Amalfi Coast/Positano questions (early June)

We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

Some questions:

* How bad is the traffic on the coast road that time of year?

* Are we crazy to even think about driving that road ourselves?

* Is the hydrofoil service between the coastal towns operating at that
time of year? How expensive is it? Is the non-hydrofoil service
running that time of year? How expensive is it? (I do know about the
SITA buses, but I've always liked being on the water). How many times
a day do the hydrofoils and the regular ferries run? How much time
is the ride between Positano and Sorrento? Between Positano and
Amalfi?

* The guidebooks say the SITA buses run very often (around 12
times a day), but they give no details of travel times between
towns. How much time is the ride between Sorrento and Positano?
Between Positano and Amalfi?

* Assuming no car, how inconvenient is it to get to Pompeii and Capri
from Positano? (You see, we have a split -- I'd prefer to stay in
Sorrento because of the greater transportation convenience, while my
wife would prefer to stay in Positano because it's prettier and
because (from what we've read) there is very little in-town traffic
there.) I guess that depends on a lot on whether or not the ferries
are running, and what the transit times are for ferries and for
buses (hence my earlier questions). If the beginning of June is
late enough for the ferries be running, I know we can take a ferry
right to Capri, so that's not a problem. But to get to Pompeii we'd
have to take a bus (or boat) to Sorrento and then a train to
Pompeii. I've checked out the Circumvesuviana website, and it looks
like a train from Sorrento to Pompeii takes about an hour all
together. However, I haven't been able to find anything about how
much time the SITA bus ride is from Positano to Sorrento.

* Is it already too late to book a decent place to stay in Positano?

* And just how brutal are all those stairs in Positano? The pictures
I've seen, while beautiful, make it look very exhausting.

--
Rich Carreiro

"Rich Carreiro" wrote in message
...
We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

Some questions:

* How bad is the traffic on the coast road that time of year?

* Are we crazy to even think about driving that road ourselves?

We drove it one-way from Vietri to Sorrento. Very slowly and carefully.
The driver doesn't get to sightsee much even from the inside lane. When we
reached our hotel in Praiano we parked the car and didn't use it again until
our departure. We found it much more relaxing to let the SITA bus drivers
provide our transportation.

* Is the hydrofoil service between the coastal towns operating at that
time of year? How expensive is it? Is the non-hydrofoil service
running that time of year? How expensive is it? (I do know about the
SITA buses, but I've always liked being on the water). How many times
a day do the hydrofoils and the regular ferries run? How much time
is the ride between Positano and Sorrento? Between Positano and
Amalfi?

* The guidebooks say the SITA buses run very often (around 12
times a day), but they give no details of travel times between
towns. How much time is the ride between Sorrento and Positano?
Between Positano and Amalfi?

* Assuming no car, how inconvenient is it to get to Pompeii and Capri
from Positano? (You see, we have a split -- I'd prefer to stay in
Sorrento because of the greater transportation convenience, while my
wife would prefer to stay in Positano because it's prettier and
because (from what we've read) there is very little in-town traffic
there.) I guess that depends on a lot on whether or not the ferries
are running, and what the transit times are for ferries and for
buses (hence my earlier questions). If the beginning of June is
late enough for the ferries be running, I know we can take a ferry
right to Capri, so that's not a problem. But to get to Pompeii we'd
have to take a bus (or boat) to Sorrento and then a train to
Pompeii. I've checked out the Circumvesuviana website, and it looks
like a train from Sorrento to Pompeii takes about an hour all
together. However, I haven't been able to find anything about how
much time the SITA bus ride is from Positano to Sorrento.

Here's a link to the SITA schedules:
http://www.sita-on-line.it/CampaniaTPL.html
Scroll down to Quadro 14 for the Amalfi-Positano-Sorrento route. It looks
like the bus takes 40 minutes from Sorrento-Amalfi.

* Is it already too late to book a decent place to stay in Positano?

* And just how brutal are all those stairs in Positano? The pictures
I've seen, while beautiful, make it look very exhausting.

Positano is lovely, but very vertical. It's basically up or down to
anywhere from anywhere else. I tired of the perpetual up and down in just
the few hours we spent there one day. Sorrento is much better located for
visiting the entire area and one really doesn't need a car if staying there.

--
Rich Carreiro

Buon viaggio!
GG

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 22:44:02 -0400, Rich Carreiro wrote:

We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

Some questions:

* How bad is the traffic on the coast road that time of year?

I can tell you that even in April, Sunday morning is bad.

* Are we crazy to even think about driving that road ourselves?

Depends upon how crazy you are.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. But then, truth is, it's not for the faint of
heart. And we have driven in all sorts of places, such as Algiers, Sao
Paulo, Paris. Not Bombay though, which I am told is something else.

