ekscrunchy

For the moment:


Also in Furore:

http://www.agriturismosantalfonso.it/home.aspx

Near Vietri: (*********)

http://www.villadivina.com/





Near Paestum:

http://www.casale-giancesare.it/info_ingl.htm


Near Vico, in the Sorrento peninsula:

http://www.lachiana.it/english/index.htm

SeaUrchin

Inland from the Amalfi coast there are some really nice farm towns with local produce stands, egg farms, little markets. You would never now you are so close to the highly popular coastal area. There must be some nice farm holiday spots up there.

I was looking at houses for sale and went to a lot of the off the road tiny towns, it is worth a drive up even if you do stay on the coast.

Salerno altho a bustling port city is interesting too, not many tourists if that is what you are looking for. It's worth a drive also.

zeppole

You don't state a budget, but I found this place on Tripadvisor, in Vietri sul Mare, up on the hill:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Campania.html

Not all of Campania is set up for agriturismi and tourism in the way that, say, Tuscany is, so you really shouldn't book anywhere without seeing sufficient positive user reviews. In Tuscany you can almost be guaranteed a certain standard of amenites, and enough English to handle all needs. I think you can only be guaranteed that in Campania if your've read user reviews confirming it.

morgannalefey

My husband and I have looked at so many of the options available that we're in the process of re-deciding about things we'd like to have happen this first trip to Italy. As a result, all of Italy is back on the able (well, the more rural parts, we're not ready to "do Rome" yet, or anything like that. We just spent a week in York UK this last June and we're "historied out" and more interested in languid sight seeing, enjoying the local culture, sunshine, scents, and meandering. So all the suggestions have been VERY helpful.

As for budget, I was shooting for 1000 USD or less for 7-8 nights of lodging. Instead of narrowing things down, all the thoughtful posts here have helped me realize we need to re-address our basic wants for the trip so we can be sure we're doing what we really want (this is a good thing . We're also looking at staying in June, instead of May, and possibly renting a car for a day or two so we can get around more rural areas, or visit a farm or something.

So Tuscany, eh? Hmmm....

zeppole

No, please don't misunderstand my post. I wasn't suggesting you go to Tuscany, which has become so much the tourist thing to do -- but just hang on to your hat, because everybody who was pushing you to go to Positano will be in here a flash telling you Tuscany is of course where you should go.

If you want plug-and-play Italy in the form of Tuscany, it is certainly there for you in your budget. If you don't want history --- just ignore it, like most tourists going to Tuscany do. They pick up there car rental in one of the most historic towns in Italy, with a tremendous small museum of gorgeous artifacts of painted statuary and hammered jewelry -- and just drive away, having been told "Forget about Chiusi, get to Montefillinnablanco!" (and I dare say they don't even know how to pronounce the names of the towns.

Much of Tuscany, like much of the Amalfi, has become a theme park of Italy, and there is no two ways about it, the views are beautiful and the constantly changing tourist population -- a new million people every seven days, and I am not kidding, the tourist tide just rolls in and rolls out, rolls in and rolls out.

If you would like a beautiful rural vacation in Italy, including in Tuscany, and would still like to taste a real Italian life and not be on an educational life, think about going to the Maremma in Tuscany. You will have very high quality accommodation and food and wine, in all prices, you will have the sea nearby, you can boat to islands, sit in hot springs, you will have plenty of Italian life to experience in untouristed hill towns.

You can actually have that anywhere in rural Italy outside of the mega-tourist zones of Tuscany, the Amalfi, le Cinque Terre and the Italian Lakes. Beauty, food, wine, lovely accommodations, friendly people. But it hard to avoid the history (unless you stick in the tourist zones, where shopping has taken over.)

The Maremma in Tuscany

http://www.maremmaguide.com/

http://www.discovertuscany.com/maremma/what-to-see/

http://www.tuttomaremma.com/en/

Maremma from Forbes Magazine

http://www.forbes.com/forbes-life-ma...cret-side.html

Maremma from the New York Times

http://www.pitigliano-toscana.com/Se...wYorkTimes.htm

irene_robinson1950

We stayed in Sorrento and took a bus ride to Positano. We liked it but were glad we were staying in Sorrento. May I recommend the Palazzo Marziale in Sorrento. Not cheap, but very central. A lovely lovely small hotel, very old building. We fell in love with it. The people who run it (a family) are very attentive and kind.

Also, if you decide to visit Pompeii (and you really must) don't pay for a coach trip. We went by train from the station in Sorrento, it's just a short trip and the train drops you right outside the gates to Pompeii. Much cheaper.

zeppole

morgannaalefey,

I just re-read your original post, and put it with your more recent description of what you hope to do and avoid in your trip to Italy, and it occurred to me that you might very much enjoy the Italian Riviera -- leisurely times either sitting at, or driving/walking/riding along, the coast, restaurant visits -- and if you pick the right spot, you can have some wine tastings, local festivals, farmer's markets, shopping areas, plus a smattering of big wow beautiful art and history sights, but not an overload.

For all that, I would suggest that you check out staying in Lerici on the Italian Riviera, easily reached from airports in Pisa, Genoa, Milan and Florence. The New York Times recently wrote this article about it

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/06/20...ef=global-home

There is plenty of parking in Lerici in May and June (I suggest June), and from Lerici it is possible to visit some easy-going but particularly stunning well-preserved Italian towns like Lucca, with its unique cuisine and many restaurants people enjoy, or go to such un-famous but true foodie destinations like Castenuovo Magra, a pretty hilltown with 3 good restaurants, a fearsome castle and a tiny church with 2 small but marvelous paintings, plus there are sleepy silent villages (Ameglia, Montemarcello) nearby. Boat rides will take you to the famous tourist sight of le Cinque Terre and touristy but colorful Portovenere,

Here's a trip report from someone who took their first trip to Italy to Lerici, although she stayed in the hilltown above it, not right on the sea:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-and-lucca.cfm

If you don't want a car in that area, it can be simpler to stay in pretty Levanto, with hotel choices in all price ranges except luxury, or even more charmingly, in the tinier town of Moneglia. Using the train line (or boats), you can visit Portofino and other Italian Riviera resort towns, but also le Cinque Terre. You can visit Lucca and Pisa, and the striking but untouristed hilltowns of Sarzana.

When you're "historied out" and more interested in languid sight seeing, enjoying the local culture, sunshine, scents, and meandering, the land of olive trees, blue seas, pesto pasta and dramatic vistas can be just the ticket, with some beautiful stone and pastel towns for meandering and high-end shopping in the mix.

morgannalefey

You are all being so wonderfully helpful. I shouldn't have said "historied out" because history is certainly an important part of why we want to go to many of the places we want to visit. I just meant that most of our trip to York was all about visiting historical buildings (which was awesome and we had a blast) but we're looking for more diversity and less, uhm, "goal oriented" (see this, see that, go here, go there, cram that into this time period) touring. I hope that makes some sense.

Zeppole, I'm looking very carefully at your suggestions, and I'm so pleased to re-read what I'd said in both largish posts. I think you've managed to understand what I've been trying to get at without saying it very well.

Again, Thank you all so much for the time you've been taking to help.

zeppole

You're welcome! Think too about what you want to eat. The pesto and olive oil of Liguria is seductive, the pizza and pastries and lemons of Campania are incredibly fun, and coastal Tuscany has its own food and wine that I think is lighter than much of the interior, but they do love their wild boar.

Have a great time wherever you go, and you will see fascinating history wherever you perch along the historic Mediterranean, even if you only gaze out at it occasionally from your lounge chair.