomo—there was a wedding there so that was fun to watch, and just explored the town. We had originally planned to go up to Ravello that day as well, but decided to save Ravello for the next day and walk to Atrani instead. The traffic was still backed up from the strike—with cars completely stopped and people getting out of their cars and just standing around. We got to Atrani faster than the people with cars! It was a nice scenic walk along the water and the town was enjoyable to visit.
The next day we took the ferry back to Amalfi, then took the bus up to Ravello. Our Ravello trip turned out to be an all day event, so we were glad we saved the time to go that day. The downside was that it was a little cloudy and hazy up there, so while the views were still amazing, I think they could have been better if it was clearer. By the time we were ready to leave though, it had cleared up a lot. Our first stop was Villa Rufulo. Beautiful gardens and views here. We enjoyed the visit, but found Villa Cimbrone to have even better views and gardens. Although Villa Cimbrone is a bit of a walk to get there, it’s totally worth it. And if you only have time to visit one, go to Villa Cimbrone. It was just one gorgeous vista after another. After the villa visits we just explored the town and the churches and had a late lunch. Ravello was my favorite place that we visited on the trip. It was just so serene and beautiful there. And we somehow missed most of the crowds that day—much fewer people than in Amalfi and Positano.
Positano/Amalfi Coast Tips-
Positano was pretty crowded with tour groups and day trippers during the day. I’d suggest trying to get out and about in the mornings and evenings for a more pleasant experience for exploring the town.
Buses- We did not realize that there are two separate bus companies—the bus that takes you to Amalfi and other towns is a different company from the bus that takes you to different stops in Positano and their tickets are not interchangeable. Don’t buy the full day passes, just get single tickets—because you have to take quite a few bus trips to make it worth it. Also be prepared for the busses to not exactly be on schedule and crowded.
Take the ferry to Amalfi! We took the bus the first time, and there was a strike going on which backed up traffic. It took about 2 hours to get to Amalfi from Positano. The bus was also pretty crowded and not exactly comfortable. On our way back from Amalfi, we took the ferry and it was a much more pleasant experience. The ferry was not crowded at all and afforded beautiful views from the water. A little more expensive than the bus, but totally worth it to us. We went back to Amalfi the next day to visit Ravello and made sure to take the ferry instead of the bus over.
Go to Ravello on a clear day—we still had beautiful views even though it was a bit cloudy. But it would have been magnificent if it had been a clear day.
Explore- Definitely take the time to explore the towns—walk up small side streets—you never know what beautiful and interesting things you might find!
Restaurants in and around Positano- One thing to keep in mind is that most restaurants on the Amalfi Coast and in Capri charge a cover just to sit at the table (even if you’re ordering food and drink). This seemed to range from one to three euro per person.
Bruno’s- very close to our hotel. I had delicious gnocchi with parmesan, mozzarella and tomato. My husband had pasta with onion, egg and bacon which he also said was delicious.
Bar Mulino- right in town, we had an inexpensive lunch here. My husband had the small calzone with ham and ricotta and a slice of pizza and I had a ham and mozzarella sandwich. All were good. We did not really like the ambience here though—they were playing Beyonce (who I actually usually like, but not expecting to hear in a restaurant in Italy).
La Tagliata- This was a great dining experience. The restaurant is located very high up in the mountains, so they send a van to pick you up from your hotel. I think if the evening had not been so cloudy, we would have had a great view. For 35 euro each you got a bottle of wine and a bottle of water, then tons of things to try. First course included bruschetta, mozzarella and ham, eggplant parmesan, fava beans, risotto, cauliflower and broccoli and a few other things I’m sure I forgot. Then the pasta course included gnocchi, lasagna, and tagliatelli (I think) with a citrus sauce. Next up were the grilled meats including chicken, steak, lamb and sausage, served with French fries (I thought including the French fries was a bit odd!). The dessert included chocolate mousse, and two types of cake. Finally we were given a shot of limoncello. This was way too much food, so make sure you come hungry, but it was fun to try some different things.
Il Choistro (in Amalfi)- I had margarita pizza and my husband had the four cheese pizza. Both were good, but they overcharged us for one of the pizzas. It was only two euros difference and we really didn’t feel like arguing about it, so we just let it go. But I wouldn’t go back there just because of that.
Il Saraceno D’Oro- We really liked our waiter here. He was friendly and funny. We were taking some photos and he came over and offered to take one of both of us. Then he brought a basket of large lemons to put on the table to add a little color to our pictures I guess! We had an appetizer a fried stuff- zucchini, mozzarella, potato, and mushrooms and it was delicious. I had a calzone with ham and cheese—it was very good, and huge, but it was cold in the middle. That was ok, because it was big enough that I just ate the ends of it and was satisfied. My husband had a seafood salad and Sicilian penne and enjoyed them both.