Put it this way: it's all about manhood. Mine is bigger than yours. :-)

On 17 Apr 2004 22:44:02 -0400, Rich Carreiro
wrote:

We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

http://www.metrodelmare.com/tariffe.html rates:
c.s. = corsa semplice = one way (max 12,00 euro)
a.s. = abbonamento settimanale = weekly fares

http://www.metrodelmare.com/inglese/l-mm1.html
http://www.metrodelmare.com/inglese/l-mm2.html
http://www.metrodelmare.com/inglese/l-mm3.html
http://www.metrodelmare.com/inglese/l-mm4.html
http://www.metrodelmare.com/inglese/l-mm5.html
http://www.metrodelmare.com/inglese/l-mm6.html
best,

Jiminy

Rich Carreiro schrieb:

We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

Some questions:

* How bad is the traffic on the coast road that time of year?

* Are we crazy to even think about driving that road ourselves?

We were there in December and the traffic was bad. It's hard to imagine,
but it must be worse in summer. Normally I much prefer driving to public
transport, but this was one place I changed my mind. The traffic is not
hazardous, it is just chaotic- jams in every town. The Naples-Sorrento
stretch is worse than the Amalfi coast side. It takes you all day to get
from Sorrento to Naples and back by car. Parking on the Amalfi coast
side is extremely limited.

T.

Rich Carreiro wrote:

We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

Some questions:

* How bad is the traffic on the coast road that time of year?

Very bad. The driver will, hopefully, see nothing and may require therapy.

* Are we crazy to even think about driving that road ourselves?

Insist that the person wanting to drive there do the work and be
forbidden from looking at anything but the road when moving.

* Is the hydrofoil service between the coastal towns operating at that
time of year? How expensive is it? Is the non-hydrofoil service
running that time of year? How expensive is it? (I do know about the
SITA buses, but I've always liked being on the water). How many times
a day do the hydrofoils and the regular ferries run? How much time
is the ride between Positano and Sorrento? Between Positano and
Amalfi?

* The guidebooks say the SITA buses run very often (around 12
times a day), but they give no details of travel times between
towns. How much time is the ride between Sorrento and Positano?
Between Positano and Amalfi?

* Assuming no car, how inconvenient is it to get to Pompeii and Capri
from Positano? (You see, we have a split -- I'd prefer to stay in
Sorrento because of the greater transportation convenience, while my
wife would prefer to stay in Positano because it's prettier and
because (from what we've read) there is very little in-town traffic
there.)

One point with the ferries is that in Sorrento they arrive well away
from the train station. Personally I prefer to stay in Sorrento and
visit the coast. We got a car & driver for a day trip that worked out
pretty well. I like the places in Sorrento out of town a bit. They
aren't too far out and you can take a taxi if you are in a hurry or upon
arrival/departure with luggage. Our view across the bay was wonderful.
The places in town tend to be expensive tourist boxes. FFM

I guess that depends on a lot on whether or not the ferries
are running, and what the transit times are for ferries and for
buses (hence my earlier questions). If the beginning of June is
late enough for the ferries be running, I know we can take a ferry
right to Capri, so that's not a problem. But to get to Pompeii we'd
have to take a bus (or boat) to Sorrento and then a train to
Pompeii. I've checked out the Circumvesuviana website, and it looks
like a train from Sorrento to Pompeii takes about an hour all
together. However, I haven't been able to find anything about how
much time the SITA bus ride is from Positano to Sorrento.

As you have figured the transit is pretty bad from Positano. It is a
lovely place but figure on staying there.

* Is it already too late to book a decent place to stay in Positano?

* And just how brutal are all those stairs in Positano? The pictures
I've seen, while beautiful, make it look very exhausting.

It's not too bad if you take it easy.

"Thomas Peel" wrote in message
...


Rich Carreiro schrieb:

We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

Some questions:

* How bad is the traffic on the coast road that time of year?

* Are we crazy to even think about driving that road ourselves?

We were there in December and the traffic was bad. It's hard to imagine,
but it must be worse in summer. Normally I much prefer driving to public
transport, but this was one place I changed my mind. The traffic is not
hazardous, it is just chaotic- jams in every town. The Naples-Sorrento
stretch is worse than the Amalfi coast side. It takes you all day to get
from Sorrento to Naples and back by car. Parking on the Amalfi coast
side is extremely limited.

Perhaps June is better. We were staying on the far side of Sorrento from
Naples last June and it took us one to two hours each way, but certainly
not all day. We drove to Pompeii for a day, and drove to Positano twice.
(From our side of Sorrento is was about 30 minutes, there is a garage in
Positano that seemed to have room normally.) In Sorrento we had a
favorite parking lot up throught the old town area. Our villa had it's own
parking. The distances are very short, so to us the traffic seemed bad,
but it sounds like it could have been worse. When we were there the
last week of June the traffic and parking was similar in diffuculties to
driving in San Francisco. (And the hydrofoils were running.)

"Rich Carreiro" wrote in message
...
We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

Some questions:
......................................(You see, we have a split -- I'd
prefer to stay in
Sorrento because of the greater transportation convenience, while my
wife would prefer to stay in Positano because it's prettier and
because (from what we've read) there is very little in-town traffic
there.)

You know, Sorrento isn't exactly ugly. All that volcanic ash makes for lush
growing conditions. We stayed in town in the Bellevue Syrene with not
only a view but a balcony hanging out over the Gulf of Naples. I prefer
intown locations: more restaurants near by, gelato, ATMs, easier trans-
portation connections.

