Hi all!

I went to Sorrento, Italy in mid-July for 10 days and I started writing a trip report and I got side-tracked...Sorry for the delay!!

It's pouring rain here in NY and I was thinking of beautiful Sorrento and then realized what I forgot to do!! To share what I did and thank you all so much for your help in my pre-planning for the trip. And I did get to Rome for the day so I was happy about that!!

First, I do have to share about the one bad experience which happened in Naples. We knew not to where jewelry, but my friend had a Rolex watch that she had never taken off in 20 years and unfortunately she got mugged in the street by this young guy who looked maybe 18 years old and he was a big guy. It was that element of surprise where he had the advantage. We tried to get him off of her, but he wouldn't let go until he got the watch. I pushed his arm and it was as solid as a rock and my other friend was hitting him with a water bottle which when you think about our efforts it was kind of comical. This all happened in a few minutes and then he walked over to a motor scooter where his friend was waiting in the side street and he turned and looked around and then they drove off. This happened in the old city. There were a couple of people who tried to help after and called the police who came rather quickly. We went in the police car to the station and waited to fill out a report. I'll tell you more about the trip later on in this report...but thought I should share this first...If you go to the old city in Naples, just be careful...and go with a big group!

FLIGHT NY TO NAPLES:
I went with my two friends leaving from JKF, NY and flew directly to Naples on EUROFLY Airlines. This airline flies 3 times a week directly to Naples, I believe beginning in June through August? The plane was nice, except that my seat didn't have a button to push the seat back...that made it a very long and uncomfortable ride. But they did come and tell me that there were some seats in the back that did work so I did find one and got some sleep

TRANSPORTATION NAPLES TO SORRENTO:
We were torn between how to get to the hotel by either taking the bus, train or ferry from Naples to Sorrento and decided beforehand to order a car service from the hotel to pick us up to take us to the hotel directly which was well worth it! It was 107E one way, plus tip. And we took it back to the airport too!

HOTEL IN SORRENTO:
The hotel we stayed in was the Imperial Hotel Tramontano which was lovely. We all shared a room which was big enough for three and our room faced the Gulf of Naples AND we had central air conditioning. Our room had a tiny balcony which was big enough to step out and take in the beautiful views of the beach below and the sunsets that sets between Capri and Ischia. The hotel has a terrace where you can dine and catch the magnificent views (We actually never got back int time for dinner, but I'm sure it was good). The breakfast which was included was awesome...a full spread of everything that you can imagine. Their website is: www.tramontano.com.

The first day we walked around Sorrento to Piazza Tasso which was the larger square and had dinner at this restaurant at sea level and sadly I can't find the card, but it was the furthest restaurant on the dock walking to the right of the hotel.

(I'm not sure what the limit is on writing here, but I think I must have passed it because half of what I wrote just disappeared






SORRENTO TO POMPEII:
It was really easy to travel from Sorrento. We walked to the train station and the cost for a roundtrip to Pompeii Scava station was 2.70E. We got a guide there at the entrance who was wonderful. The cost was 10.00E. They put together a group of about 10 english speaking people which had its benefits because we could see more in the time we had because he didn't have to translate into many other languages which I never would have thought of...The tour was a few hours and then we went out on our own which was fun. Even with the map, we got a little lost and found ourselves at times walking in circles. I learned a lot that day of what had happened.

That night, we had dinner in Sorrento at Vela Bianca which offered complimentary car service that picked us up and dropped us off. The seafood was delicious. Our waitor had mentioned that the restaurant was one of Sophia Loren's favorites and there are pictures of her all across the walls.

After dinner we went to Piazza Tasso and had after dinner drinks at the Fauno Bar.