Ristorante Vittoria (in Ravello)- My favorite pizza of the trip! I had the margarita pizza. It kind of reminded me of Bertucci’s which is my favorite pizza in the United States—but this one was much, much better. My husband had pasta with clams and enjoyed it.
Next 2- My favorite meal of the trip. They brought out a complimentary appetizer of bruschetta with tuna. I am not a fan of tuna, but my husband enjoyed it. I had ravioli for my meal and it was so, so wonderful. I think it had smoked mozzarella in it, so it was a little different than others I had on the trip. My husband had fish carpaccio as his first course, then the catch of the day for the second course. He enjoyed the meal as well, although I don’t think it was his favorite of the trip.
Capri
We took the ferry from Positano to Capri. We used porters to get our luggage to the ferry port in Positano and also from the ferry port in Capri to our hotel. I highly recommend this if you have bulky luggage. Expensive, but worth it to us. The ferry ride took less than an hour and was pretty smooth. When we arrived in Capri, the crowds were a bit overwhelming. I thought Positano was crowded during the day, but Capri was much worse! Lines for funicular tickets and to get on the funicular to get up to Capri town were crazy.
La Minerva
This was our favorite hotel of the trip. When we walked here from the town center for the first time, we took the long way to avoid the steps. After that, we took the steps and the route was much shorter. We loved the location of the hotel—far enough away from the town center that it was away from the crowds and in a serene environment, but close enough to quickly walk to town for activities and dinner. It is also a very small hotel, I think it only has 12 rooms. We only saw a couple of other guests at the pool and at breakfast during our stay.
The front desk staff was very friendly and helpful. The waiter at lunch and breakfast was very enthusiastic and did a great job. The pool was nice and empty (but a bit cold at the end of May). The views from the lobby and the breakfast terrace were beautiful—sea views through large trees.
We enjoyed lunch here one day by the pool- I had spaghetti with tomato and my husband had spaghetti with tomato and prawns—tasted fresh and delicious! The breakfast was also good. Such a nice view from the breakfast terrace too. They had meats, cheeses, breads and pastries (probably my favorite breakfast of the trip). You could also order eggs at no additional charge—one day I had scrambled eggs; and my husband had delicious eggs benedict each day.
Now for the best part, the room. We had a superior room and it was wonderful. Very spacious room, the most comfortable bed of the trip, and beautifully decorated. The bathroom was also spacious with two sinks and lots of large fluffy towels. There were electric blinds which did a great job of blocking out the light when we wanted to sleep. The balcony was huge with very comfortable lounge chairs, shaded with a pergola and had a nice view of the sea through the trees. I spent a lot of time relaxing on that balcony.
If we ever return to Capri, we would stay here in a heartbeat!
Activities in Capri
We arrived Capri around 11 am and were luckily able to check into our hotel early. We checked in, had lunch at the hotel and then went out to explore Capri town. We visited the Augustus Gardens which were very pretty and had beautiful views of the Faraglioni Rocks. We then walked up the Punta Tragara. This was a beautiful walk to admire the high end villas and beautiful bougainvillea around every corner. There were also beautiful views along the way. Then you ended at a gorgeous viewpoint of the rocks at the end of the walk. My husband walked down to the beach to check it out and I just sat on a bench in the shade and took in the views. My bum foot probably could have made it down to the beach, but I don’t think I would have made it back up!
On our first full day we took a 2 hour group boat trip around the island. I would have liked to have done a private gozzo boat, but I just couldn’t justify the cost. I thought the group boat trip was nice and a good value. The views from the water were gorgeous and a nice compliment to the views we experienced from the island. We also had a stop at the Blue Grotto, and even though there were tons of boats around and people waiting to get in, we were able to get in there pretty quickly. The blue colors of the water were unbelievable! And the singing of the boatmen in the grotto just added to the ambiance. I personally loved the Blue Grotto experience and thought it was worth it, but my husband did not feel it was worth the cost. (the blue grotto was optional and an additional cost to the main boat ride).
After the boat ride we went back to Capri town and explored a bit before heading back to relax on our wonderful hotel balcony. While I relaxed, my husband took the hike to Villa Jovis. He really enjoyed it and thought it was worth the hike.
