After our 3-4 day stay in Rome, we are thinking of visiting the Amalfi/Capri area. However, we have some apprehension of doing so by car rather than finding a 3-4 day bus tour to avoid the hassel of knowing where to stay & where to go.Is driving in this area of Italy really precarious or am I over reacting? Are there 3-4 day bus tours to the Amalfi/Capri area originating out of Rome? I'd appreciate any info anyone might have.
Posts: 16 | Location: Canada | Registered: 23 December 2003
I am a fan of driving in Italy. Bill Thayer is not. SO you can get a wide range of opinions here and that is part of what is great on the board.
I think driving the Almafitana is very easy. It is no more trafficly or challenging than Highway 1 in Big Sur in California. It is two lane, and yet the motor cycles are pretty agressive in their passing. There are big busses. But in our short time in Sorrneto, we drove the Almafitana twice and it was a piece of cake.
With the busses, first off they only run till midnight or so. Second, they are once an hour so you have to plan your day carefully aorund them. With a car, you just have to fid parkig, which admittedly can be a hassel, but you are able to stop where you want and just explore. Also, going up to Ravello or other towns off the main road require bus connections. If you do go to Ravello, note that the main parking lot does fill (in Summer) by the dinner hour so get there a little earlier.
words of wisdom to live by from Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs {The chorus is singing a prayer to Dionysus...} Dionysius "A hymm to me, the god of wine..." Xanthius (His slave) "I thought you were the god of drama?" Dionysius "I am the god of wine and the god of drama. A little wine will get you thru a lot of drama"
Posts: 4612 | Location: Casa del Fenicottero Rosa, Silver Spring, MD USA | Registered: 06 August 2002
During the summer months you'll find the traffic at snails pace and the parking impossible,but don't be put off as you will be able to explore out ofthe way places at your leisure.On Capri you will be able to get around on foot or by local transport.
Hi, I would use the train and bus solutions. From Rome there are plenty of trains that take you Naples (Napoli). From Napoli Centrale you can walk or take a taxi to the sea port. From there you can catch a ferry to Capri. On Capri there is no need for a car. It is a small island that can be walked (Bring walking shoes).
While driving fast down single lane roads on the side of a cliff with no guard rail may seem fun, it is safer with buses. For the Amalfi coast I would take the train from Napoli to Sorrento. Explore Sorrento, if you have not before. There are buses that go along the coast and stop in the small towns. There is no train service. And it is amazing how fast the buses go on these little ledges.
Just what I would do, and what I have done!
Saluti, Brian
Posts: 39 | Location: Roma, Italia | Registered: 31 December 2003
A quick Google search for AMALFI + TOUR brought up many links. Didn't have time to check them out exhaustively but, from the few I looked at, most of them seemed to be more like a week. I didn't notice any that were 3-4 days, although more diligent sifting through the links may reveal some that are that length. This tour seems fairly representative, and the site has a good, simple map that shows the layout of the area.
Many people who go to that area use Sorrento as their base, although Positano and Ravello have their fans too. In case you're curious about Sorrento, here are Pauline's notes on Sorrento's layout. She shares her observations of the merits of staying in the different areas, the historic centre, on the outskirts of the town, etc. Here are Slow Travelers' reviews of Hotels in Campania. If you have not yet come across the www.venere.com website, it too is a worthwhile source of information. There too you often can find hotel patrons' feedback.
You can look up the Rome - Naples train schedule at www.trenitalia.com . A separate commuter train, the Circumvesuviana, connects Naples, Herculaneum, Pompeii and Sorrento. The Amalfi area also is served by buses, as has been mentioned. Then there are ferries that take one across the bay from Naples to Sorrento, from Sorrento to Capri and, as Brian said, Naples to Capri.
Here are a couple of Slow Travelers' trip reports that cover Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast. Mizz Eve went to the archaeological museum in Naples and to Pompeii. Oh yes, she went to Rome too, and you're going there as well, so this report may kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Jafbrad stayed in Ravello, and visited Pompeii, drove the famous Amalfi road, etc. As you can see, both Mizz Eve and Jafbrad, although they were travelling independently, availed themselves of local guides.
