I will be traveling to southern Italy in May 2003. After spending a week in Rome and Umbria, I will have 8 days left to spent in the Amalfi Coast of which two nights I will spent in Capri. The other six days I would like to know whether is better to spent all six days by using Positano as a base or to split them like 2 days in Sorrento, 2 days in Positano and 2 days in Ravello. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,
It really depends on whether or not you will have a car and plan on driving. If not driving, I'd spend 3 days in Sorento and use the train for a day trip to Naples, another to Pompei. The other 3 days in Positano and catch the bus down the Amalfi Coast to the other towns. If driving, then still three days in Sorento but only one in Positano and then only have to drive down the Amalfi coast once.
I hope I'm making it clear! I wouldn't be thrilled about making two or three day trips from Positano. Driving the coast once, uses up as much adrenalin as I can spare.
My journal for a week in Sorento and Positano is at:
I will be there too at that time!! Well, actually, I'll be in Italy from the end of May through the first week of June of which I will be spending the last week in Sorrento and bussing/taxiing/hydrofoiling around Capri, Positano, Pompeii, and Ravello. I think I'm gonna start off with an escorted tour group then spend some 'quiet' time in Sorrento and mosy around the coast. Is this your first time going?
Cynde
Posts: 442 | Location: 12 time zones from Italy | Registered: 02 March 2002
I'd base in Sorrento to do my daytrips for 2-3 days (Pompeii, Herculaneum, into Naples to the National Archaeology Museum, etc.), then stay in Positano or Ravello for the rest of the time. It's easy to get to Positano from Ravello and vice-versa, and easier (IMHO) to do your daytrips from Sorrento. But, I see no reason to base in both Positano and Ravello - they are only 7 miles apart, and even with the winding, busy roadway, easily traversed. Save packing and repacking by staying in one and visiting the other, I'd say.
SALLY WATKINS, Certified Travel Counselor sally@century-tvl.com www.sallywatkins.com My business depends on referrals - please tell someone today!
Sorrento is an ideal place to base for day trips to so many places. We happen to like Sorrento very much; many others would disagree and find it "too touristy," which may be because of where they stayed and/or walked around. We stay in the old part of town near the bay and easily walk to Piazza Tasso, the circumvesuviana station, marina piccolo, etc. I envy both Robert and Cynde, as they are visiting a favorite area of ours. I hope their trips will be as rewarding as ours have been.
Have you decided on the group tour portion of your trip? I have been with several companies, and can perhaps offer some ideas, depending on your wants and needs.
--Marv
Posts: 162 | Location: North Carolina, USA | Registered: 16 August 2002
Robert, one of the nice things about ST is that you will get all different types of opinions--of course, it makes deciding what to do harder. Personally, because I think enjoying a lovely place at night and exploring quietly is wonderful, I would suggest staying in more than one place on the coast--if you are driving. We like to always spend at least 2 nights in a location so that it isn't checking in in the afternoon and then checking out in the morning--that kind of ruins things. So-----I would suggest two days in Naples or Sorrento to do the museum and whatever and then drive down the coast to Ravello and spend two nights (gives one full day) in this absolutely charming village and then two nights in Positano. I also would cut one night out of Capri and add it to the coast. Another way would be do go to Pompeii on the way Positano, go to Positano for a couple of nights and then to Ravello (actually, I like that better.)Whatever you end up doing, you will fall in love with the area.
My wife and I are also going to the Amalfi coast next May. I've posted some of the exact questions on this thread earlier. It would be nice if we could keep this thread alive and keep the others informed of what each of us have found out and decided. IMO, there is no such thing as too much research.
Below is an portion of the document I am compiling regarding hotels on the coast. Comments and experiences with these hotels are much appreciated.
Amalfi Coast
At this point in our planning, Caren and I think that we will visit the Amalfi Coast from two different locations. We are thinking of stay in Sorrento for 4 nights and then Ravello or Positano for 2 nights. We are thinking of staying in Sorrento as a base location and then moving to Ravello for a couple of nights of romance and relaxation. Caren also wants to see the chamber music that occurs in Ravello.
The following are places on the Amalfi Coast that we are considering:
Hotel La Tonnarellaâ Sorrento. Double room with sea view, breakfast, $135. Another $5 / night gets you a balcony.
Hotel Loreleyâ Sorrento. This is a hotel recommended by Ric Steveâs and others. A double room is $121, private bath, no A/C.
Villa Rosa â Positano. Double room with breakfast is $140. High season doesnât start until June 1. This could be another hotel used for a base. A map is here.
Onda Verde â this hotel is in Praiano, which is between Positano and Amalfi. It might be a good base location. Room rates for 2002 are $114 - $153 for double room with breakfast for 2 people.
Hotel Villa Maria â Ravello. More of a bed and breakfast than a hotel. Not cheap either, $222 / night.
Hotel Giordano â Ravello. Double room $178. A/C and private bath but NO restaurant.
Hotel Parsifal â Ravello. Three star hotel. Double room $150 - $160 per night. Supposed to be beautiful, recommended from Fodorâs.
