driving from Salerno to Reggio de Calabria

Thanks, Tom. Did you also drive the Amalfi Coast road on your trip? We'll be staying in Sorrento for 2 nights and also want to be able to visit Positano and Amalfi. I'm toying with the idea of driving the AC coast road on the way to Salerno, and stopping to see them, but am nervous about the traffic, parking and sheer cliff drop-offs! Our other option would be to see the AC coast towns the day before we leave for Sicily. I'm thinking we could ferry to Capri for the morning, then ferry to Amalfi and take a bus to Amalfi, then back to Sorrento. Does anyone know if this is too much for one day?

We did this exact drive a few years ago. We drove from Salerno along the S18 to Paestum. We visited the Greek ruins there and then continued down to Maratea, where we overnighted at a great hotel, the Romantik Villa Cheta. Then we cut over to the A3 and took it down to Reggio and took the car ferry over to Messina. We easily made it to Taormina by late afternoon. I don't remember any construction or other delays on the A3, but this was a few years ago. The overall drive wasn't difficult at all. On day 2 we even stopped for an hour or two to visit my wife's ancestral village in the hills near Cosenza. Once you get to Calabria, there is very little English spoken until you get to Taormina.

We spent a week on the Amalfi coast but did not drive it at all. When we left there we took a hydrofoil from Positano to Salerno where we picked up our rental car.

Patty, I would suggest you use the public bus for the Amalfi Coast excursion. Driving the coastal road is a hassle by car, and the driver doesn't get to see much of the coastline.

Drove A3 last year from a good ways north on Cosenza down to Fuimefreddo di Sicilia near Taormina. There was alot of roadwork yes, but there's very little traffic in that region so there were'nt any delays. I think at worst we hit some slower traffic in a couple of areas but nothing major.

Thank you for the helpful info.