You didn't mention when you would be going. That can make a difference to the activities you might choose to do.
If you decide to drive, you may be interested in Pauline's notes on Renting a Car.
If you don't already have them, you'll need a good map of Italy, and a guidebook (if not guidebooks). I love the Eyewitness Travel Guide : Rome published by Dorling Kindersley that Santa was kind enough to leave in my stocking this Christmas. It's filled with colour photos and illustrations which make it easier to visualize the place.
Three cheers for Rome-Naples Eurostar, Naples-Sorrento Circumvesuviana, Bus to Amalfi Coast !! The Rome to Naples Eurostar train zips you to Naples in about 2, 2 and a 1/2 hours. Take a day, explore Naples. Do the archaelogical museum, wander the Spanish Quarter (money hidden and secured), stroll down Spaccanapoli (watch out for those Vespas and street urchins), enjoy a sfogliatelle, admire the Sophia Loren look-a-likes. Was is Goethe that wrote "See Naples and die" ?
The Circumvesuviana train takes you from the Naples train station to Sorrento. The tenements of Naples' suburbs are not picturesque, but by gosh they're gritty and authentic. Sorrento makes a goog base for exploring the Amalfi Coast and Capri. Ferries at the harbor to ferry you to Capri. Busses at the bus station to bus you along the cliff-hanging hairpin turns and switchbacks of the Amalfi drive. Driving here seems like stress. With a bus you can simply gawk, jar agape at the godawful beauty of it all. That is until your -or should I say my-motion sickness kicks in and are confined to looking straight ahead and praying that your cornetto stays down. Sorrento itself is a pleasant resort town. Cliffs overlooking the Bay of Naples. Capri in the distance. Lemon and Orange groves. Mountains in the background. All under the beautiful, ominous shadow of Vesuvius.
We're considering two weeks based in Sant'Agnello/Sorrento. No car for us. We enjoy buses, trains, feet. The whole area is just packed to the gills (am I mixing metaphors ?) with yummy stuff. Sure Amalfi Coast, Capri. But also Pompeii, Herculaneum. Paestum down the road a bit with it's Magna Graecia temples. Procida seems to be calling me. Not too touristy. Idyllic visions of a southern Italian fishing village.
Whether you choose a car or public transportation I would stick with independent travel. We find the logistics part of the adventure and the interaction with locals lends greater depth to our travels. Good Luck!
Babblingly yours,
Anthony and Jennifer
Posts: 284 | Location: New Orleans | Registered: 01 July 2003
There are many options for visiting the Amalfi Coast and the decision is mostly based on personal preferences and desires. For me, I would almost always drive in Italy unless there were some compelling reason not to....like driving in Naples.
But if you want to stay at a beach resort (say Positano) and do a day trip to Capri, you can easily do it by public transportation. However if you want the freedom and flexibility to do some exploring and get to places that are harder to reach by public transportation, having a rental car will be a plus. I agree with Dean that the Amalfi Coast drive is nowhere near the harrowing experience many people describe--but that is my personal opinion. I can't make the judgment for you.
In terms of tours, I know that Key Tours in the Washington DC area has 3 night tours--based in Sorrento. If you need more information, let me know.
Personally, I wouldmuch rather rent a car and drive. I have driven from Fuimicino Airport to Amalfi twice with no problems. It should not take you more than 3 hours, and you will enjoy the area much more if you have a car to explore all the towns of the Amalfi Coast. Al Meilan
Drive!!!!!!!!!!!! It is the best way to enjoy the coast. It can even be fun if you learn to drive "Italian." But--you can not be timid. You must master offensive and defensive driving all at once.
www.janeandken.com Reports and Photos for Italy 2001 and 2003, Spain, Tanzania, Peru, China, France
Posts: 4191 | Location: San Diego, CA | Registered: 26 June 2001
Hi, Driving in Italy is not for everyone, as Jane said, you cannot be timid, particularly in places like Naples & the Amalfi Coast.
