Amalfi Coast

You can fly into Rome (FCO) or Naples (NAP). From Rome you would take a train from the termini train station to Naples, then board the circumvesuviana commuter train to Sorrento. Sorrento would be an ideal place to stay. There are busses and ferries from there where you can see the Amalfi coast, or hire a local guide. Other things to see while in the area are Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum, and Capri.

I haven't actually been yet, but am busy planning my own trip to Sorrento in October.

My favorite town is Ravello, although, because of its location, I wouldn't stay there. There are two beautiful villas with gardens that you can visit. Also, one of them has an ongoing concert series. We had a good experience visiting Paestum with Golden Tours. A bus picked us up in Sorrento, and we toured Salerno (mostly just the duomo), then continued on. The guide was good; and the price, 40 euros/pp, reasonable.

Fly into Naples, then take the bus, http://www.curreriviaggi.it/inglese/E_index.html , to Sorrento.

It's located right outside the airport terminal, costs 10 euros and takes about 1h20m.

Sorrento is the easiest base for transportation to the coast. Busses, ferries and the Circumvesuvian train

make the entire area within easy reach.

If you have not yet booked a hotel, take a look at http://www.ilnido.com/

I would alot at least 2 days to Naples. Maybe a day trip to Caserta Palace, 1 day for Pompeii or Herculenum

The remainder to the Amalfi Coast. Amalfi, winding streets, & the Duomo,and Ravello gardens and views.

Vietri sul Mare has a pleasant beach and fabulous ceramics.

Positano has wonderful views but lots of hills.

A ferry trip to Capri

With the amount of time you will have in the area, you may want to look at the...

http://www.campaniartecard.it/ It gives you free entry to 2 sites, plus transportation in the whole area for 3

days.

I would stay in Sorrento. The Circumvesuviana train ends in Sorrento making it easy to get from Naples to Sorrento via the train, whereas if you want to stay in Positano or another town, you need to take a bus or arrange alternate transportation from Sorrento to the other towns. Sorrento is not just a convenient hub, it's also a great town. It's very walkable and pretty.

I suggest spending one day in Capri (you can take the hydrofoil from Sorrento to Capri). I suggest spending another day in Pompeii or Pompeii & Herculaneum. Herculaneum is better preserved than Pompeii and more manageable and it helped that we saw Herculaneum before visiting Pompeii. You'll no doubt want to spend town in the Amalfi Coast towns (Positano, Ravello, Amalfi, etc.). Since you have 9 days in the area, you can take go at a leisurely pace and perhaps cover 1-2 towns per day. You might also consider visiting the temples in Paestum. I wish we had visited them but just didn't have enough time! You can take the bus from Sorrento to each town (though in September, be prepared for the buses to be very crowded) or you can take a ferry.

I'm not sure if you're interested in spending any time in Naples or not but at the very least you should spend a few hours at the Archaeological Museum there. That's where all the artifacts are housed from Herculaneum & Pompeii. It's fascinating. We had a great tour guide for our time at the Archaeological Museum & she really brought it to life.

My husband & I spent 4 days in Sorrento this past September and hired private drivers/guides for Pompeii/Herculaneum & a day tour along the Amalfi Coast. If you're interested, I can give you their names/contact info but we had to consolidate all the Amalfi Coast towns into 1 day since we only had 4 days in the area; since you will be there 9 days, you probably won't need a driver for the coast.

I agree with Rosalyn that Ravello is the best town. We are staying there for a week this September. Rick Steve's recommends Positano, but it's just too touristy for me. I love a day trip there, but not to stay. We stay at places on the terraced landscape of Ravello. You have to be in good shape for that though because there are lots of stairs to hike from village to village. The Amalfi coast is famous for the hiking. We are also doing an all day cooing course at Mamma Agata's and can't wait for that! You can also take the hydro foil to Capri for the day and visit the blue grotto. The best part though is just watching that surreal view of the Mediterranean. Beautiful!

In nine days you can spend a night or two in Naples, a few days in Sorrento (daytrips to Pompeii and/or Ercolano), a few nights on the Amalfi Coast (Sorrento is not a substitute if you have time to spend on the Amalfi Coast), and a night or two in Paestum (fabulous Greek ruins, very good small museum, mozzarella farms and a beach).

Thank you so much for answering my questions. Happy Traveling!!