I'm planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast (Positano) in September. My route takes me throught the Naples Airport and train station. Everything that I've heard about Naples sounds like the wild west. Anything in Paticular that I should look out for?

My hotel in Positano has offerred to have a driver meet us (about 100 euro one-way). I'm worried about meeting the driver at the airport, particularly if our plane is late. I had a bad experience in Venice last year when I couldn't find driver at the smallish Venice Airport. The tour company, GateOneTravel, refused a refund. Other have recommended just taking a taxi for about the same price.

Thoughts? Thanks to all for any advice. This web site is fantastic.

You are right CaWino,
Anything is generally heard about NAples is BAD. Looks like going to some chasbah placed in 1858's Turkey.

Well...Civilization reached Naples too

Naple is much more than that. You would find it incredibly beautiful. Airport is not a nightmare AT ALL. If you decide to visit it, just leave all your funky stuff at thehotel, and bring a camera with you. Act careful, but not obsessed.
I have born in Naples and have both driven in there (that is not extremely easy, but not SOOOO crazy...I alsways survived and my car didn't get a scretch) and visited so many times.
The only time I was ever robbed it was in ...BArcelona, spain...Mind you, I am a photographer also and carry always a lot of stuff with me.

We booked transportation with 2 Golfi2 golfi and they waited for us at the Napoli airport, even with our plane being 3 hours late from Catania, and drove us to Sorrento.
Naples is a little wild, but well worth it.

Naples is great, really, but it is a bit of a handful. It sounds as if you are going straight from the Naples airport to Positano; if this is the case, it would probably be best to just take the car arranged by the hotel. You'll have their phone number if you don't connect at once with the driver, and he'll have a cell, I am sure. Otherwise, it's a cab to the train station, then the train to Positano. I quote the usually even-handed Cadogan Guide: "Neapolitan taxi drivers are uniformly dishonest." I found this to be true last fall. (So I sure wouldn't want to take a city cab all the way to Positano.) And the station is confusing, and like most big-city train stations, a little seedy. Nothing to be really afraid of, but you should be on your toes. Relax, take the arranged car. Maybe see Naples itself another time.
Yrs, Robert
p.s. At the risk of blowing my own horn, I wrote up my impressions of Naples in trip report 590.

We flew into Naples a few years ago and were met by a car service from Sorrento. Everything was fine.

The airport is small. As with most airports, the car service people wait by the door where you come out of baggage claim and have a sign with your name on it.

I spent a few nights in Naples a year ago and loved it. Read Robert's trip report about his stay in Naples (he loved it):
Report 590

We only spent a few hours in Naples in the area around the train station. It was not scary, but rather fascinating. It was dirty. There were piles of garbage all over the place. The train station is not anymore confusing than the stations in other cities. The only difference is that in Naples there were a lot of police walking around with rifles. Do anything you can to avoid going to the washroom in the train station. Even the McDonald's at the train station was grudgy with a gross washroom.

True, Naples can seem a little on the fringe in some respects, and also true that driving chaos is more rampant there than in Roma (believe it or not!), but we always found the people to be friendlier and more open than italians in northern region. According to quite a few Italians we met in Napoli, there seems to be a general animosity of southern italians to northern italians... "they are more stuck up!"... and similarly from some northern italians we know, when they refer to southern italians, ".. they are uneducated, and ignorant...lower class." WOW!!! we were very surprised and always felt awkward, I mean, HOW is one suppose to respond to statements like that, by Italians!??? We just say, "davvero?" and then quickly try to move on to another topic, but I guess class differences (IF this is really what the difference is about) exists everywhere, right?

We loved Naples when we were there in April 2001. Although we actually stayed on Ischia, we were in Naples several times. I don't think I would want to drive in Naples, but other than that it was delightful.
We were metat the Naples train station and conneced with no problem. We flew out of theNaples, and the airport was not very big. I would think it should be relatively easy to connect with a driver especially if you have a cell phone. Rutht.

We actually stayed in naples for a couple of nights around a previous Amalfi trip. We stayed a few blocks from the train station and had no problems at all. No it's not a pretty looking neighborhood, and yes we were more careful than usual, but it was fine, not really any worse than around the Rome train station...

There's SO much to see in Naples! The archeological museum of course, but also the Capodimonte which houses an incredible collection of Italian impressionists, the churches, etc. not to mention the best pizza on the planet It's such an untoursity city too, perfect for slow travellers. Go! Enjoy it, just be careful.

FYI - we also took a couple cab rides there, all completely straight up on the pricing.

People act like Naples is some third world city. It's not. And it's really nothing to be afraid of. And Ling, Italians can be very judgemental to the point of being racists. This is especially true when it comes to North vs. South. I heard on a few occasions my Sicilian roomate be called an "africano" - and they didn't mean that in a positive way.

I live two hours from Naples and when I drive there It is strange for me too. I just know they have a different style there.
Apart from that, I love Naples. People are very friendly.
We went to the restastaurant the other day and there was an old man who started singing aloud next to us. The waiter was also fun. It is some sort of open stage.
Then why you worry so much you will only go to the center and there are a lot of police there and it is safe. You will never go to the supurb anyway so just don't worry.

