I'll be in Italy from mid-May to the very start of June and wondered how critical a/c will be in accommodations (e.g. Venice, Rome, Naples).
Also, and I know there are plenty of people who will recommend against this, but we need to stay 1 night in Naples (the other 2 will be in Salerno). The RS book implies that the buses in Naples are to be avoided, yet it sounds like cabs will try to rip you off (and we are on a tight budget). There are hostels near the port that I was considering, but we'd need to bus or cab to them.
Has anyone stayed in Naples, either near the train station or near the port? Or used the buses when they had baggage (1 carry-on each)? What do you think - are we better off sticking to one of the recommended places nearer the train station for the one night or braving the bus to get to the hostels?
Finally, the book says the buses going around the Amalfi coast get so crowded you may not even get on the first available bus - or sometimes any bus - unless you start at 6:30am. Does anyone know if it is already that crowded on June 1 (which is the first day of "Middle Season" for the ferries, for some reason, even though it seems like high season for everything else)? Or might we have a shot of making it around the Amalfi coast by bus starting in Sorrento at around 3p w/o having to wait in line for a bus for hours?
Does it matter which direction we go - Amalfi to Sorrento or Sorrento to Amalfi - as long as we're on the correct (outside) side of the bus? Is the view better in one direction or the other?
Sorry for so many questions! Thank you in advance for your help!