SORRENTO TO CAPRI:
We took the hydrofoil to Capri which was about 21.00E for a round trip. We were packed pretty tight on that hydrofoil so it was a good thing that the ride wasn't too long. I was in the back smushed up against the outside wall holding on with dear life

When we got off at the pier, we walked and saw this cute little sign that said town center pointing up...For those of you that have been there before...Are you laughing yet? We thought it was right there. Well, this was the longest, steepest climb that seemed to be endless We finally made it up to a street and asked someone how do we get to the town and they said there was a bus stop at the corner. We liked the sound of that and happily waited for the bus. So the bus came and it was not too much further. We walked around and tried to find this church we wanted to see and when we got there, it just closed. We walked around some more and went to the gardens that my friends wanted to see. I was happy to sit under a palm tree on a cute little park bench and enjoy the view of the bay. I just saw the first level which was fine. We had lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants...and then took the finacular(SP?) back down...That would have been nice to have taken up!....

A round of applause, for NYC_05...

Best wishes,

Rex

SORRENTO TO POSITANO, AMALFI AND RAVELLO IN ONE DAY:
We took the bus from Sorrento and bought all our tickets at the start of the trip in Sorrento. (Sorrento to Positano (1.30E), Positano to Amalifi (1.30), Amalfi to Ravello (1.00E) and then Ravello to Amalfi (1.00E) and Amalfi to Sorrento (2.40E).)

This was the most awesome ride. We sat on the right of the bus going up and then the left side going back…Well it didn’t really matter coming back because of our timing! Tell you about that in a moment.

Positano was as beautiful as people have said. One thing about this area, lots of walking!! We arrived in Positano and walked down, easy We made it down to the beach and wished we had time to spend the day at the beach because it really was a sandy beach. The one at the base of our hotel was better than we originally thought...there actually was sand, not volcanic rock so I didn't need those lovely swim shoes after all

Back to Positano...The shops were gorgeous the way some of them displayed their clothes. If I were to do it again, I would have bought my cermamics there. Their prices were competitive compared to other places we went to. I did get a deal in Sorrento for a cermamic bowl that I wanted so I was happy.

We went to the church in Positano which was beautiful. I wish I had the name, sorry. We stopped at this hotel on the way out of Positano for an iced tea, really to check out the hotel I thought I had their card and even took a picture with the menu, but the type was smaller than I thought. What a beautiful hotel...ceramic tile everywhere that was beautiful. And the view was breathtaking too from their pool. The hotel is on the right side on the way out of Positano to the bus stop...I will try to find the name and let you know...

(It's getting kind of late so I'm going to write more later....thanks

Thank you Rex

thanks, NYC.

Thanks for your report, NYC_05.

I'm so sorry that your friend lost her Rolex in Naples. Unfortunately, the Rolex is on the short list of items most coveted by street thieves, and it's a real shame your friend had to learn this first hand.

I don't own a Rolex, but I remember on my first visit to Naples, my local friend advised me "not to wear my Rolex" on the streets!.

During our excursion in Naples our small group was stopped by the tourist police who insisted on putting away all jewelry. One lady in our group apparently didn't want to go out without hers although our guide had warned us before we left our hotel. We were lucky nothing happened.

>>>>>>>> During our excursion in Naples our small group was stopped by the tourist police<<<<<<<<

I was just in Naples last month for a couploe of days, and perhaps I didn't get around enough to notice them. But what exactly are tourist police?

Those were two policemen driving through the city on a vespa, dressed like you and I but they had a badge with them to show that they were real policemen.

Apparently we were stopped because of all the gold the one woman was wearing. It was in the centro storico, in the narrow street where all the christmas decoration shops are.

thanks for posting your report NYC, it's encouraging to read how easily the public transportation was for you to use. At least it seemed to be Deborah

Hi NYC

Hope you get this message. My husband and I will be doing the same thing, that is, we are staying in Sorrento. We are intending to do the Almafi trip by bus.

I would appreciate if you could provide me details.

First, where do I get the Sita bus ticket? Which terminal in Sorrento do they stop? Do I have to get the ticket in advance?

What is the earliest time to leave Sorrento to go first to Almafi? I read that on Sunday the bus may take slow. We might be doing this trip on Sunday.

How many hours for each (Almafi, Positano and Ravello) to spend to make the most of the day trip?

Thanks,

travelhook

The Sita bus boards passengers in front of the Sorrent train station.