Our next full day was spent in Anacapri. We took the bus and were lucky to get seats as it ended up being jampacked. Our first stop was to take the chairlift to Mount Solaro. I really enjoyed this and the views going up were great. Unfortunately, when we made it up to the top, we were in a large cloud and there were only views from one side. I still thought it was worth it for the experience though.
After taking the chairlift back down, we took the walk to Villa San Michele. I highly recommend this! Gorgeous place and the views were even more gorgeous! We spent a lot of time here just taking in the views. We then explored the streets of Anacapri and visited two of the churches.
Capri Tips
If you’re going to take the bus to Anacapri, and you happen to be there early when the bus arrives the terminal, get on as soon as it gets there and just wait until the driver returns and gets going. The buses are small and get packed, and we were able to get a seat on the way up because we happened to get there just as the bus arrived.
Same as I mentioned in the Amalfi Coast—explore the towns and walk up side streets because you never know what you’ll find.
Restaurants
La Minerva- we had a “light lunch” at our hotel by the pool. I had spaghetti with tomato and my husband had spaghetti with tomato and prawns. Fresh and delicious!
Ai Faraglioni- We enjoyed this restaurant and the waiters were very friendly. I had roasted chicken and oven baked potatoes which were good. My husband had the steak tar tar, which they made tableside-- he has always wanted to try it and he thought it was great. I, on the other hand, didn’t want to think about him eating raw meat, and did my best not to watch him eat it!
La Cisterna- located in a tunnel passageway, we happened upon this restaurant when we were looking for Da Gemma (which was closed that day). The owner of the restaurant was an interesting character. We had the mozzarella in carrozza (which I thought was delicious) as an appetizer, then split a margarita pizza. The pizza tasted a bit like NY style pizza, so my husband really liked it. I thought it was just ok. Funny, they had bottles of wine on the table and pictured on the wine bottles was the owner shirtless basking on the beach/rocks. However, I would not recommend this restaurant. They charge a bit less if you pay cash. We did not come across this in any other restaurants though. When it came time to pay the bill, they just write it on a piece of paper, and I think they rounded everything up. We ended up paying around 35 euros for one margarita pizza, a mozzarella appetizer, a water and a coke- not exactly the prices on the menu! We definitely had more expensive meals on Capri, but got more for our money elsewhere.
Pulalli Wine Bar- Nice view from the top of the clock tower—definitely get a table outside if you can. The restaurant has a somewhat small menu, but was reasonably priced for Capri. We had croquettes as an appetizer-- they were not very good and cold in the middle. I had ravioli which was good but nothing special and my husband had spaghetti with clams which he thought was great.
Il Saraceno Di Cafiero (in Anacapri)—We both had pizza here, I had margarita pizza and my husband had pizza with eggplant. Both were good.
Il Geranio—this restaurant had a great ambiance, up on a hill with a nice view of the Faraglioni Rocks. We had zucchini fritte as an appetizer which I really liked, but my husband just thought was ok. For my meal I had brick chicken and baked potatoes. My husband had spaghetti with clam sauce. Both were good, but nothing special.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/...hotos-_-Sharee
Rome
Hotel 47
We stayed in a standard room on the first floor. The room was modern (albeit small) and the bed was comfortable (bed not as hard as I expected, but not particularly soft either). The room was a little loud from street noise, so I’d suggest requesting a room on a higher floor if that might bother you. It didn’t bother us enough to request another room—we were so tired from sightseeing each day that we slept very well. There were electric blinds that did a great job of keeping the room dark and kept out a lot of the street noise. The bathroom was nice with a large shower with rainfall shower head.
We enjoyed the breakfast buffet (it was my husband’s favorite of the trip). I enjoyed the focaccia bread and my husband enjoyed the doughnuts the most. We also had drinks one night at the rooftop bar—expensive- but the drinks were good and the view was nice.
I thought the reception employees were friendly and helpful. They made a dinner reservation for us and were a big help with figuring out the buses.
Free internet was included in our rate, but we didn’t have a 3 pronged adapter, so couldn’t charge the laptop. They did have two computers to use in the lobby—but they were very slow, and one of them had no mouse. We alerted the front desk about the missing mouse, but I guess they didn’t have an extra one to replace it with.
I thought the location of the hotel was great. Close to ancient Rome and walking distance to many of the sites. There was a bus stop next door to the hotel which we took to the Vatican and the Catacombs. We also took the bus back to the hotel a couple times when we were just tired of walking.
Activities in Rome
I had been to Rome a few times before, but my husband had never been. We spent most of our time visiting the most popular, must see tourist sites. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, because I realized how much of my previous visits I didn’t remember (since it had been 12 years!).
