Lakelife

We are staying in Positano May 14-21, 2011. We have rented a villa. There are several questions we have for the experienced traveler in that region.
1.)Is a car a necessity? Can one get by without a rented car?
2.)If sightseeing by hired transportation to an area of interest for the day, does anyone recommend a particular transportation company and ballpark prices? IE: Pomeii, Mt. Vesuvius, and other points of interest for the day.
3.)Can you recommend great walks/hikes, great restaurants that will take one's breath away and any other sights that one should not miss?
4.)Is the beach for a day an experience? Lots of things to find on the shoreline?
5.)Are grocery stores open on Sundays?
6.Are there any tours that we can go on as a group of ten and get a discount?
7.)Is traveling by boat a good thing to do when going from port city to port city? If so, any special boat company names to pass along?

We are a mixed group of Foodies, walkers, sailors, historians, architectural interests and wine lovers. We don't want to spend tons of money on food as we hear that is not necessary for good food in this area. We will splurge on dinner if it is a highly rated restaurant. We have signed up for a cooking class for the experience.

Before and after, we are staying in Rome for 3 days before and 4 days after. The same types of info as far as restaurants, sites, etc. would be great.

ira

Hi LL,

Hard to answer your questions with a group of 10, however

1.)Is a car a necessity? Can one get by without a rented car?

No. Yes. The SITA bus runs along the coast road from Sorrento to Salerno.
There is ferry transportation stopping at Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Salerno.

4.)Is the beach for a day an experience? Lots of things to find on the shoreline?
Positano has a beach. Not really.

Enjoy your visit.

Lifeman

The Amalfi Coast is one of the most asked about places on this forum. If you put your enquiry into the search box, you'll inevitably find the answer.

Be specific, and ask "Buses on Amalfi Coast"--"Boats along Amalfi Coast" etc

ekscrunchy

Agree that you really need to do a search here for answers to those questions. You will get more on target answers about food if you define what kind of food you are looking for--what is a splurge to you?

The beaches are gorgeous, that much is pretty obvious. Most of them are rocky; there are a few along that stretch of coast with sand. Fornillo is the prettiest of the Positano area beaches accessible by foot. In my opinion. Not sure what you mean by "things to find on the shoreline," though. The custom is to rent a chair, or a chair/umbrella combo. This might cost, perhaps, in the 10-15 euro range per day per person at that time of year. Could be more, could be less--it's been a couple of years since I've been.

For starters, on walks, see this site:

http://www.giovis.com/Egiovis.htm

For prices for private drivers; this may help:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...r-services.cfm

You can find food stores open on Sunday; most will not be open but some will be, so you can stock your villa with the essentials. Do not expect a vast supermarket, but rather smaller, local shops for the most part.

nytraveler

Beaches are poor (mostly gravel or pebbles vs pure white sand) and there is really nothing to do (if you mean a boardwalk with games or food stands - or specific sports activities). Beaches are small, mostly in center of town (a lot of coast is just a cliff dropping into the sea - no beach at all) and IMHO really boring. In May the area is not too crowded and it should be warm enough for pools to be open.

We always rent a car - but we usually have it for a longer road trip - and we stay in Sorrento. There is a bus along the coast road - but we prefer to drive (think it's lots of fun). Boat travel along the coast gives good views - you need to find out what the schedules are though - and don;t anticipate they run late at night.

As for shopping - a few places will be open on Sunday - but perhaps only in the afternoon. And have you determined how far up the side of the hill your villa is - and you will hae to haul groceries?

Sassafrass

I love taking boats in the Amalfi area. Views from the water are gorgeous. We've never rented a car there. Paestum would be great day trip. Also, Herculaneum is IMHO as interesting as Pompeii, and the area is lovely. We have also never hired guides, easy to do all these things yourself.

Midnightsun

I agree with nytraveler; driving is fun on the Amalfi coast, albeit slow. We rented a place in Positano three years ago and drove up and down the coast as well as making a day trip to Pompeii. We never used the car to drive in Positano, but it was handy for excursions. The buses are omnipresent (one thing you may not appreciate if you have a car), but my impression is that they aren't too frequent in the evening if you are traveling to nearby towns to dine. Don't miss Ravello. The view from up above the coast is fantastic, and it's certainly a treat to stroll through the grounds at the Villa Cimbrone. You can dine at Rosselini's at the Palazzo Sasso Hotel in Ravello for a fine meal and a wonderful view, but if they have any tables that are not reserved for hotel guests, you can get the same view down the road at the Hotel Parsifal and enjoy the same view...food's pretty good as well. The dining in Positano was good, but the Donna Rosa in Montepertuso (up in the hills overlooking Positano) was better, and the view from there was also stunning. Don Alfonso at Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi was our favorite dining experience, it might take your breath away, but it will leave a dent in your wallet. However, it was worthwhile, and if you have a large group (we were seven), they might give you a tour of the wine cellar and take you around to meet whatever members of the family are in the kitchen that night. We spent so long over dinner that we felt like we were family by the time we left! Don Alfonso is on the crest of a ridge overlooking the Gulf of Naples on one side and the Gulf of Salerno on the other, so there is some nice strolling in the area.

ekscrunchy

"Beaches on the Amalfi Coast are poor?"

That comes as a surprise to me but I guess the old "beauty is in the eye" saw is true. I found the beaches on this stretch of coast to be breathtaking, as long as one does not expect the sandy strands of Oahu. Or Jones Beach.

Lakelife

Thank you everyone;ekscrunchy,midnightsun,Sassafrass, nytraveler, ira and Lifeman. I will look into the websites provided and the helpful lookup tips on this forum. The restaurant recommendations are certainly helpful. My interest in beaches is purely artistic and a quick soak of some warm rays of sun. I make jewelry and brought back great pieces of sea glass and small unique stones from a beach in Cecina in 2005.It was very rocky as I remember.