Alternatives to Sorrento…open to ideas

Many folks here are recommending Salerno as a less crowded area on the AC. I'm not sure how you'd get to the Naples airport for your flight, but there is good ( not regional) train service from Rome. I haven't done this, wish I had last year instead of the way we did the AC. I'm sure the experts will chime in. Enjoy your adventure.

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Many on here LOVE Sorrento. It is really not so big, but it is touristy. After traveling in lots of Italy, it was the first place that we sat down to eat that they brought salt and pepper shakers to set on the table. (A minor but telling action).

It can be enjoyable, a bit difficult to get to, but handy for Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, and ferries to Capri and elsewhere.

There really is not much nearby that is less touristy, or smaller. Naples to the North, The Amalfi coast the only other way out.

You might look in the Salerno area, a decent size town, but you have a coast that stretches to the South, fewer tourists, some beach options. You might be able to find a nice B&B or apartment rental with a pool and access to the beach. Naples and the Amalfi Coast not too far, the Temples at Paestum nearby.

We actually stayed in Piano di Sorrento, one train station closer to Naples than Sorrento itself.

We spent one night before getting to the Sorrento area by staying in Salerno, which is at the east end of the Amalfi coast, whereas Sorrento is to the west. It was a nice one-nighter, and with a different schedule, more nights in Salerno would’ve been enjoyable.

Everywhere you are going in Italy will be "touristy." If you really want to get away from tourists, in June, you are going to have to put in some time and effort to accomplish that. Italy is popular, very popular. Sorrento is not big, and is quite pleasant - which is why it's popular. I would not be put off by it being "too busy and touristy" - unless you know of some better, secret place that others don't (hint: there are no more "secrets", thank you, internet...).

You are not reckoning with the dense traffic on limited road space from May to September on the Amalfi Coast. You will regret having a car when you try to park it on your day by the water. You are also confusing rural places with no tourism with one of the highest occupancy areas of Southern Italy.

The reason people stay in Sorrento is the public transit options. We stayed there, even though we know it is a postwar, purpose-built, reinforced concrete resort town. It's a great place for daytrips.

Edit: Unfortunately, public transportation is not the answer to the microscopic number of parking spaces; there are more people in line for the SITA bus than will fit on the next, half-hourly, departure. As another notes here, we spend a few hundred Euros on a car and driver for 8 hours on the AC, pickup at our Sorrento hotel. It made the AC "survey" a pleasure. BTW, I found Positano a disappointment. Luxury European boutiques (that exist in Rome and Paris) in a pretty setting are still an array of shops I don't go into.

Maiori and Minori come to mind for me as possibilities, although I've only visited them on daytrips. Has anyone stayed in either of those who could offer an opinion? I would certainly advised against car rental.

Can you change this trip and stay in the north? Santa Margherita Ligure is closer to Tuscany and is on the coast, you could do daytrips by train to other towns or to the CT. In the same area is Lerici which is often overlooked by American tourists but is within a few miles of CT.

With what you have planned now it's likely going to take much of Saturday to get to Sorrento assuming you drop the car somewhere and take the train from Rome onwards. So that leaves 4 days. Sorrento has a bus to the Naples airport but give yourselves at least 3 hours between the time the bus arrives at the Naples airport and your flight to allow for any delays; hopefully you have a noon or later flight. Staying elsewhere in the region as you ask may make it difficult to make your flight depending on the connections you can find into Naples.

If you can't change your Naples flight then Sorrento is going to be ok; certainly not as crowded as Venice is going to be. Another option to throw out is Puglia, although I'm hesitant to recommend it to first-time Italy visitors.

We are currently in Rome after four days in Sorrento. It is definitely off season until Easter weekend and even then I would never consider driving there and we are very big fans of renting a car. We hired a driver for our day trips and it was the best money we spent. Even in off season we came across tourists renting cars unable to negotiate their way around the curves with the SITA and tourist busses. It was crazy. I’ve never been in prime tourist season so I can only imagine how bad it could be. If you are relying on public transportation I’d make that my first consideration then go from there. That said, Praiano was recommended as a lesser touristy town to visit. Not sure of the public transportation options are outside of the bus but being not touristy and beaches seem to be an unlikely combo. Insanely gorgeous area that we will definitely be back to if you know what you are getting into. That said, we really enjoyed Naples as well. I wasn’t expecting to. Another note, Herculaneum might be the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. My 8 & 9 year old kids can’t stop talking about it.

From my 2022 trip report. Your description sounds like Salerno might be what you’re looking for in a location. It’s very easy to take the fast direct Frecciarossa train from Florence or Rome to Salerno.