We did not arrive our hotel in Rome until about 5 pm and were exhausted from our trip. We were hungry so went to the first restaurant we saw (big mistake!). After dinner, we walked around a little, then went back to the hotel to go to sleep early.
On our first full day we walked through the Circus Maximus surrounded by hundreds (maybe a couple thousand) of people who were doing the Susan G Komen walk. That was an interesting site and I didn’t know they had those internationally.
Next we visited the Colosseum. Unfortunately it was Sunday and very crowded. I knew that we should have purchased the Roma Pass before going to the Colosseum, because we’d be able to skip the line. But since it was Sunday the travel agencies were closed so we couldn’t purchase it ahead of time. So we waited in the line for about an hour to get in. So I suggest buying the Roma Pass first thing to avoid this. Next up was the Palatine Hill and the Forum. There was not much of a line here and we walked right in.
After lunch we stopped by the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain—but it had begun pouring down rain and of course I didn’t have my rain jacket with me. We bought cheap umbrellas from the street vendors, but decided to take the bus back to the hotel after a gelato stop.
Our next day was devoted to the Vatican. First stop was the Vatican Museum. I have never been anywhere so crowded in my life. It was so jampacked that it was just not enjoyable at all. We really could not appreciate it with all the hoards of people around. Plus, it took us longer to get in that I thought it would (3 hour line), so we were trying to rush through it so we could make our scheduled Scavi tour. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful, but again, it was just too crowded to enjoy it.
Luckily, we made the Scavi tour with about 15 minutes to spare. One tip is to leave through the guide exit of the Sistine Chapel—this put you out just by the entrance where the Swiss guards are to get to the Scavi office. The Scavi tour was quite the opposite of the Vatican Museum experience—it was a highlight of our stay in Rome. We were in a small group (about 10 people), and our guide was very enthusiastic. It was well worth it. If you want to do it, you must contact the Vatican months in advance because it’s very popular, and they only allow a limited number of tours each day. We booked our tickets in February for our May visit.
On our last day in Rome, we took the bus to the Catacombs of St. Callixtus. It was nice because our tour group was small and the catacombs were not crowded with tour groups like I thought it might be. It probably helped that we arrived pretty early in the morning. It was an interesting tour and worth the trip out there, but I enjoyed the Scavi tour more.
Next we went back to Rome to just walk around. We went to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, then back to the Trevi Fountain to get some pictures since when we went the other day it was raining. We also visited the Capitoline Museum and a few churches.
The Roma pass gave us free bus rides for 3 days. We did notice that hardly anyone ever paid for the bus though—apparently they just do spot checks occasionally and if you don’t have a pass or a ticket on you, you could be fined. If you plan to use the bus a lot, I’d suggest getting a bus map. There were a couple of times that we had trouble figuring out which bus stop was close to certain sites.
Restaurants in Rome
Mad Jack’s—we went here on our arrival evening. We were hungry and went to the first restaurant we saw. It was ok, but nothing special—I wouldn’t recommend it. I had margarita pizza and my husband had pasta with walnut cream sauce. In hindsight, we should have kept looking for restaurants as there were many other good ones nearby. We didn’t even know the name of it was Mad Jack’s until after we sat down—if we had seen that we probably wouldn’t have sat down in the first place!
Angelino Ai Fiori- Although this looked like a pretty touristy restaurant, it had some great pizza! I had the four cheese and my husband had artichoke pizza. It was my husband’s favorite pizza of the trip and my second favorite. I thought our waiter was pretty funny too—my husband was trying to pronounce something in Italian, and butchered it. And the waiter looked at him and said no, no, no, Italian is a beautiful language!
Asino Cotto- I had the filet mignon parmesan style with potatoes and my husband had sea bass ceviche and gnocchi Roman style. All were delicious.
Café Risorgimento (?)- I had ravioli and my husband had spaghetti. Both were ok, but nothing special.
Il Portico- We loved this restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. It had a nice ambience and delicious food. The tables were pretty close together, but that fostered us to talk to our neighbors and get some great tips! We had an appetizer of the mozzarella fritte. I had tortellini and my husband had pasta with mushrooms. We also had a half carafe of delicious house white wine.
Nonna Betta- another great restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. I had lasagna and my husband had pumpkin fritters with couscous and pasta with sea bass.
There were a couple more restaurants, but I can’t remember their names or much about them, so I don’t think they were very good!
