Home Base on the Almafi Coast In January

They aren't what I would call beach towns. The AC is cliffs and the villages are on them, mostly to the water's edge. Some have small pebbly beaches, maybe a couple have small sandy ones, some have none. They really are villages. Amalfi is probably the biggest, with a population of about 5000. From April to October they are open for tourists - all the shops, restaurants, B&Bs and hotels. January-February is pretty quiet, most of the tourist shops and many of the restaurants and inns are closed. Any of them will necessitate a lot of uphill/downhill walking. The only practical day trips are to the other villages. There is bus service all along the coast, buses run about every 1/2 hour or hourly, depending on the time of day - more buses on weekdays. SITA is the bus company. Google them to find the current (winter) schedule. There are 3 routes: Sorrento (not on the AC) to Amalfi, Amalfi to/from Ravello (up the cliffs from Amalfi) and Amalfi to Salerno. There are no ferries in the winter.

As for weather, while Florence is generally one of the colder places, do not expect the AC to be balmy. Go to timeanddate.com to the "past weather" link to find actual weather conditions for a city by day for any month for the last 10 years. That will give you some idea of what to expect. I don't know if you'll find data for a small place like Amalfi, but Sorrento and Salerno will be equivalent. I've been to the area twice in mid-February for about 5 nights both times. I had a mix of sunny, cloudy and rainy days. Daytime temps were mostly in the teens (Celsius).

What made you think you'd want to spend 2-4 weeks there? (curious, not snarky, question)

At that time of year the only practical place is Sorrento. A lot of restaurants and shops will be closed there as well, but not as much as Amalfi or Positano as Sorrento has a larger year round population. From Sorrento you can take day trips by bus to the Amalfi Coast villages - Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, etc. and by train you can take day trips to Naples and Pompeii. There won't be ferries running from Sorrento to Positano/Amalfi but there should be some running to Capri. There will certainly be ferries running from Naples to Capri. Another island is Ischia. Again, not sure if the ferry from Sorrento runs there in winter, but from Naples it does.

Salerno is the other 'city' in the region. Some people like it as much as Sorrento.

Chani & I have both--separately--spent time in the winter in Sorrento & Salerno. Don't even think about staying on the Amalfi Coast itself. Except for Sorrento (technically not even on the A.C.) it's pretty dead. You stay at one--or each Sorrento & Salerno for half the time, how 'bout that?--and daytrip by SITA bus to view the absolute splendor without tourist interference. I'm jealous!

From Sorrento you can daytrip to Pompei, Ercolano & Naples, and from Salerno you can go to Vietri sul Mare and Amalfi one way (and Chani's Sal de Riso bakery in Minori!), and Paestum the other way. Splitting the time up between the two destinations is actually the very best way to see all of what the area has to offer.

That time of year, bad weather is omnipresent, meaning it can rear its ugly head at any time. Don't let that deter you, however. Best to have inside & outside activities planned for each day, and zig and zag if need be. Sorrento was horrendous for 3 of 5 days we spent there in March, 40's and blowing rain. We took a whole rainy day and took the Circumvesuviana commuter train from Sorrento station to Naples Centrale (prob 5 Euro), then a 15 Euro taxi ride to the Archeological Museum in Naples, where a highlight for me was the Pompei exhibit, with most of the mosaic from the ruins, that had been at this museum since the 1750's.

The main Piazza Tasso area in Sorrento is all flat, and Salerno is that way as well. Trust me, you will eat well in either place. Plenty of strolling area in Sorrento, but Salerno has the passeggiata, the daily late afternoon walk up & down the main streets by local families and friends. Shopkeepers stand at the door waving, it's very convivial and to observe or take part reminds you why you came to Italy in the first place.

Enjoy!

I agree with Sorrento as a base for the area. It provides many options, depending on weather considerations. I hope you are not expecting beach weather in January. On my second trip to Italy, I/we visited Rome, Florence and Sorrento area in February. In Florence we were in shirt sleeves and light outer layer. In Sorrento, we had to buy another layer...heavy sweaters for our visit there, which we used every day, with our coats. Just an FYI.

