Amalfi Coast drive in less than 2 weeks...SCARED TO DEATH!!!!

Consider staying and/or parking in Sorrento, then take the public bus. You really do not need a car for Sorrento, Positano, Capri, Ravello. Walking is the best. In fact parking won't be easy along the coast. When you do park you will be walking anyway. Public bus is very clean,carefree, low cost and frequest. Then you can relax. there really are no adequate pull outs on amalfi coast road anyway.Hope this is an alternate for you.

You can return the car to Orvieto(or not pick one up, then train to Naples and get on the little train to Sorrento and ferry to Positano. Nice on the ferry

Driving on the Sorrento peninsula was some of the scariest driving we've ever done - inside the old town centres with VERY narrow streets and VERY little room to move. Our Fiat Bravo (about the size of a VW Golf) was one of the largest cars in sight - for good reason!

However, the drive along the Amalfi Coast was surprisingly non-eventful. The road is well maintained and not nearly as narrow as the roads in the small towns. There are lots of spots where there's ample room to stop, get out and enjoy the views. Especially good for the driver who will need her eyes on the road while driving without being able to see much of the coast. No, it's certainly not an easy-going autostrada. I'd compare it to other kinds of mountain driving. If you've ever done any mountain driving in the Rockies or in Alps you'll be fine. If not park the car and take a bus.

Hubby's favourite moment was when he passed a British Porsche who probably really felt out of place with his right hand steering. I would have left that kind of car in a parking lot in Sorrento! But a small Fiat with the steering on the left does the job just fine ;-)

I also recommend the public bus. It is still pretty frightening along those curves - but beautiful.
I 've done the bus twice once from Sorrento and this past Nov. from Positano.
It's cheap and timely -
I recommend it.
Frances

"We actually did have one somewhat bad experience with the rental car in Italy: dinged it when we ended up in a much too narrow street in Sorrento"
...........LOL.....Same here, the GPS said trun right so I did; right into a street that was so tight we could not have opened our car doors. It was the only time I saw a Rat in Italy; he mush have been saying "tourista". I was able to back up and get us home, but WOW that was close.

Sasha - I suggest you listen to posters above and find an alternative to your Amalfi Coast drive. We have driven parts of this twice now. My husband is a VERY confident driver so I have never felt anything but exhileration but if you are so nervous about doing this I really don't think you will enjoy it. You won't end up in the water but you will be driving so slowly that you'll feel the wrath of the other drivers (thereby adding to your anxiety) and/or gripping the steering wheel so hard that you'll be exhausted by the time you are done!

Also - you will be driving during the height of tourist season. When we have been there we have had to forgo stopping where we thought we would go because it was so crowded and we could not figure out how to get any parking. We also stayed in Positano and had to get the hotel people to direct us in as the streets are so narrow and parking is so difficult.

I am really not trying to scare you further and I am one of those who is often trying to encourage people to drive in Europe, but if there is someway that you can change things I think you will feel much less stressed.

I just did the drive a few weeks ago, and its no big deal.
Other than getting carsick you have nothing to fear. I did not see any spots where you would just plunge off into the sea. Just take your time and don’t speed and you will be fine. I had my kids in the car and I would not put them into danger. We even came back in the dark and it was just fine. The drive off the road and down into the town of Positano was the worst part of the drive, its got a few hair pin turns that are hard to maneuver. However you are going 10 MPH down the road so again your not in any mortal danger. I am very Pro-Driving so take that into account.

Kent: I'm actually glad that there are at least some people here that do drive in Europe. It's quite astonishing how almost every poster that mentions a car gets the response to leave it and take the train instead.

I'd also say: the train can be great but it's not for everyone!

In fact, when I'm travelling by myself I really enjoy leaving traffic jams behind and take the train. My kids love the occasional train ride as well. But when we travel as a family it usually ends up being much cheaper AND more convenient to take a car. And I very much appreciate that with a car it's much easier to stay in places off the beaten track.