Rome to Pompeii to Positano
We took the 9 am high speed train from Termini to Naples. I had prearranged a driver with Sorrento Cars to pick us up from the Naples Train Station, drop us off at Pompeii for 3.5 hours, then take us to our hotel in Positano. The driver was waiting right by our train with a sign with our name on it. He was friendly, spoke English well and the van was comfortable. He wasn’t much of a tour guide, but that’s not what we were paying for so, no complaints. Their price was much better than other quotes I had received (120 euros) for this trip. I would highly recommend this, even to just not have to deal with the luggage so much! Also, if you’re planning to visit Pompeii from Positano, I think this is the way to do it. Then you are not backtracking, nor paying for additional transportation to get to and from Pompeii from Positano.
Pompeii- We used the audio guide in Pompeii. In hindsight, I wish we would have gotten a tour guide. We spent too much time looking for where we needed to be for the audio guide. Pompeii is a great site and I enjoyed it. I had always wanted to visit, but for some reason it just wasn’t as wonderful as I was expecting. Maybe I’d feel differently if we had a tour guide. But if you are interested in history, I would still recommend a visit. Also, I twisted my foot about halfway through our time in Pompeii, so that may have affected my reaction to it. (Could there be a worse time to twist your foot, when you are about to visit Positano and Capri—which are worlds of steep hills and steps!?)
Positano
Marincanto Hotel
We really enjoyed this hotel. The views were magnificent. Actually, I don’t think I have ever stayed in a hotel that had as beautiful views as the Marincanto. We were in room #228, which was in the lower part of the hotel, but still had wonderful views from our small balcony (I think our balcony was one of the smaller ones in the hotel, but that was ok). The front view from our balcony was a view over the sundeck to the blue sea (and lots of boats moored), and the side view was of the town and beach. The room was spacious and comfortable, but not particularly luxurious. The bed was pretty comfortable, but a bit on the hard side as I expected it to be. The bathroom was quite spacious. We did have a problem with the refrigerator leaking all over the floor one day because the master power switch in the room had been turned off. I’m not sure if the staff turned it off, or if my husband did. But it was never explained to us that there was a master switch—actually no one ever went over the features of the room once we were in it. If they had, I’m sure we would have steered clear of that master switch.
The breakfast was good with lots of choices of breads, meats, cheeses and pastries. If you wanted scrambled eggs it was an extra charge. We also had lunch there on our first day. I had some delicious ravioli and my husband had risotto. After the meal they gave complimentary chocolate mousse which was a nice treat. Surprisingly, it wasn’t anymore expensive than the restaurants in town.
There is a small but refreshing pool. Also a sundeck with lots of chairs and umbrellas, along with chairs on a lawn below, and even more chairs on the “beach” for rental (actually on the rocks). The beach chairs were part of a beach club and hotel guests received a discount at the club.
Even though the hotel was fully booked, we never saw many people around. This was a great respite from the crowds in Positano town. The hotel was also in a great location- high enough up for a great view, but just a short walk into town. There was also a bus stop very close by which was convenient.
Activities in and around Positano
As I mentioned before, I twisted my foot in Pompeii and I was in a lot of pain by the time we arrived our hotel in Positano. I mostly relaxed in the room and enjoyed the gorgeous view from the balcony of our room.
On our first full day, we still took it pretty easy and I walked as much as I could handle. I didn’t want my foot to get in the way of all the things I wanted to see and do on this vacation. I probably walked on it more than I should have, but took it easier than I had planned (for instance we did not walk to path of the gods like I wanted to). We just explored the town. There were so many picture perfect views in Positano that I found myself stopping every couple of minutes to take photos! We walked through the gardens of the Palazzo Murat, which I highly recommend.
The next day we took the bus to Amalfi. We went to the maritime museum, visited the Duomo—there was a wedding there so that was fun to watch, and just explored the town. We had originally planned to go up to Ravello that day as well, but decided to save Ravello for the next day and walk to Atrani instead. The traffic was still backed up from the strike—with cars completely stopped and people getting out of their cars and just standing around. We got to Atrani faster than the people with cars! It was a nice scenic walk along the water and the town was enjoyable to visit.
The next day we took the ferry back to Amalfi, then took the bus up to Ravello. Our Ravello trip turned out to be an all day event, so we were glad we saved the time to go that day. The downside was that it was a little cloudy and hazy up there, so while the views were still amazing, I think they could have been better if it was clearer. By the time we were ready to leave though, it had cleared up a lot. Our first stop was Villa Rufulo. Beautiful gardens and views here. We enjoyed the visit, but found Villa Cimbrone to have even better views and gardens. Although Villa Cimbrone is a bit of a walk to get there, it’s totally worth it. And if you only have time to visit one, go to Villa Cimbrone. It was just one gorgeous vista after another. After the villa visits we just explored the town and the churches and had a late lunch. Ravello was my favorite place that we visited on the trip. It was just so serene and beautiful there. And we somehow missed most of the crowds that day—much fewer people than in Amalfi and Positano.