And, in addition to visiting Pompeii, we took the Circumvenusiana back to
Naples, where we visited the Archeological Museum, which has a lot of the
stuff dug up at Pompeii.

Sorrento has more and cheaper hotels. Positano has chic and expensive
shops.

I guess it depends on whether you want to spend more time in one spot
(Positano)
or maximize your sightseeing. Or you could split the 4 days, 2 and 2.

Marianne

I got married last year in Italy and spent the honeymoon in Sorrento
and the Amalfi Coast. It was September so the crowds had thinned a
bit. We stayed in Sorrento for four days. We used it as a base as we
found Sorrento itself quite touristy and half a day was enough to
wander the nework of streets. We stayed in the Hotel Tramontana (a bit
too upmarket for my liking but it was our honeymoon) We found a
fantastic local place to eat, if you walk past the Tramontana on your
right and keep going after about five minutes you come to a local
square, you then have to walk down some steep steps but it leads to a
little fishing village that servered the most amazing fish dishes!!The
train to Pompeii was about an Hour but is chep and easy to navigate,
you buy your tickets in the shop next to the train station. Pompeii
its self is a whole days outing to do it justice, it is very hot and
there is little shade so take plent of water. Many of the streets are
just that and after a while one ruin tends to look like another. Make
sure you get a site map at the entrance they are free. Personally I
found Ercolano(Herculaneum)more intersting and manageable. We combined
Herculaneum with a climb to the sumit of Vesuvious (it is possbile to
do both)Set of early and get a bus from outside the train station stay
celar of the taxis and taxi buses as they were a complete rip off. As
for the Hydrofoil they were regular from Sorrento to Capri (one day
there was enough - very hilly and full of tourists follw your nose and
you'll end up at some butiful spots tourist free, likeiwse the beers
far cheaper off the beateb track.

As for the Amalfi Coast the drive is a must to Positano either by bus
or Sita coach, if you want to get good views from Sorrento to positano
(and are not afraid of heights make sure you sit on the right hand
side by a window!!!!I preferred Positano to Capri but again it's very
expensive. I'd recommend getting off the bus at the top and walking
down to admire the views. We then got a boat (not hydrofoil although
they do go) back to Sorrento to admire the views from the sea.
Fantastic.

Have fun
Rae

"GG" wrote in message
...

"Rich Carreiro" wrote in message
...
We're looking to be in the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast area for 4 days
(give or take a day) in either the first or second week of June.

Some questions:

* How bad is the traffic on the coast road that time of year?

* Are we crazy to even think about driving that road ourselves?

We drove it one-way from Vietri to Sorrento. Very slowly and carefully.
The driver doesn't get to sightsee much even from the inside lane. When
we
reached our hotel in Praiano we parked the car and didn't use it again
until
our departure. We found it much more relaxing to let the SITA bus drivers
provide our transportation.

* Is the hydrofoil service between the coastal towns operating at that
time of year? How expensive is it? Is the non-hydrofoil service
running that time of year? How expensive is it? (I do know about the
SITA buses, but I've always liked being on the water). How many times
a day do the hydrofoils and the regular ferries run? How much time
is the ride between Positano and Sorrento? Between Positano and
Amalfi?

* The guidebooks say the SITA buses run very often (around 12
times a day), but they give no details of travel times between
towns. How much time is the ride between Sorrento and Positano?
Between Positano and Amalfi?

* Assuming no car, how inconvenient is it to get to Pompeii and Capri
from Positano? (You see, we have a split -- I'd prefer to stay in
Sorrento because of the greater transportation convenience, while my
wife would prefer to stay in Positano because it's prettier and
because (from what we've read) there is very little in-town traffic
there.) I guess that depends on a lot on whether or not the ferries
are running, and what the transit times are for ferries and for
buses (hence my earlier questions). If the beginning of June is
late enough for the ferries be running, I know we can take a ferry
right to Capri, so that's not a problem. But to get to Pompeii we'd
have to take a bus (or boat) to Sorrento and then a train to
Pompeii. I've checked out the Circumvesuviana website, and it looks
like a train from Sorrento to Pompeii takes about an hour all
together. However, I haven't been able to find anything about how
much time the SITA bus ride is from Positano to Sorrento.

Here's a link to the SITA schedules:
http://www.sita-on-line.it/CampaniaTPL.html
Scroll down to Quadro 14 for the Amalfi-Positano-Sorrento route. It looks
like the bus takes 40 minutes from Sorrento-Amalfi.

* Is it already too late to book a decent place to stay in Positano?

* And just how brutal are all those stairs in Positano? The pictures
I've seen, while beautiful, make it look very exhausting.

Positano is lovely, but very vertical. It's basically up or down to
anywhere from anywhere else. I tired of the perpetual up and down in just
the few hours we spent there one day. Sorrento is much better located for
visiting the entire area and one really doesn't need a car if staying
there.

--
Rich Carreiro

Buon viaggio!
GG

Oops - I need to correct the time I stated for Sorrento-Amalfi. That takes
1h30. It's Sorrento-Positano that takes 40 minutes.

GG