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Amalfi coast - best place to stay?

We are planning to stay 4 nights in the amalfi coast area at the start of September. We would like to go to capri, pompeii, and explore some of the towns along the amalfi coast. We will be coming from Rome. I'm looking for suggestions on where to stay. We are planning to rent an apartment or villa and have found some great possibilities on vrbo/etc...but I'm wondering about location on the amalfi coast. I like the appeal of staying in a smaller town, but will it be inconvenient for those day trips? Thanks for any advice. This will be our first time to Amalfi Coast.

Posted by
189 posts

A great Rick steeves poster recommended Sorrento as a home base in 2010 when we visited for about a week .. We stayed at hotel sorrento downtown-and took ferry to naples, train to Pompei, bus to Amalfi and water taxi to Capri. What better location could you want?

Mike

DC

Posted by
54 posts

Sorrento is a great home base. We were there in 2010 and stayed at the Grand Cesare Augusto. It was older, but very clean and a 3 minute walk from the "downtown" area.

Posted by
1446 posts

We visited the sites you mentioned in 2013 and based ourselves in Sorrento. I really wanted to stay in Positano and was hesitant to base in Sorrento because I thought Positano seemed more quaint and pretty but in the end, I was *really * glad we stayed in Sorrento. Sorrento is a great town. We stayed at the Palazzo Montefusco Relais hotel right off the main piazza and in the pedestrian-only part of town. We loved walking down to Marina Grande at night and window-shopping in the pedestrian-only area with a gelato in hand after dinner. We were within walking distance to both marinas, the main piazza, train station, etc., and ended up really falling in love with Sorrento. It was the ideal base for visiting Pompeii, Capri, the Amalfi Coast, etc. We used a private driver for a day tour along the Amalfi Coast and therefore didn't need to worry about transportation connections from Sorrento along the coast. We also used a driver and tour guide to visit Herculaneum & Pompeii on another day. In getting to Sorrento, we attempted to take the Circumvesuviana from Naples to Sorrento but it was during peak season and we unfortunately had a lot of luggage/photo gear and it was impossible to get on the train. Herds of people crammed the platform and when the train came, they pushed and shoved their way onto the train and we didn't have a snowball's chance of getting on the train with our luggage. We tried 3 times and gave up, went upstairs and hailed a taxi to take us to Sorrento. Even if we had managed to get on the train, it was standing room only & there was no A/C and my husband rejected the notion of trying a 4th time and talked me into getting a taxi instead.

Posted by
7175 posts

If it was purely for beauty you would choose Positano over Sorrento.
However, when you add in ease of logistics (and cost perhaps), then Sorrento definitely wins overall.
This is especially the case for those venturing to Pompeii and Naples from their home base.

Posted by
1003 posts

For logistics i agree that Sorrento is a great place to stay. Have been to A.C. 3x and we have always stayed in Sorrento. There is a lovely old town to shop, eat and wander. Pompeii & Herculaneum are easily accessible by train and Capri, Positano & Amalfi town by boat. We enjoyed wandering down to Marina Grande and had a fabulous meal at Delfino's.

Posted by
11613 posts

Sorrento is not on the Amalfi Coast. If you want to stay on the Amalfi Coast, why base yourself an hour away?

I like Praiano or Atrani. To visit Pompeii and Capri, Sorrento is more convenient. I visit those places from Napoli.

Posted by
32171 posts

Sorrento may not "officially" be on the Amalfi Coast, but it's one of the best "home bases" to use for visiting that area as it has a good choice of hotels and also good transportation links. For example.....

  • Pompeii - take the Circumvesuviana direct to Pompeii Scavi (about an hour as I recall)
  • Capri - take the Ferry from Sorrento
  • Positano - take the bus from Sorrento or even a Taxi
  • Explore some of the towns along the Amalfi Coast - with only three touring days there and as you also want to visit Pompeii and Capri, you won't have time to see a lot of them. I'd suggest hiring a private driver for one day such as the Monetti Taxi listed in the guidebook, as that will allow you to get to various locations in the minimal time possible (as opposed to trying to do that via public transit).
Posted by
365 posts

I have stayed in both and Sorrento t is a better choice for exploring the region.
Lorieann

Posted by
52 posts

I was just there a week ago and would say this.. Stay anywhere but Amalfi itself as Amalfi is one of the only spots tour buses can park to let their hordes of day visitors off, which we found to be a tad annoying. Positano and Ravello were far more relaxing.

Enjoy your trip!

Posted by
104 posts

Sorrento may not technically be on the Amalfi coast but it has beautiful views and the convenience of the ferry and bus. We hired a driver and did Pompeii with a guide and lunch in Amalfi. Drove the coast and had a wonderful day.