If you decide NOT to drive and if you decide to train to Naples, and don't want to then hassle with another train to Salerno and then a bus to Amalfi/Positano (which makes for a long day and possibly annoying periods of waiting around), I suggest a car & driver to pick you up at the Naples train station (I book this all the time for my clients). It gets you out of the Naples train station safely without being hassled, and you be taken to whatever town on the Amalfi Coast.... I suggest Positano or Ravello, and then on to Capri!
quote:I am a fan of driving in Italy. Bill Thayer is not.
It's really hard to say. I don't know how to drive, so have no direct opinion.
There are certainly some places where it's lunacy (Rome), and others where the car must surely tempt one to do too much (drive from Florence to Amalfi because it can be done -- missing all the sights in between because you're glued to a highway, and in what country are highways the nicest places to see?).
On the positive side, there are also places that are nearly impossible to reach otherwise, and I've been very grateful to people for driving me: although I notice that SlowTrav very, very rarely gets queries about driving in precisely those places, like the remoter areas of the Abruzzi or Calabria, of even the Apennine backbone which is so beautiful and by and large inaccessible without a car; instead, many queries about driving in parts of Italy which are extremely well covered by public transportation! Chalk it up to human perverseness.
The car is freedom (a freedom I don't have) to be on your own schedule; but if you then turn that schedule into 8 hours on a highway, well -- what a waste!
Even if I drove, however -- and after all, the fact that I don't drive must be partly temperament -- there are lots of places where I'd much prefer to walk, bicycle, or, ideally, ride a horse. The car is too fast, too low off the pavement, and too detached from the land.
The only thing worse than the car, of course, is a tour bus. Yet in my 11 months of Italy I surprised myself once, taking, and enjoying, a tour bus. The key, as with everything else in travel, is Know Thyself.
We had a car the last summer while staying on the Amlafi Coast. We were very glad we had it, and my husaband loved driving there! I am extra glad it was my husband driving and not me! It is not for the faint of heart!The views are incredible though!!!
Posts: 838 | Location: Nashville, TN USA | Registered: 11 September 2002
It's fun to drive the Amalfi coast, except when it's *not*. Expect to get stuck at some point, for some time. Hope this attaches -- my first effort to upload a photo.
Posts: 444 | Location: New Rochelle, NY | Registered: 05 March 2002
The photo really depicts it well! My only addition would be that often instead of a van coming in the left lane, it will be another bus, or a cement mixer, or something else large that necessitates the bus - and perhaps you - backing up a long ways, around a curve, with no guard rail!
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I may be mistaken but I don't recall there not being a wall or a guide rails along the Amalfi Drive. I have seen masons repairing or rebuilding the low walls on the cliffside of the drive where there may have been a mishap or the walls just needed repairing.
What is really scary is seeing the farmers working alongside the cliff-edge of their fields both above and below the Amalfi Drive.
Peter
Posts: 1366 | Location: Essex Fells, NJ and Longboat Key, Florida | Registered: 21 July 2002
There is typically a low rail or low stone/masonry/brick wall along the drive. Enough to kinda sorta keep you from going off into the deep but not enough to spoil the view, or make you feel particularly safe!
This is a view from a boat up towards the Amalfi Coast drive -- note the low rail alongside the bus!
Posts: 444 | Location: New Rochelle, NY | Registered: 05 March 2002
>>Expect to get stuck at some point, for some time<<
One piece of advice I give my clients when they find themselves in such a situation is to let the Italians--who deal with this sort of thing all the time (and not only on the Amalfi Coast drive)--take the lead in getting things back to normal.
Driving on a dirt road near Cortona, we met an oncoming car on a road not wide enough for two cars to pass. Thankfully, the Italian backed up for about 1/8 of a mile until there was a place for us to pass. In general, Americans are nowhere near as good at driving in reverse as Italians are.
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