I'll add my endorsement of Naples. Chaotic and Dirty - certainly, but it has something about it.

I have been there on several day trips, and passed through on my way to Cilento. The thing that has always struck me is the helpfulness, and friendliness of the people. I have walked extensively in the city,and travelled like a Sardine in local buses, but the only time I have been "scammed" or robbed in Naples was by a Swedish woman.

I speak only very poor Italian. Several times I have had to ask for information or help - and on each occassion if the person I have asked did not understand me, or could not help, they have insisted that they would find somebody who could.

The best coffee I have ever had is served by the coffee bar at the Circumversuviana station - The owner spoke no English, but despite a huge crowd waiting to be served, he patiently made sure he knew exactly what I wanted with a combination of repeated speach, sign language, and eventually drawing something on a napkin. If I am in Naples, I detour to get another cup of coffee. I am not sure how safe I would feel walking around after dark, but in general, I would recommend Naples as a "Must see" destination.

Tim

The first day I arrived in Napoli, I just changed trains to go to Sorrento. The train station was definitely hectic and you need to watch your things carefully but it was not as dangerous as I was informed before arriving.

I went back to Napoli a second time by ferry. Crossing the road from the ferry area to start touring Napoli was like the "Frogger" video game! I had never seen anything quite like it. This was a major street with 3 lanes full of cars/vespas/motorcycles speeding by one way, another 2 lanes of just motorcycles and vespas going
the opposite way, and then a 3rd lane going the same way as the first 3 lanes with no
islands in between and no lights. I have never been very brave taking a chance to cross a busy street but did not have much choice. I watched others amazingly manuevere through the cars that were SPEEDING by. I then saw I a woman with a suitcase start across so I figured a suitcase, now that would stop a car! So, I tried to keep up with her while watching all the cars come to a screeching stop as we stepped in front of them, and then as I got to the 3rd lane I somehow tripped and fell. I saw my life flash in front of me for a moment. The cars screeched to a stop inches away from me. I slowly picked myself up and somehow got to the other side. I lost the skin off my big toe and the toe next to it as well as a large amount of blood. I then went to the Farmacia in search of disinfectant and bandaids and was helped by a very kind man. After that, I limped around the city, was very skiddish of cars, but enjoyed my day and am very glad I went.

My impressions of Napoli: big city, not as dangerous as I expected (although a friend from Italy told me which streets/areas to aviod), very kind people, delicious food, beautiful churches, and a great museum.
People seem to stop for cars but cars do not stop for people, unless of course you fall onto the road in front of them.

I totally relate to that story. I was in Naples about 10 years ago. My friend and I stood at a traffic light waiting for it to change so we could cross. The light changed, but the traffic didn't stop. Another common sight was 2 way traffic on a one way street.

Naples was also the first city where I ever saw used needles laying on the sidewalk on a major road.

The food was good and the people were friendly. There was nobody waiting to mug me outside the banks. I remember the parks being rather nice. However, I didn't take any cabs and I didn't go out at night, b/c it seemed like the kind of place where you should avoid those sorts of things.

I'm not going to get into the whole debate about the relative safety of Naples vs. other Italian cities. But in response to the original poster's inquiry, you can take a bus directly from the Naples airport to Sorrento for about 4-5 euro. It picks you up right in front of the arrival erminal and drops you off in Piazza Tasso. From there you can take either a local bus or cab ride to (or ferry, for that matter) to Positano. Here's a link:
http://www.curreriviaggi.it/pagine/agenzia_viaggi.htm

I'm glad to see the posts here on this subject. We are flying into Naples in late May and then taking the direct bus to Sorrento. I had heard and read some bad stories that seemed hard to believe. Not like we had a choice of where to fly into but still the reputation was a little alarming. But I have been through some pretty seedy and scary places in Mexico so...I fugured we could handle Naples. Great info everybody. I can sleep a littl easier now.

Speaking of used needles, I've seen them in Bologna on the streets as well. I've been in some seedy places in Mexico like Guadalajara and DF, Naples (while run down in lot of places) wasn't nearly as dangerous feeling.

While I've only been to Napoli to get to Sorrento, I look forward to this summer and having time to explore Napoli a bit. I've heard a lot of great things about Napoli, but nothing has been bad enough to scare me away. Of course my tour guide will be a good friend who grew up in the area and currently works for the polizia in napoli - so I suppose I'll be in good hands.

Still, there are so many cities in the world that have dirty parts, and so many cities that have dangerous neighborhoods, but we can't let us scare us away from places that have so many good things to offer as well. Even in my sleepy safe town of 50,000 where I have grown up walking the streets by myself in the middle of the night, there have been kidnappings and murders. Yet I still feel safe walking around. It's more about being aware of your surroundings, and not putting yourself in compromising situations.

It's my feeling that we can't let ourselves live in fear, as what type of life would that be? You've got to get out there and experience things, just be smart about it and dont put yourself in imediate danger.

Just thought I'd add my two cents.
Lori