We actually did have one somewhat bad experience with the rental car in Italy: dinged it when we ended up in a much too narrow street in Sorrento. But a friendly Italian drove the car out of the tight spot for us and Visa Gold is covering the expenses. We did get stuck with a 100 Euro in extra taxi fares because of all this but even in hindsight we still wouldn't have done it any other way. It just adds to our appreciation of the Italian way of life. Those drivers aren't maniacs, they actually know what they're doing in very complex traffic conditions.

Kent, that's just why I tried to be a bit more specific in my answer rather than just saying "do it" or "take the bus". I still think this particular drive was much less scary than what I had expected after reading the postings on the helpline before our trip.

Our scariest driving experience was a completely different one that had nothing to do with road conditions. We were driving back to the agriturismo at night after being out for dinner. And in front of us was a car that was driving all over the place. The driver must have been intoxicated, that was the only explanation we could think of. Pure luck that this car didn't get into a head-on collision. So we just made sure to stay WELL behind. But that's the kind of situation that is independent from where in the world you are driving.

While we had no trouble at all - we do live in Colorado and are well practiced with windy road travel...

If you are THIS scared - then ditch your car and take the train/bus/or ferry to Positano. You won't enjoy the drive if you are afraid and huddled on the floor.

Not sure which route you are planning - Positano is on the "tip" (west) end of the Sorrentine Penninsula.

Sorry everyone I left out the fact that my husband will probably be driving, and he used to drive ambulances in NYC. I am uneasy of it, but I know he will be okay driving it. Do you know what time of day would be best for driving it? And I left out that there is parking near the hotel.

David,

yup, our GPS "loved" taking us on rather questionble short cuts. That infamous street in Sorrento was one of them ... after a while we got more suspicious and didn't take every turn it suggested to us and worked more in conjunction with street signs.

Kent, just ask the Rats, they will tell you where to go ;)
Sound like they are in for a fun drive.

Kent: this was our first trip to Italy so I don't know how things used to be. But we did encounter a few instances where new road construction (especially new roundabouts) made our GPS unreliable but street signs were just fine. Our GPS incl. maps is about 2 years old so we sometimes felt much more comfortable following the signage - and never got lost ;-)

Sasha,
We have just returned from our Italy trip and spent 6 nights in Sorrento. My husband has driven in Italy several times inculding a trip to Pompeii and Sorrento, previously. That trip was enough to convince him that he would never drive the Amalfi coast. After having just experienced it for myself, I can't say that I blame him. Yes the roads are good and the traffic was not as bad as I imagined (tourism is down this summer), but it was still bad enough that we would not have enjoyed it had we done the drive ourselves. Hire a driver or take the bus. Park the car. Going into the towns along the coast is crazy. Streets are narrow and parking is limited.

Debby

Another option is a taxi driver. Many can be hired for the day or however long you wish. The nice thing about this is that you will most likely get some commentary on the drive. We did this several years ago in June. The coast road was quite crowded with big buses, scooters weaving in and out, slow cars, fast cars, etc. I frankly would not have wanted to be on a bus, nor driving it. We hired a driver for the day & he took us all the way to Ravello and pointed out things we would have missed otherwise along the way and in each town(we stopped in Positano,Amalfi,the emerald grotto and Ravello) It was a wonderful day. We were based in Sorrento. Ashley

The car is already rented... and we will be driving on the coast... I was really just hoping to see what people who have driven it, what there experience was, because that would be very helpful to me!

Hi Sasha,

My husband and I rented a car and drove the Amalfi Coast last month. He did all of the driving and I was very impressed. Your husband will do just fine! The Italians do drive fast, but they are careful. I didn't see a single accident while I was there. It's an organized chaos that just works. Be careful on turns (use the street mirrors), be careful for pedestrians, give way to the big tour buses, and laugh. It's actually very funny and we loved driving the coast.

Enjoy!