Hi,

My trip to the Amalfi Coast/Naples is booked for end of Sep/Beginning Oct. I have a couple of Naples questions:

- I am staying at Hotel Piazza Bellini for our first night. Does anybody know the best way to get from the train station (Piazza Girabaldi) to Piazza Bellini? I asked the hotel, and they sent me an email saying to take the bus, but did not say which bus. I also see that the metro stop at Piazza Dante is not that far - is this a good option?

- Any restaurant recommendations for this area?

- Next morning we head to Sorrento, and I was thinking of taking the ferry/hydrofoil from Beverello, as it seems it would ne nicer than taking the Circumvesuviana. Any suggestions for best way to get from Piazza Bellini to the port? There will be 2 od us, including my 75 yr old Mother (perhaps Taxi is best ...).

We are staying the first night in Naples and the last night in Naples (last night I cashed in Marriott Points, and staying at the Renaissance Mediterraneo). Since We are not spending too much time in Naples, I was planning on splitting time between Centro Storico are the first day, and for the last day Roayal Naples area.

Thanks for all your help!

Glenn

quote:

There will be 2 od us, including my 75 yr old Mother (perhaps Taxi is best ...).

I meant to say 3 of us, including my Mother.

Glenn

quote:

Hotel Piazza Bellini

Are you sure that your Hotel is by the Dante Metro stop.
Google doesn't think so. I am attaching a map of where google thinks your hotel is and the area around the Dante Metro stop.
Here is a link to that google map

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Hotel+....026822&z=15&iwloc=A

One factor you need to consider it you are going to use the Metro is your luggage. I have used the Metro in Rome with my luggage. Italian subway stations don't have elevators. Sometimes the escalators work. Even when the escalators work, inevidably there is a stretch where you have haul your luggage up and down some stairs. if you can manage that, you can save money by taking the Metro with your luggage.

There is a taxi stand in front of Piazza Garibaldi Centrale Stazione, and you could take a cab to your hotel.

Google goofed. No way is Hotel Piazza Bellini just off the train station and rail lines!

It's in the historic center, just east of Via Toledo.

When I google Hotel Piazza Bellini, I get this location
=en¶m[loc_country]=ITA¶m[loc]=HINA¶m[idhtl]=14102&page=location&source=googleh-hotel+piazza+belline%2C+naples%2C+italy&image_url=mappa2.gif]Hotel Piazza Bellini map
which I believe is near the Dante stop.

I would take a taxi rather than the metro, for the reasons that Dragonpat mentions. I had no problems with getting a taxi in front of the train station. I got in, told the driver where I was going, he kindly corrected my pronunciation , and took me to my destination and did not overcharge me.

yeah, when you don't have an address, Google maps sometimes gives you totally wrong locations. I saw this using Google maps to find some restaurant locations on Capri.

I have found tha google maps, etc does sometimes give bad info. I was looking at a map in one of my guidebooks, and the Dante Metro station appears to be pretty close to Piazza Bellini.

Given that, and given that we will be on a plane all night, i think the taxi is the way to go - thx for the suggestions!!

I have been to Naples before (just a day and a half 10 yrs ago), but do not have experience riding the metro there (conversely, I have been to Rome many times and am quite familiar with the metro).

It sounds like we may be best to take a taxi form the hotel to Beverello the following morning as well.

Any restaurant recommendations in the Pizza Bellini area?

Thx!

Glenn

There is a not bad Cafe right on the piazza beside the statue of Bellini. If I am reading my scrawl correctly, it's called Intra Moenia. I ate outside and it was quite pleasant.

If you are there on a Wed, Thur or Fri, I highly recommend Trattori San Fernando on via Nardonne. I had two fabulous meals there. It's just a few steps off via Toledo, in the vicinity of the Galleria. You have to ring the doorbell.

I'm a great fan of Intra Moenia. It calls itself a 'caffè letterario' - literary cafe, with its own publishing imprint. It often hosts readings and live music,

Eating. Your 'Pizza Bellini' is a very apt typo for Naples, of course! And just along from the piazza is Antica Pizzeria Port' Alba, via Port' Alba 18. It claims to be the oldest pizzeria in Naples: we've eaten well there on a number of occasions.

Jonathan

Regarding the on line mapping programs, Naples seems to be particularly poorly served. Before my last trip I entered a specific address into Google, viamichelin, tuttocitta and mappy and got three different locations, not even close to one another. In this instance, the google one was right, but I wouldn't use that experience to predict their degree of correctness. Naples is a bit of an enigma for them all, I'm afraid.