We are two couples in our mid 60’s making our second visit to Italy from Canada. On our first trip, we explored Rome, Florence, Tuscany regions.
On this 16 day trip starting the third week of September 2017 we have booked seven nights in Furore, centrally located on the Amalfi coast. On the next seven nights, we want to take in the Gargano Peninsula, Loreto Aprutino, Teramo, the beautiful scenery & history of the Adriatic region. We are then adding two days for air travel
We do not want to have a car along the Amalfi coast and are fine to explore on our own. As we leave the Amalfi Coast is it best to rent a car or would train travel be a good & scenic option. If train travel is an option would renting a car for a few days make sense to visit some of the small villages or national parks?
We are looking for a couple of base locations as we prefer not to change accommodations too often. We prefer self-catering villas or apartments with outdoor terraces to relax after a day of exploring. What towns or quieter areas would be good options for this?
We have not booked our flights yet but our idea is to fly into Naples & out of Rome.
Any suggestions on the car rental & base location would be much appreciated.
Thank you
Posted by
Washington DC
27237 posts
I trust that you have checked the precise location of your Furore lodgings. I'm not familiar with that little town, but I found this information by Googling:
"Be warned that if you're planning to visit Furore without a car, you should be prepared for the road and height distances within the settlement. The main road zigzags up around 600m, and from the Fiord to the top of the village is the distance between sea-level and mountains, where it snows in winter.
"If you're using public transport to arrive in Furore, head first for Amalfi. The Amalfi-Agerola bus service runs through Furore - check what stop you need or you may have a long walk up or downhil..."
I think the Gargano area will be difficult without a car, but I've just passed through there for one night on two occasions and haven't tried settling in. I suggest putting together a sequential list of the places you want to stay or day-trip to and using Rome2Rio.com to get an idea of how the transportation might play out. If you keep drilling down you'll usually find a link to the bus company operating the route you're investigating. If not, you can Google "Bus X to Y".
There's not great train service crossing southern Italy from West to East. It appears that your best bet (aside from a rental car) might be to return to Naples and get a bus to Foggia, from which there's onward rail as well as bus service to Manfredonia.
Posted by
OP
Northern Ontario, Canada
7 posts
Thank you acraven, for the research & travel planning tips.
The Rome2Rio.com site is a helpful site for the transit links. After your comments & some research, we have decided to rent a car for week two. It seems using public transit in the south of Italy would be very limiting & time-consuming.
We spent a lot of time searching for accommodation & decided on Furore. There is frequent bus service close by so we are hoping with this & hiring a ride now and then we should be fine.