Itinerary Review - Rome and Amalfi Coast

If you go from Sorrento to Positano, it is about an hour by bus. Then you would be going back to Sorrento. The next day if you go to Amalfi you are passing by Positano to get to Amalfi. If you leave early in AM, you can do do both with no back tracking. Do half day in each. When you get off bus in Positano, be sure to get off at second bus stop, not the first or will need to take the little city bus into town. Day trip-Pompeii is only about half hour from Sorrento by train if you had not thought of that.

Vatican on the first day will be very taxing, even with a guide. The area is big and is normally crowded. Roman forum, Colosseum, Capitol Hill covers a lot of ground and will be equally taxing. On top of that, you need good imagination to visualize how the ruins used to look like. Sounds tiring! If it was me, I'll just take the first day off relaxing and just walk around Rome. Maybe hit the easier sights like Pantheon, Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, Piazza del Popolo. Eat gelato, and hunt for food around Campo de Fiori.

Ravello is 20 minutes bus from Amalfi. It is one of the most beautiful place in Italy. I missed it out last year. Next time, for sure.

Jess Another alternative-On your trip to Amalfi- take the bus and as previous poster suggested get off at 2nd stop in Positano - tour there for a couple of hours-purchase another ticket for the bus to Amalfi and spend a few hours there- lunch- and if time permitting take a bus up to Ravello. Before you take the bus up to Ravello check at the docks what time the ferry goes back to Sorrento. There are several during the day and maybe this might fit into your schedule. Seeing this coastline from the water in late afternoon is spectacular.

The Vatican is alot if you are jet lagged. Also, remember there is alot to the vatican! St Peters, Vatican Museum, the Square, and the tombs etc.... It becomes a long day! On our first jet lagged day we just walked around the city and saw some easy sites. San Giovanni church, Colliseum, and Trevi Foutain are good ideas. If you want to see the Borghese gallery make sure you have reservations. That wouldn't be bad for the first day also. Amalfi Coast you might want to kill two birds with one stone as they say and take the ferry to Capri out of Positano. I would also strongly recommend Ravello. I thought it was the prettiest town on the coast. Plan to have a nice lunch there. You can see a few of the towns in one day they really aren't that big. It is a shame you dont' have time to see Pompeii since you are going to be in Naples. See if there is a way to fit it in.

We much preferred taking a boat from Sorrento to Positano, than the bus. You can then take another boat from Positano to Amalfi. Then, a boat back to Sorrento.

Hell Jess! St. Paul is my home town! I hear you're pretty soggy after May's rains. Tom has given you excellent advice for arrival day in Rome. Hopefully you can check in and take a shower, get unpacked. DO NOT take a nap. Go for a walk, see some "easy" sights like Trevi, Pantheon, P.za Navona, have lunch. Maybe add in a church or two (Gesu, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, San Luigi dei Francesi). Outdoor air helps jetlag. If you cannot stand it and need a nap, set an alarm and give yourselves 90 minutes. Then have a nice dinner about 8:00 and off to bed. You'll be practically on local time by the next AM if you don;t succumb to too much napping. Ciao!

Thanks everyone for the advice.

We took the boat from Salerno to Sorrento and there was a 2 hour stop-over in Positano. We took the train all the way to Salerno and caught the boat. If you do that you might have time to take in the Greek temples at Paestum.

I agree with Lurael's advice on jetlag. Don't get too much sleep! Each time I go to Europe we have always arrived in the am. I go to sleep for 2 hours and get up and do easy sights the rest of the day. I have no problem going to sleep that evening and sleep through the night. Struggle through that first day and you have it made.

for your 9/30 day trip i suggest touring pompeii. you can also fit in a trip up mt vesuvius. take the circumvesuviana train and dont let people make you paranoid about it. just be vigilant about your personal belongings.

Hi Jess. You have received great advice. Most from the states arrive in Europe in the am. Good advice to either 1) take a short nap or 2) do not nap but do easy sights the 1st day, have dinner and then go to sleep. You will be fine the next day. We prefer to skip the nap and just do a 'hop on..hop off' bus the 1st day. There are also lots of easy sights in Rome..Trevi, Spanish Steps, etc. Hold on to your wallets as 2 in our group got pickpocketed at Spanish Steps and their purses were zipped. I actually put $$ in my sock when wearing jeans or front zippered area if wearing cargo shorts. I never leave $$ in purse. Try to get to Pompeii if you have time. I loved it and usually am not that enamored with archeological sights. Congrats on the wedding and safe travels!!

Definitely include Ravello. We had our best meal there at Cumpa Cosimo. We hired Ricks suggestion, R Monetti for the day. Beat waiting for the buses. Very good! Also tasty limoncello at Profumi della Costiera. Enjoy

Hi Hope you have a great trip. We went in April, 1st timers. I would also suggest just walking around Rome on the first day. Seeing the Pantheon, Plaza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps. They are all within walking distance of each other. Another option is Borghese Gallery, they only allow people in for 2 hours at a time so you don't need a day. Best wishes to the bride.

Anyone have any thoughts on getting an ArteCard for the Sorrento / Amalfi Coast portion of the trip?

I found the ArteCard very confusing, but we were there a whole week so we bought the 7 day card (no transportation) and did slighly better than break even. You have to carefully assess which sites you will see and whether the transportation included in the shorter duration passes will help you save money. If you see both Pompeii and Ercolano, plus the National Archeological Museum, it's probably worth buying. But if you buy the card a skip a major, costly, site, you might as well pay for each site as you go. There are transportation cards, too, available from the TI in Sorrento. They are worthwhile, IMHO.

A note about taking the boat to/from Sorrento. If the weather isn't good, the boats won't be running. So everyone will be riding the buses and they are likely to be crowded. When we were there, the boats weren't running even though it did not look especially rough to me, so I was quite surprised. I was able to get the last seat on the return bus ride to Sorrento but a number of people (including my husband) stood for the nearly hour long trip.

Our last night is in Naples to be nearby to fly out in the early morning. Any hotel/hostel suggestions around $100/night? I see that Naples is a "hot" topic in some posts - people have strong opinions. Any comments from recent travelers?
Thanks