You can get the Sita tickets at the railstation front ticket window. You can also get them from the cigarrette/newspaper vendor on the front right-hand side of the railsatation. Not many people knew this when we were there last month as everybody were lined up at the railstation ticket window and I noticed a cardboard sign outside of the newspaper kiosk about Sita bus tickets. It was quick, painless and the same exact tickets.

About 50 minutes to Positano, another more 30 minutes to Amalfi and about 20 minutes more to Ravello.

Hi Travelhook,

(Thanks Bill_Boy for responding to the question)
I did get my bus tickets from the newspaper store to the right of the train station actually by accident. We had gone in to get phone cards and I think there was a hand written sign on his window and I asked the man and he told us he sold the bus tickets too. He was very nice and made up the different bus tickets and the return from Amalfi to Sorrento.

I looked through my papers and I couldn't find the bus schedule, sorry. I'm pretty sure we were there by 8am? Breakfast at the hotel opened at 7am. Maybe you can contact your hotel via email and they can let you know the current bus schedule ahead of time so you can plan some of your days? We spent a few hours in each place and we weren't rushing around which was nice.

DeborahAnn: Thanks for the feedback. It was pretty easy to use public transportation (with that one exception which turned out fine too)...We spent more time in Amalfi than we planned.

Bellastar: It's amazing how they can tell what is a real Rolex and a fake one...I think my friend thought they wouldn't be able to tell the difference and unfortunately they just knew.


MyriamC: Thanks for sharing about the tourist police...Maybe that's something new?

I found my map of Naples and I think the incident happened when we were on via Toledo. We had visited the Royal Palace of Naples which was beautiful and we were heading up to the Archaeological Museum stopping into shops on the way up and that's when this all happened.

If anyone is planning on going to Naples on your own via hydrofoil from Sorrento to Naples...make sure the destination is the Baverello (SP?) Port. They had dropped us off at the Borgo Mariana port. You can only go back to Sorrento from the Baverello port! And they didn't think to mention it either

Hi All!

CORRECTION ON CAR SERVICE:
I need to make a major correction on the cost of the roundtrip car service from Naples Airport - Sorrento..It wasn’t 107E one way…that was only my portion of the RT car service. We split it three ways! It was more like 320E round trip and we had to pay cash each way…We couldn’t charge it to the hotel bill. But still worth it!

Day #4 (Friday)– Positano-Amalfi-Ravello (I should have numbered my days before..sorry)

The buses were pretty much on schedule. We caught the bus from Positano to Amalifi. We got to the town and went to the Cathedral of Amalfi first. There must have been a 100 steps or maybe more to get to the church. There was an admission fee to enter. Unfortunately, my ticket stub doesn't have the fee. At first, you walk through a courtyard, then enter a small museum, and then enter the church. The Piazza Duomo Amalfi is open every day: from 9am-9pm (summer) and 10am-5pm (winter).

After that we ate a lovely restaurant on the beach called “Stella Marias.” It was the first place that had a green salad with fresh tomatoes too. I had fresh linguine with local calamari which was awesome...Actually I can't think of one meal that wasn't wherever we went When you eat there, you also have access to their beach.

After lunch, we caught the next bus to Ravello. The bus drops you off by this, small, wide tunnel that leads to the center square. We walked all around Ravello. We went to the Ravello Church, which has a small museum. It cost 2.00E to get in to see the museum and the church. We saw a wedding there too….Actually we must have seen 9 – 10 weddings when we were in Sorrento, 1 in Ravello and 1 in Naples…

We had some comical stories in Ravello of our trying to find the places ourselves that we wanted to see. We found ourselves walking in a circle. We were walking down from the Belvedere and were searching for this place. When we left there were two people walking up to the Belvedere. We followed the sign that said that the place we were looking for was down these steps…We were walking and walking and it seemed to end nowhere. Then we saw another set of steps heading up so we took that figuring it would take us to the place we wanted to go. As we were making our way up to the top, we saw those same two just strolling “down’ the steps…I thought wow they are fast walkers. We made it to the top and guess what?! We were by the Belvedere again. That’s when we broke down laughing...Great self-tour guides we were.