Thank you for all your feed back. This is very helpful information. One of the questions was asked why 2-4 weeks. Well we have that time and my family does not want to move around lots, so I am trying to find a place that I thought would be warmer to settle into. Any suggestion of a location besides Florence that the weather would be not so rainiy and cold. The senior coming with us tends to get cold. I was thinking going south of Florence would be warmer.
Any suggestions would be helpful.

Are you not considering Naples? If the weather is bad, you would still have a ton to do there. If you want a smaller town, then I would consider heading to Puglia instead. The Amalfi Coast would not be an ideal January place to me.

Any suggestion of a location besides Florence that the weather would
be not so rainy and cold. The senior coming with us tends to get
cold. I was thinking going south of Florence would be warmer. Any
suggestions would be helpful.

Not likely anywhere in the winter months. Even way down in Sicily, average temps are 53/42 in January, 54/42 in February, 56-43 in March. And averaging 14-16 days of rainfall a month. When you can catch a nice day anytime, anywhere in the winter, take full advantage. Late February, we had a week of 60-ish, no rainfall weather in Rome and it was glorious. Then went 100 km south to Sorrento, where it was a monsoon. You never know.

Make sure you're in an area, preferably urban, where there are inside things to do because you could get holed up for 3-4 days until the weather moves out. Luck of the draw, but remember--we travel then for a reason, because there are few tourists and most of the time any destination you choose, you have the place to yourself. No cruise ships, crowds, anywhere. Maybe a little on the weekends.

Even if you are in Agrigento, you are lucky if the temperature gets to 60 F degrees in January. Your desire for a warm place is completely incompatible with the first sentence, " going to ITALY for a few weeks". If you insist on Europe, you have to go to southern Spain or the Canary Islands. But it's still the lowest temperature of the year there.

Honestly, the northern Caribbean can have cool days in January, too. If the Seniors are prioritizing warm weather, they need to de-prioritize high-class art and architecture. You are not going to get the answer you want, about ITALY.

I will add that "beach" resort towns in Europe tend to have half the businesses closed in January, except high tourism places like the Ballearics and Canaries. Just because the Brits will go anyplace it isn't raining doesn't mean it matches the American fascination with Hawaii, the Carribean, and Florida in the winter.)

The term 'cold' is relative. Rain is rain. If the OP is coming from where I live in Chicago or other northern climes, 40's & 50's in January, as long as it doesn't rain all the time, is OK. It certainly worked for us, and even on a decidedly crappy day, we could say at least we weren't in the frozen tundra back home.

One distinction, however--for whatever reason, 40's in Italy is much more tolerable than 40's in Paris. That was cold!!

Had you considered Portugal or Spain for your after Florence time to get some better weather?

Just returned from a month traveling Italy from Milan to Amalfi. I agree that Sorrento is the best base in the Amalfi Coast area. Great hotel: Palazzo Tasso. Good restaurants: nearby Kebab Ciampa and close by La Fenice. We were there the first week in November and the decorations were just going up. Town looks like it will be quite festive for Christmas. Easy to get around in old town Sorrento as relatively level. If you must stay on Coast, we recommend the Hotel L'Antico Convitto in Amalfi if it is open then - it has attractive rooms, a good elevator and an owner/manager in residence. Main drag of Amalfi is fairly easy to negotiate. Positano is extremely difficult to get around for us older folk due to narrow streets and steep stairways. They do have a local bus route. Many shops and restaurants were closed or closing during our stay.
Florence will be open for business with reduced hours and some closures. I would recommend an apartment from HomeAway/VRBO or such so you can fix meals and wait out bad weather in comfort. Good day trip to Lucca and/or Pisa from there. Do not count on clear warm weather anywhere in Italy in January. Go equipped for rain, wind, cold and maybe even light snow. The weather patterns they are a' changing!

Madeira, Israel, Canary Islands, Morocco and Andalusia will be kinda warm in January.

Maybe Egypt?