Hotel Villa Amore â Ravello. About EUR 103 per night. 12 rooms with bath. Restaurant, bar.
Look forward to hearing from others.
Mark
Posts: 133 | Location: Arizona | Registered: 16 July 2002
Nope, I haven't decided on the tour companies. I've looked at Trafalgar and Globus and they sorta have where I want to go. They're expensive but I've seen other tour companies that you have to pay like $4,000 for just 2 weeks. That's really being pampered. Ultimately, I want to end up in Sorrento for the last week with the first two weeks being with an escorted tour group. I think an escorted tour group would be best because it would be my first time to Italy and most likely I will be by myself as my husband is not into traveling. I do want to see at least 3 or 4 of the main cities - maybe Venice, Florence, Rome. And go on my own for the last week so I want to be based near a lot of people. So what I'm looking for is 1) escorted tour for 14 days max, and 2) 7 days in Sorrento. Got any ideas? Should I be more detailed? I'm going in May-June so I know I have time to select my cities. But the escorted tour and Sorrento are definite.
Robert, Mark and Caren, good to know I'll be in Italy the same time someone else from this board is.
Cynde
[This message was edited by Cynde on September 04, 2002 at 03:09 PM.]
Posts: 442 | Location: 12 time zones from Italy | Registered: 02 March 2002
Actually, the Villa Maria is a hotel--quite lovely, atmospheric and beautifully situated (stayed there a year ago). It is a full service hotel not a bed and breakfast. The Hotel Giordina is a sister hotel to Villa Maria--just not quite as elegant but very nice. The Villa Maria gardens are pretty and meticulously maintained. If you stay at one, you can use the facilities at the other. There is a picture of the Villa Maria gardens on my website--I believe that it is on the second page of the report. If you are interested, I have other pictures that I could send you--let me know. You sure are doing a good hotel research job!
MarkY has brought up something worth mentioning. As he said, he started a thread a couple of weeks ago about the Amalfi coast. Here's a link to that thread. Ideally, someone interested in finding out info about the Amalfi Coast would find that thread and continue it. Easier said than done.
Unfortunately, it's the nature of a message board like this to frequently have multiple threads concerning the same or similar subjects. (Actually if you did a search on "Amalfi Coast", you'd find a number of informative ones even predating the one that MarkY started.) I always advise newcomers to the message board to 1) look on the website for resources that might help them and 2) search the message board before posting questions that have already been answered. But of course it's bound to happen that these things don't happen in the most efficient way. No matter -- that's what we're all here for -- helping each other out, pointing in directions that might hold useful resources for whoever's asking a question. Also some people's questions might be similar to ones already asked, but different enough so that a new thread would be worth starting. I don't want to necessarily discourage people from starting new threads if there's a reason to start one (sometimes a reason is just that the old one is just too old, or too long or whatever.....).
Nevertheless, I'd like to urge everyone to use the website as well as search features for both the website and message board! They are quite good. Whenever I have a question, those are the first places I go. They connect you with lots of good information. So much good stuff has been discussed here. Much of it Pauline has put up on the website. The resources are out there for our use.
Thanks much.
David, usually in NYC
Posts: 4841 | Location: New York City | Registered: 15 June 2001
Cynde, I know people on this board will moan, groan, and roll their eyes, but yes, we too took an organized tour with Globus for our first trip to Italy. I was totally intimidated by Italy, the language, the people, everything, and hoped that a tour would help to make me feel more comfortable. Luckily for us, we had an INCREDIBLE guide, who made our trip fun, informative, and I'm sure helped us fall in love with Italy. When you go with a company like Globus, you just have to be prepared for all the "additional" tours and extra costs...it's irritating, but if you are prepared and accepting, then it's no problem. We did almost every "extra" tour (all but 2) and really enjoyed them. When our tour was finished, we stayed an extra week, part of it in Siena, and part of it in Formia, where my son was living at the time. We both felt very comfortable with being on our own in Italy, thanks to the 2 weeks of hand holding by our guide! As for Sorrento, we stayed there for 4 nights in March of 2000, at the Hotel Mignon Meuble, at via Sersale 9. The hotel is quite small, maybe 9 rooms, and we absolutely loved it. There is no view, but our room opened onto a beautiful balcony surrounded by orange or lemon trees. In March of 2000, we paid IL 130.000, about $65 per night, and that included breakfast. We took the bus to Positano and Amalfi, and loved the ride! I wouldn't drive that road if you paid me!Anyone going to Sorrento, be sure to find the Foreigners Club...they have a great outdoor area with an incredible view and reasonable drink prices. Best of luck to everyone, and enjoy!
Posts: 4813 | Location: Umbria | Registered: 29 June 2001
MarkY, Although I have never been to the Amalfi coast, I do remember reading rave reviews of this B&B on the Fodors Italy travel message board. You might want to do a search there and check it out-it does look lovely!
Posts: 2660 | Location: Cambridge, MA | Registered: 18 August 2001
Thanks to all for all the comments. Since I will be driving, i like the idea of staying two nigts at each, Sorrento, Positano and Ravello. However, one of the comments was to cut one night out of Capri. Is Capri not worth two nights?