We had done so much walking that we didn’t get to go to the top of Ravello to a place that was supposed to be spectacular….We just couldn’t do it…We were so close too! I wish I had the names of the places to see in Ravello, but my friends do...sorry...

It was time to head back to Sorrento. As I mentioned earlier, the buses were running on schedule and it was so easy. There was this huge festival in Amalfi and because of this festival they ended up canceling the bus to Sorrento. We got off the bus twice to walk down to Amalfi figuring it would be faster, but it ended up not mattering anway because they cancelled the 6pm bus. The bus driver was funny, he picked us up when he reached us. We walked around Amalfi in the shops and it seemed more expensive than the other places we visited. We ended up catching the last bus out of town and got home around midnight….But all in all, it was a great day!

Day #5 (Saturday): SORRENTO TO NAPLES:
We took the hydrofoil to Naples which cost 7.50E each way. This hydrofoil dropped us off about 5Kilometers from the port that the boat usually drops you off (well, we didn’t know that at the time). (See my previous post for the names of the ports).

It was amazing how the weather was different just crossing the Bay of Naples…It was sunny and gorgeous in Sorrento and in Naples it was dark and cloudy. Maybe a foreshadowing of things to come…

We walked along the water where you see people sunbathing on jetty-like rocks on our way in search of the ancient city… We asked someone who told us how to go…We actually found it and went in the Royal Palace of Naples and saw a wedding at the church across from the palace. All was well…

We then walked up I believe via Toledo…street and it seemed better than I thought it would be. It kind of reminded me of downtown NYC…I felt very comfortable and safe and then the streets started to thin out….and then I got separated from my friends which was making me very uncomfortable and then I finally saw them. They were trying to be helpful to me because I was complaining how I forgot my Sharpie marker at home in NY to label my film and they stopped into a pen store hoping to find one for me…We probably gave ourselves away with raising our voices just ever so slightly“Where were you?!”….and then you know what happened next…


The more comical part of this story is that my one friend actually typed up index cards, which had phrases in English and Italian, which actually came in very handy. My Italian is more than basic, but when I saw the cards, it helped me to communicate better and then the policia were reading the cards too…so we were able to communicate somewhat…We waited and filled out the report with the report taker who was on break…and then it was time to return to Sorrento.

Now this is the funniest part…My trying to explain that we need to get to the hydrofoil to Sorrento…They wanted us to take the train, and we were not taking the train…We liked the sea with a direct route to Sorrento. I have the map in my hands showing him the port that we wanted to go to and he said that the one we want is only 200 meters from the station (Bavelleo one) and I said no, no,no,…We need to go here, pointing to the port where we arrived which was 5 kilometers from the station. They walked us out and pointed us in the right direction.

We had plenty of time until the hydrofoil left and we stopped at the Hotel Marguerita Restaurant and split a pizza (which normally they don’t like you to do there, but there were no problems there). We finally were relaxing a bit and continued walking to the port…We get there only to find out that the boat doesn’t leave from there and that the policia were right..It was 200 meters from the station and we only had a half hour if that to get there. So luckily we had our Art-E pass that we purchased at the palace museum which is a three day pass for the palace, museum, and bus that cost 13.00E which was a good deal if we could have used it.

We walked quickly to the bus and luckily made it to the right port on time. Even though the hydrofoil was late, we were glad to be heading back home to Sorrento!

That night we had dinner at a restaurant called: L’Abate Pizzeria Sorrento in Piazza San Antonino. I’d recommend it…The food and service was terrific.

Day #6 (Sunday): SORRENTO ON A SUNDAY:
At the base of our hotel is Leonelli’s Beach which we have access to staying at the hotel. The hotel has a private lift that takes you down there. There is a public one that you pay for that runs longer hours, but the lines were sooo long.

At the beach, you can either rent a chair, lounge, and/or umbrella. The cost for the lounge was 7.00E. The umbrella was more than the lounge…I can’t recall what it was, but we didn’t get the umbrella. There’s a restaurant down there too which was good. The water was so beautiful!! Sunday is a major beach day in Sorrento!