”Salerno – 2 nights: When I shared our experience of Salerno with my husband during a FaceTime call, he remarked, “You know, you’re having the Back Door experience that Rick Steves intended when he began his tours.” I do like to gravitate towards the lesser traveled routes, so Salerno was more appealing to me than Sorrento. Also, I really wanted to see Paestum after finding it during on-line research. I highly recommend Casa Santangelo, the former summer home of marquis Santangelo from Naples. I booked the family suite, so we could stretch out a bit at this location. Our two-room suite was perfect for our daughter to see the grand elegant past (my room is on their website - spectacular original gold walls & painted ceiling of pre-eruption Pompeii!) Our host commented that we chose wisely to be able to experience “authentic South Italy”, not just “tourist South Italy” on the Amalfi Coast. We walked down to the boardwalk and caught the end of a windsurfing competition in the bay, meandered along the old town lanes and dressed up for the Saturday night passeggiata that didn’t disappoint! Our last evening, we had reservations at the Osteria dei Mercanti restaurant in the old center and enjoyed both the food and the family running the restaurant. The owner told us a couple of times to be sure to go up to Ravello.”

”Day-trip to Paestum: An easy 30-minute train ride from Salerno, and we were walking the well-marked lane to the Greek ruins of Paestum. What an amazing experience – first seeing these 500 BC temples in such great shape, and then being able to walk up to them & even climb up inside the Neptune Temple! They are mammoth in size and some of the best preserved in the world. As you would expect by now, we arrived when they were opening and enjoyed a leisurely lunch afterwards of the local Buffalo mozzarella topping a fresh salad and an appetizer charcuterie of Buffalo blue cheese, etc. – delicious!”

”Amalfi – 3 nights: We took the ferry from Salerno over to Amalfi. Amalfi surprised us. We were expecting cuteness and a lot of lanes, but it was mostly one main road up through the town. Unfortunately, it made for a very crowded main street beyond the piazza which included impatient cars & motorcycles vying for space, trying to get up the steep hill. Pedestrians don’t have the right-of-way here! We enjoyed restaurants further up the hill – one with a network of lemon trees as the shade cover – lovely! And we had the best pizza of our trip at one of the piazza restaurants, enjoying the evening view. We took the ferry over to Positano our second day and the bus up to Ravello for our third day. Our efficient apartment in Amalfi, Arco della Rua, was nicely located over a formal restaurant, just past the archway over the main street. The furnishings were nice, including fun bathroom tile choices.”

”Day-trip to Positano: We took the ferry over to Positano to enjoy wandering the town for a few hours. We preferred the layout of Positano, and there were nice shops and viewpoints.”

”Day-trip to Ravello: What a special day! We took an early bus up to Ravello and relaxed with our normal breakfast routine of espresso & a croissant crema in the quaint piazza, waiting for the gardens to open. Since we were the first two people going into the Villa Rufolo gardens, we were able to enjoy those spectacular views & gardens privately. After enjoying all of it, we lingered at a bench for twenty minutes in the shade, overlooking the iconic dual spired building below us and the water far below. It was one of those snapshot-in-time mental pictures to enjoy.”

I lived in Salerno and will always recommend it....

I also HATE SITA buses along the coast.....(I have also only taken the SITA bus from Amalfi to Salerno ONE TIME and that was enough for me)

Therefore I love staking ferries to the locations on the Amalfi Coast, Amalfi and Positano and even the long ferry to Capri. On my trips, I usually take a ferry to Amalfi (my FAV town on the coast) and then the last two times we took either a bus to Ravello to explore or Bomerano to start the Path of the Gods (BUSES STILL SO PACKED). We take the ferry back to Salerno, and relax in a city that has tourists, but has a "real life" beyond tourists. You feel like you're where real Italians live (where you are surprised when you hear English being spoken) and get to enjoy just "being" in town with life happening around you.

Salerno has the lungomare along the water, which I LOVE so much, a nice long stroll with the locals every evening is so neat. Since the city is so long, the "mare" is "lungo" too, its a nice long stroll :) The beaches aren't great, but being by the water is neat. Even if the sun isn't out, sometimes you can marvel at the views and watch the pretty storm clouds and the wind causing the waves to crash along the rocks.

If you are wanting a pool, I know that there are some hotels near Paestum (I think my friend had her wedding reception at one? the "pre reception" was on the pool deck) that have pools, but although I haven't been, many people go to the beach at Paestum.

Another option is for you to explore yourselves via boat. I have rented a boat twice from Salerno and just stopped at random beaches (and paid for a spot at the dock in Amalfi) to go swimming, which was SO NEAT.