amalfi coast

We find the weather too warm for us in September and now pay our autumn visit in mid October. It is still very busy in September and October is not exactly quiet, just pleasantly busy. Over the last 30 years we have found that the season has got longer and longer! Am in Sorrento at the moment, watching a spectacular thunderstorm over the Bay of Naples.

I agree w/ NG. The amalfi coast is dead beautiful. The coastal road, the villages along the way and the sights. Sept would be perfect as there would be much fewer tourists and cooler temps.. We stay in Sorrento and take bus along amalfi coast and ferry back to Sorrento for views from waters edge.. See Capri, Sorrento, Naples, Pompeii, Positano, Amalfi town, Ravello while you are there. Do not miss it and stay at least 5 days.

Hi Sue, the Amalfi Coast is spectacularly beautiful! I've been twice (1996 and 1998) and I am returning again next July. I can't wait! This time we are staying for one week in Positano; although most people recommend Sorrento as a base, due to ease of transportation for day trips. My brother just went at the end of September and found the temperatures were a little too cold for the pool/beach, but they had a wonderful time anyway. You can find restaurant reviews for the various towns along the coast on Trip Advisor. You must also visit the Island of Capri which is a short ferry ride from the Amalfi Coast. It is also incredibly beautiful.

I agree with the poster above about staying in Positano over Sorrento, especially if you're coming there after touring a more hectic area. Positano just makes you feel like you're in a land more removed from ordinary than Sorrento does. It's just as easy to see the coast from Positano as it is from Sorrento, and if you want to see Pompeii you just add a 40 min. bus trip to the train ride there.

Sorrento is not the least bit "ordinary". It is just as spectacular and wonderful as Positano, and even more so imo. It's also much easier to get to other spectacular places from Sorrento than from Positano. Sorrento is our favorite place in all of Italy.

The views from the road are gorgeous, but they are even better if you are not driving. I've taken the bus and glad I was seated on the right side southbound and left side northbound.

I traveled the Amalfi coast by bus in March during an outrageously bad winter rain storm. Due to road construction, we had to exit the bus and walk about a kilometer to get the next one, all during the raging storm with waves lashing the rocks below us. We stopped in Amalfi, had a fabulous lunch at a small trattoria filled with school kids, and continued on (through hail) to Salerno and then Paestum with its Greek temples. Despite the bad weather, the Amalfi coast was spectacular and I would go back in a heartbeat. Even so,it was a great adventure!

The Amalfi Coast is a wonderful drive... and one of our favorite drives in Italy. We enjoy Postiano and from the water, it's an incredible photograph! Parts of Positano have become touristy (but I guess that's to be expected). We love Sorrento - or rather the outskirts of Sorrento - Here's a link with pictures of "driving" the Amalfi and also a hotel we often stay at just outside Sorrento http://tinyurl.com/sorrento-trip*

We stayed at a beautiful place in Sorrento hills call Villa Oriana and they arranged a driver to drive down the coast as it is very difficult to drive if you are unfamilar. We drive all over Italy however this drive was worth the driver as we could enjoy the sites. We told him where we wanted to stop (Amalfi, Positano, Ravello) and it was wonderful. The B&B is owned by Maria and her son Pasquale and they truly make you feel at home, tour guide to Pompeii, ride to town, call out for pizza (never a problem for them to set up)and Maria makes wonderful breakfast cakes. Also I would take the ferry over to Ischia, a beautiful island that is not as crazy as Capri. Enjoy

I drove the Amalfi Coast drive in May a couple of years ago and plan on going back in (late) September of next year. We arrived in Salerno (NOT Naples!) by train and rented from the train station and drove UP the coast where we stayed in Amalfi. We rented a brand new C Class Mercedes (expected a B Class). The road is windy and twisty and you need to learn how to use the convex mirrors at every corner. They let you know what's coming! Driving it is a sweaty palmed experience as you literally turn left and then right, left and right, left and right, etc...repeatedly. As soon as you straighten the wheel, you are immediately into another turn in the opposite direction. None of it is straight. The only bad thing about driving UP the coast is that you have tour buses traveling in the opposite direction. They are only allowed to drive DOWN the coast. This creates a big problem when you encounter one on the road. These are big buses. On one encounter we had to back down the hillside to a "wider" spot in the road. We turned in our side mirrors and got as close to the rocky cliff face as we could. Still, there was LITERALLY only an inch or two between the side of the bus and our car. When we got to our hotel, we found that parking was at a "premium" and driving up the coast to Positano, parking was scarce and expensive. It's doable, but unless you are from someplace where the drivers are already bat-shit crazy (like Dallas) you will have difficulty negotiating traffic. Some of Salerno's traffic intersections did not have stop signs or stop lights. You just roll up, slow down, and play chicken. Our GPS also got us stuck in morning traffic in downtown Salerno on our return trip. That was interesting. You just aim for a hole and stick your nose into it.

I didn't find the drive on the Amalfi coast particularly difficult, and I found lots of places to stop and admire the scenery. Found one particular shrine made with all sorts of dolls! I think that driving the Amalfi Coast road pales into insignificance compared with driving along the beach road below Villefranche sur Mer. On that one I had both mirrors in both sides both ways, and again going up into the town.

Hi Sue, My husband and I spent a week on the Amalfi Coast this last September and used Positano as our home base. We absolutely loved Positano and are very glad we chose to stay there. It's not as big as Sorrento, but had everything we needed. We had no trouble taking boats or buses to visit Capri, Sorrento, Pompeii, Amalfi, Ravelo and the Ruins in Paestum. I can see why the Amalfi Coast would be named one of the 10 most scenic drives, as it is spectacular, but both my husband and I decided that leaving the driving to the bus drivers was definitely something we were glad we did. Not only did this allow my husband to be able to view the scenery, but just the bus drive itself was a memorable moment that added to our trip! The weather during the middle of September was pretty warm, and no rain (at least while we were there). We were also warned about mosquitoes, but had no problem with them at all, and we slept with our windows open. We used www.SummerinItaly.com, and were very impressed with their service. We rented a small apartment (Villa Sebastiana A)with a balcony, that had the most gorgeous view. We had many great meals there, but if you go, be sure to take the small Positano interno bus that goes up to the small town of Montepertuso and eat at Il Retrovo (hope I spelled it right). The food was great, and they were very friendly and the service was great. After lunch we decided to skip taking the bus back down, and walked down the steps back to Positano. It only took us about 1/2 hr., the walk and scenery were well worth it, and to our delight, the steps came out right around the corner from our apartment, couldn't have worked out any better.
Enjoy your trip!