Day #7 (Monday): CASSINI-CASSERTA DAY TOUR:
We decided to take a day tour to Cassini-Caserta because it was far away. We arranged this through out hotel. It cost 40.00E and we stopped and had dinner at the end of the day in Cassini for 11.00E.

I learned a lot that day about what happened during WWII in Cassini. There was WWII vet on our bus who was with his family coming to visit his buddy at the cemetery. The first time he was back since the war. He was fine thankfully. The tour guide said that a lot of people are coming back for the first time and sometimes the memories are too strong...Just thinking about walking around the cemetary that day was very emotional...

In Casserta you have the choice to see the palace or see the gardens. We all chose to see the palace, but not realizing that we’d miss the part that they advertise about Casserta of that long fountain?…It was a very hot day and I was melting…

The tour guide was so informative and when I tried to find out which company she was with I couldn’t find out. I don’t know if it’s one central place in Sorrento that arranges the tours among several tour companies through the hotels…

We had dinner in Sorrento at Don Vincenzo in Piazza Tasso…It was okay…They are kind of strict on the one pizza per person rule, but I did my best to eat the whole thing I got the classic, pizza margherita..

Day #8 (Tuesday): ROME DAY TOUR:
As I had mentioned in my pre-trip posts, my friends didn’t want to go to Rome and since this was my first trip to Italy I couldn’t think about leaving Italy without visiting Rome. It all worked out in the end. They wanted to see the Blue Grotto in Capri and for me that wasn’t my top choice even though it looks beautiful.

So I took a day tour to Rome and they went to Capri and went to Anna Capri too.

I arranged the day tour through the hotel again which cost 70.00E, plus entrance fee to the Vatican (12E) and the Colliseum (10E). It took about 3 hours to get to Rome by bus.

I wasn’t happy with this tour guide. I don’t know if it was her or the tour, but unfortunately I don’t know her name or which company she was with…I was spoiled with the terrific tour guide we had for Cassini-Caserta. She was so knowledgeable and took care that everyone was okay and didn’t leave us for an instant. To me the whole idea of taking a tour was to have someone tell you all about what you’re seeing. I guess they’re not all the same.

When we first arrived in Rome, they drove around a bit to show us parts of the city. We then stopped at the bus station underground. I needed to get a scarf because my skirt was too short. It wasn’t really short, but they want your knees covered. The tour guide knew I was getting a scarf, (the one I got was actually very nice for only 5E)…and she took off with the group and left me behind.

From the bus station, there are glass doors with two ways to go..I thought I saw a person from my group and I had to run to catch up with them and it was a good distance away and thankfully it was them! She didn’t even notice I wasn’t there (and what would have happened if a person couldn’t run).

Then we got outside and she told us she’ll meet us at this particular corner of the Vatican (If you’ve ever been to the Vatican, it’s HUGE)…I tried to remember landmarks so I could find my way back…

SISTINE CHAPEL:
The tour guide did take us to the entrance that leads you through the museums and then to the Sistine Chapel. Luckily for me there was a nice couple I met from Scotland who were so sweet and we walked together through the museums (we unfortunately couldn’t really stop and see the museums because we were worried about time since we didn’t have a guide it was difficult to judge…next time.

The Sistine Chapel was very different than I imagined. It was dark, the ceilings were so high that I wished I had my binoculars! And it was very crowded inside. Also, you’re not allowed to take pictures inside the Chapel. I remember seeing pictures of the Sistine Chapel in art history class years ago and was so excited to be actually seeing it in person so I was a little disappointed because it was difficult to see

When we left the Sistine Chapel, they had to go back to where we entered because they made her check her bag at the start because it was bigger than what they allowed. I was going to go back with them, but they didn’t want me to miss any part of St. Peter’s so I didn’t see them until later. I would say that if you go to the Vatican, do not bring a big bag.