Positano/Amalfi Coast Tips-
Positano was pretty crowded with tour groups and day trippers during the day. I’d suggest trying to get out and about in the mornings and evenings for a more pleasant experience for exploring the town.
Buses- We did not realize that there are two separate bus companies—the bus that takes you to Amalfi and other towns is a different company from the bus that takes you to different stops in Positano and their tickets are not interchangeable. Don’t buy the full day passes, just get single tickets—because you have to take quite a few bus trips to make it worth it. Also be prepared for the busses to not exactly be on schedule and crowded.
Take the ferry to Amalfi! We took the bus the first time, and there was a strike going on which backed up traffic. It took about 2 hours to get to Amalfi from Positano. The bus was also pretty crowded and not exactly comfortable. On our way back from Amalfi, we took the ferry and it was a much more pleasant experience. The ferry was not crowded at all and afforded beautiful views from the water. A little more expensive than the bus, but totally worth it to us. We went back to Amalfi the next day to visit Ravello and made sure to take the ferry instead of the bus over.
Go to Ravello on a clear day—we still had beautiful views even though it was a bit cloudy. But it would have been magnificent if it had been a clear day.
Explore- Definitely take the time to explore the towns—walk up small side streets—you never know what beautiful and interesting things you might find!
Restaurants in and around Positano- One thing to keep in mind is that most restaurants on the Amalfi Coast and in Capri charge a cover just to sit at the table (even if you’re ordering food and drink). This seemed to range from one to three euro per person.
Bruno’s- very close to our hotel. I had delicious gnocchi with parmesan, mozzarella and tomato. My husband had pasta with onion, egg and bacon which he also said was delicious.
Bar Mulino- right in town, we had an inexpensive lunch here. My husband had the small calzone with ham and ricotta and a slice of pizza and I had a ham and mozzarella sandwich. All were good. We did not really like the ambience here though—they were playing Beyonce (who I actually usually like, but not expecting to hear in a restaurant in Italy).
La Tagliata- This was a great dining experience. The restaurant is located very high up in the mountains, so they send a van to pick you up from your hotel. I think if the evening had not been so cloudy, we would have had a great view. For 35 euro each you got a bottle of wine and a bottle of water, then tons of things to try. First course included bruschetta, mozzarella and ham, eggplant parmesan, fava beans, risotto, cauliflower and broccoli and a few other things I’m sure I forgot. Then the pasta course included gnocchi, lasagna, and tagliatelli (I think) with a citrus sauce. Next up were the grilled meats including chicken, steak, lamb and sausage, served with French fries (I thought including the French fries was a bit odd!). The dessert included chocolate mousse, and two types of cake. Finally we were given a shot of limoncello. This was way too much food, so make sure you come hungry, but it was fun to try some different things.
Il Choistro (in Amalfi)- I had margarita pizza and my husband had the four cheese pizza. Both were good, but they overcharged us for one of the pizzas. It was only two euros difference and we really didn’t feel like arguing about it, so we just let it go. But I wouldn’t go back there just because of that.
Il Saraceno D’Oro- We really liked our waiter here. He was friendly and funny. We were taking some photos and he came over and offered to take one of both of us. Then he brought a basket of large lemons to put on the table to add a little color to our pictures I guess! We had an appetizer a fried stuff- zucchini, mozzarella, potato, and mushrooms and it was delicious. I had a calzone with ham and cheese—it was very good, and huge, but it was cold in the middle. That was ok, because it was big enough that I just ate the ends of it and was satisfied. My husband had a seafood salad and Sicilian penne and enjoyed them both.
Ristorante Vittoria (in Ravello)- My favorite pizza of the trip! I had the margarita pizza. It kind of reminded me of Bertucci’s which is my favorite pizza in the United States—but this one was much, much better. My husband had pasta with clams and enjoyed it.
Next 2- My favorite meal of the trip. They brought out a complimentary appetizer of bruschetta with tuna. I am not a fan of tuna, but my husband enjoyed it. I had ravioli for my meal and it was so, so wonderful. I think it had smoked mozzarella in it, so it was a little different than others I had on the trip. My husband had fish carpaccio as his first course, then the catch of the day for the second course. He enjoyed the meal as well, although I don’t think it was his favorite of the trip.