Yes, your description gives me a good indication. As you know, there are several tour companies around. They range from the luxury (such as Abercromby, MaupinTour and to a lesser extent, Tauck) to the moderate (such as Globus, Trafalgar, Insight, Perillo -which is upper crust moderate) to costsaver (such as Cosmo).
Globus and Trafalgar both are good companies. They each have first class tours and costsaver tours, and they have winter breaks tours that are less expensive, but you would have to tour between early November and mid-April to take advantage of reduced winter rates, and you indicated you wanted to tour in May/June.
As Barb says, most of these tour companies, excepting only some of the luxury tour operators, have optionals at extra charges. For example, with Globus and Trafalgar, on some of their tours, you see the Colosseum in Rome from the outside, but going inside is part of an optional. On a 14 day tour, you can spend an extra $400 or more on optionals if you take them all.
The tour company I prefer, in the same class as Globus and Trafalgar, is Insight Vacations. They charge just a bit more than Globus and Trafalagar, but more is included in the base price (yes, they still have optionals), the hotels are better, and the included food is better.
I would not presume to email you things without your approval, but I have a couple of journals that may be of interest to you, as well as another document or two. I you want them, let me know, and also, then, confirm that the email address in your profile is the email address you wish me to use.
If I can answer any other questions, please let me know.
--Marv
Posts: 162 | Location: North Carolina, USA | Registered: 16 August 2002
Hey, you were right where I want to be. I want someone to hold my hand and then let me go on my third week when I'm sure I'll feel comfortable. I'll check out that Hotel Mignon Meuble. Thanks.
Cynde
Posts: 442 | Location: 12 time zones from Italy | Registered: 02 March 2002
>>>I think an escorted tour group would be best because it would be my first time to Italy and most likely I will be by myself>>
Cynde -- if you are going to be by yourself, be sure that you are reading the tour info for the 'single supplement' price that is bound to be there. Pricing is based on two persons sharing a room, and is given as a per person rate on that basis; for just one person, 'most every tour operator has a single supplement.
Brendan Tours and Globus Tours share motorcoaches in Europe and sell the same tours. I am partial to booking through Brendan, as it is a family owned company, now operated by the second generation of really nice people.
If you want to step down one notch pricewise but still have a reputable company with fine guides, check Cosmos (which is the budget tour company of Globus). You will be in more 'plain jane' hotels and they will be located away from the city center, but you will have nice motorcoaches and good guides.
When reading any and all tour information, pay attention to where it says you will 'see' a site/sight, and where it says you will 'visit' a site/sight. The first means drive by, the second means go inside.
Best wishes,
SALLY WATKINS, Certified Travel Counselor sally@century-tvl.com www.sallywatkins.com My business depends on referrals - please tell someone today!
Robert, I was the one who said drop one of the Capri nights. If you had more time then maybe two nights would be ok just to relax and enjoy its ambience but really there is so much on the coast that to spend two nights on Capri seems wasteful. Capri is lovely but once there and having seen the things you want to see, your options are limited as to further adventure. Personally, I am happy with a day trip there but I know that many people would disagree me. I really do believe however that one night is sufficient. If you did that you could pick up a night by going to Pasteum from Sorrento and then Ravello and then Positano. Unless you are going to Pompeii on the way down and then Pasteum would be too far for one day. We have gone to Pompeii twice from Positano and have not felt that was too much of a day trip. Or skip Pasteum and spend another day on the lower coast before going back to Positano. Positano is lovely but the truth is that unless you are seeking rest time, you can have too many days there quite easily. It is a very famous place but not much to do other than sitting on the beach and checking out the boutiques. We took a day trip from there to Capri and were quite satisfied. On our second trip we didn't even stay in Positano but chose Praiano instead. I know, it is confusing.
Yep, I've read about the extra hundreds of dollars on traveling by myself - single supplement sucks but I have to live with it because I really want to go. From tours to room rates, I've taken that into consideration. And I've read the fine detail about sites that the tour will pass by as opposed to actually going inside. For the optionals, I would be guessing what the different admission costs would be but I'm saving for that too. At least the $400 mentioned gives me a ballpark figure to work with. Thanks, I needed that. I'll check out Insight and see what kind of tours they have. Perillo seemed just a little high for me and MaupinTour was even higher. Okay, gotta go and do more research. You guys make this fun, you know!
Oh, and you can e-mail stuff to me...just put Slow Traveler anywhere in the subject line, then I know it's someone from here. I tend to delete things pretty quickly since 99% of it is SPAM.
Cynde
Posts: 442 | Location: 12 time zones from Italy | Registered: 02 March 2002
One word of caution, however, is luggage size. A carry-on that is acceptable on a flight might be too large for on the motorcoach. Also, checked luggage that is acceptable on the motorcoach might be too large for the current airline restrictions (many airlines are now charging rather hefty fees for checked luggage that exceed their parameters). Be careful of the size of both.
--Marv
Posts: 162 | Location: North Carolina, USA | Registered: 16 August 2002
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