ST.PETER’S:
I went to St. Peter’s which was huge. The statues were tremendous in size. We were allowed to take pictures there, but unfortunately it was so dark that my pictures came out very dark, but I can figure out what I saw though to remember. I went down to see the place where the popes are buried…Again, no tour guide. I tried to listen in to the tour guides that were there.

Then it was time to find my way back. I tried so hard to remember where we started and finally figured it out after walking around and around in the square. I stopped in this one store because I wanted to get my friends something from the Vatican and the tour guide was there chatting with some friends. I was lucky again.

THE COLLISEUM:
Then we drove over to the Colliseum and had to park on the upper street level. The tour guide walked us to the entrance and then left us. My friends from Scotland didn’t really want to see the Colliseum so they walked around the area. I went in and walked around trying to listen in on the other tour guides. I ended up picking up a book and some gifts there.

Then I had to find my way back to where we started there too…and of course the exit is not the same place as the entrance. Wouldn’t it have been nice if the tour guide met the group at the exit at a particular time?

One more note of caution: When we went to go in the Colliseum, we walked down these steps where some gypsies were and they tried to pick pocket one of the men on our trip, but he was faster than they were.

At the end of the tour on the way back we had dinner at the same place that I had dinner the day before in Cassini. This time it cost a euro more for the same food and honestly it wasn’t as good, but it was nice to sit down and talk to the people on the tour. Very nice group mostly from England at my table and I found out that there’s an island off England too..

I was glad I got to see a bit of Rome! As they say Rome wasn’t built in a day, so it would be impossible to see it in a day.

Day #9 (Wed): SORRENTO
We originally were supposed to go to Paestum, but the tour was cancelled, but I was okay with that. We saw a lot in a short amount of time and did more walking up cliffs and hills than I have in my whole life. I just wanted to spend another gorgeous day at the beach!

Day #10: LEAVING SORRENTO FOR THE NAPLES AIRPORT:
This was an incredible trip and easy to travel around yourself for most of it. We might have lost time on some of those days, but it was fine. I usually always write things down of what I did each day in more detail, but since we were moving around so much, I found that I didn’t have the time by the time we got back to the hotel. When I took the day tours I was able to write on the bus and it was more relaxing.


It was time to say good bye to Sorrento…We took the car service back to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, the line was wrapped around several times and it was a bit crazy. The Naples airport has a small duty free shop so I didn’t get any goodies to bring home from there, but it was good to have a direct flight there.

This time, my seat worked too and I soon found myself back home. Actually, the flight seemed so much longer than going to Italy…and the jet lag lasted longer too…I don’t know why…I usually don’t have problems with that…maybe it was that I had such a nice time it was hard to be back home…

I hope this gave you some insight to my first trip to Italy…I hope it didn’t run a bit long…If there’s any information you wanted to know more of, please ask and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Thanks again for sharing so much wonderful information before I left because I really felt very well informed!

Belatedly... you're welcome.

<<About 50 minutes to Positano, another more 30 minutes to Amalfi and about 20 minutes more to Ravello.>>
That is to say ... with a bit of luck. We were on the 9.15 am Sita bus and it took us a little less than 2 (two) hours before we reached Amalfi. This due to heavy traffic and passengers getting sick. The bus we wanted to take in the afternoon from Amalfi to Ravello never showed up.
For us, the Metro del Mare ferries proved to be much more reliable.

Do you remember what day of the week this was? I guess we were really lucky when we went...There was no traffic going to Positano...and I was thinking it was less than 50 minutes too..Then again, we made up for it later

Hi NYC 05, Thanks for your tips. Our main base is Sorrento and from there we will go for a bus ride to Positano, Almafi and Ravello. I am just worried if the whole day is enough to see these 3 towns. I read that Ravello is the best of all among the 3.

Hi NYC_05
The day we went to Amalfi was Thurs Sep 15. We still feel sorry we didn't get to see Ravello but that's a good reason to return, right?!
On another occasion we took the bus to Positano (Tue Sep 20) and the ride went smoothly and on schedule.
In the meantime I have enjoyed your trip report very much. Thanks for sharing!