Capri
We took the ferry from Positano to Capri. We used porters to get our luggage to the ferry port in Positano and also from the ferry port in Capri to our hotel. I highly recommend this if you have bulky luggage. Expensive, but worth it to us. The ferry ride took less than an hour and was pretty smooth. When we arrived in Capri, the crowds were a bit overwhelming. I thought Positano was crowded during the day, but Capri was much worse! Lines for funicular tickets and to get on the funicular to get up to Capri town were crazy.
La Minerva
This was our favorite hotel of the trip. When we walked here from the town center for the first time, we took the long way to avoid the steps. After that, we took the steps and the route was much shorter. We loved the location of the hotel—far enough away from the town center that it was away from the crowds and in a serene environment, but close enough to quickly walk to town for activities and dinner. It is also a very small hotel, I think it only has 12 rooms. We only saw a couple of other guests at the pool and at breakfast during our stay.
The front desk staff was very friendly and helpful. The waiter at lunch and breakfast was very enthusiastic and did a great job. The pool was nice and empty (but a bit cold at the end of May). The views from the lobby and the breakfast terrace were beautiful—sea views through large trees.
We enjoyed lunch here one day by the pool- I had spaghetti with tomato and my husband had spaghetti with tomato and prawns—tasted fresh and delicious! The breakfast was also good. Such a nice view from the breakfast terrace too. They had meats, cheeses, breads and pastries (probably my favorite breakfast of the trip). You could also order eggs at no additional charge—one day I had scrambled eggs; and my husband had delicious eggs benedict each day.
Now for the best part, the room. We had a superior room and it was wonderful. Very spacious room, the most comfortable bed of the trip, and beautifully decorated. The bathroom was also spacious with two sinks and lots of large fluffy towels. There were electric blinds which did a great job of blocking out the light when we wanted to sleep. The balcony was huge with very comfortable lounge chairs, shaded with a pergola and had a nice view of the sea through the trees. I spent a lot of time relaxing on that balcony.
If we ever return to Capri, we would stay here in a heartbeat!
Activities in Capri
We arrived Capri around 11 am and were luckily able to check into our hotel early. We checked in, had lunch at the hotel and then went out to explore Capri town. We visited the Augustus Gardens which were very pretty and had beautiful views of the Faraglioni Rocks. We then walked up the Punta Tragara. This was a beautiful walk to admire the high end villas and beautiful bougainvillea around every corner. There were also beautiful views along the way. Then you ended at a gorgeous viewpoint of the rocks at the end of the walk. My husband walked down to the beach to check it out and I just sat on a bench in the shade and took in the views. My bum foot probably could have made it down to the beach, but I don’t think I would have made it back up!
On our first full day we took a 2 hour group boat trip around the island. I would have liked to have done a private gozzo boat, but I just couldn’t justify the cost. I thought the group boat trip was nice and a good value. The views from the water were gorgeous and a nice compliment to the views we experienced from the island. We also had a stop at the Blue Grotto, and even though there were tons of boats around and people waiting to get in, we were able to get in there pretty quickly. The blue colors of the water were unbelievable! And the singing of the boatmen in the grotto just added to the ambiance. I personally loved the Blue Grotto experience and thought it was worth it, but my husband did not feel it was worth the cost. (the blue grotto was optional and an additional cost to the main boat ride).
After the boat ride we went back to Capri town and explored a bit before heading back to relax on our wonderful hotel balcony. While I relaxed, my husband took the hike to Villa Jovis. He really enjoyed it and thought it was worth the hike.
Our next full day was spent in Anacapri. We took the bus and were lucky to get seats as it ended up being jampacked. Our first stop was to take the chairlift to Mount Solaro. I really enjoyed this and the views going up were great. Unfortunately, when we made it up to the top, we were in a large cloud and there were only views from one side. I still thought it was worth it for the experience though.
After taking the chairlift back down, we took the walk to Villa San Michele. I highly recommend this! Gorgeous place and the views were even more gorgeous! We spent a lot of time here just taking in the views. We then explored the streets of Anacapri and visited two of the churches.
Capri Tips
If you’re going to take the bus to Anacapri, and you happen to be there early when the bus arrives the terminal, get on as soon as it gets there and just wait until the driver returns and gets going. The buses are small and get packed, and we were able to get a seat on the way up because we happened to get there just as the bus arrived.
Same as I mentioned in the Amalfi Coast—explore the towns and walk up side streets because you never know what you’ll find.
Restaurants
La Minerva- we had a “light lunch” at our hotel by the pool. I had spaghetti with tomato and my husband had spaghetti with tomato and prawns. Fresh and delicious!
Ai Faraglioni- We enjoyed this restaurant and the waiters were very friendly. I had roasted chicken and oven baked potatoes which were good. My husband had the steak tar tar, which they made tableside-- he has always wanted to try it and he thought it was great. I, on the other hand, didn’t want to think about him eating raw meat, and did my best not to watch him eat it!
La Cisterna- located in a tunnel passageway, we happened upon this restaurant when we were looking for Da Gemma (which was closed that day). The owner of the restaurant was an interesting character. We had the mozzarella in carrozza (which I thought was delicious) as an appetizer, then split a margarita pizza. The pizza tasted a bit like NY style pizza, so my husband really liked it. I thought it was just ok. Funny, they had bottles of wine on the table and pictured on the wine bottles was the owner shirtless basking on the beach/rocks. However, I would not recommend this restaurant. They charge a bit less if you pay cash. We did not come across this in any other restaurants though. When it came time to pay the bill, they just write it on a piece of paper, and I think they rounded everything up. We ended up paying around 35 euros for one margarita pizza, a mozzarella appetizer, a water and a coke- not exactly the prices on the menu! We definitely had more expensive meals on Capri, but got more for our money elsewhere.
Pulalli Wine Bar- Nice view from the top of the clock tower—definitely get a table outside if you can. The restaurant has a somewhat small menu, but was reasonably priced for Capri. We had croquettes as an appetizer-- they were not very good and cold in the middle. I had ravioli which was good but nothing special and my husband had spaghetti with clams which he thought was great.
Il Saraceno Di Cafiero (in Anacapri)—We both had pizza here, I had margarita pizza and my husband had pizza with eggplant. Both were good.
Il Geranio—this restaurant had a great ambiance, up on a hill with a nice view of the Faraglioni Rocks. We had zucchini fritte as an appetizer which I really liked, but my husband just thought was ok. For my meal I had brick chicken and baked potatoes. My husband had spaghetti with clam sauce. Both were good, but nothing special.
Jun 19th, 2011 | 03:14 PM
#6
Joined: May 2011
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Thanks for the tips! I am going in 6 days!!!! Question? Did you leave your luggage with the driver while you were in Pompeii? Was it 120Euro for the whole trip....pick up, to Pompeii, waiting 3.5 hrs, and then to Positano? Do you have the contact info for this company? Ok, that was more than 1 question...Sorry
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Jun 21st, 2011 | 03:27 PM
#8
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 204
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Jynx, hope I'm not too late! Yes, we left our luggage with our driver while we were in Pompeii and it was 120 euros for the whole trip. I have heard that they may have increased their prices though. When I was getting quotes, the next closest price I think was 160 euros for the same trip. Here's the website for the company we used-
http://www.sorrentocars.com/
Hope you have a great trip!
http://www.sorrentocars.com/
Hope you have a great trip!
Jun 28th, 2011 | 11:55 AM
#13
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,396
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I spent 2 full days in Ravello earlier this month, and I really never saw any crowds. Occasionally there'd be a brief rush of people when a tour bus arrived, but they dispersed quickly.
Ravello is not a convenient place to be if you're planning on day trips to different towns along the coast. But it is a charming and relaxing place to spend a few days, wandering around the streets and enjoying the spectacular views.
Ravello is not a convenient place to be if you're planning on day trips to different towns along the coast. But it is a charming and relaxing place to spend a few days, wandering around the streets and enjoying the spectacular views.
Jun 28th, 2011 | 04:56 PM
#14
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Joined: Mar 2005
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We were in Positano May 25-29 and Capri May 29-Jun 1. Yes, they were both very crowded. But we were usually able to find quieter areas with less crowds(especially on Capri if you just go a little bit out of the main town square areas). But we also usually travel to less touristy places so a crowd to me may not be as much of a crowd to you. However, both Capri and Positano were totally worth visiting despite the crowds! Also the tour groups are not around in the mornings and evenings so much, so make you get out during those times.
Actually we did not find Ravello very crowded, but I agree with the previous poster that if you're planning day trips that would not be the best place to stay. But it was our favorite place that we visited on the trip.
We were very happy we chose to stay in Positano and I would recommend it as a base.
Actually we did not find Ravello very crowded, but I agree with the previous poster that if you're planning day trips that would not be the best place to stay. But it was our favorite place that we visited on the trip.
We were very happy we chose to stay in Positano and I would recommend it as a base.
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