We will be in Ovindoli visiting family and want to spend a few days on the Amalfi Coast.(Sorrento) What is the best way to get there? Are there trains in Ovindoli that will go there? or buses? or is it better to rent a car? (would rather not rent a car but can)
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16231 posts
Do you have transportation once you get there? Maybe relatives that can pick you up and drive you around? Ovindoli is a ski area town, therefore you are up in the mountain with very little in terms of public transportation options once you arrive. By train it's about 2 hours from Rome. Take the train from Roma Tiburtina (train line Roma / Pescara) 1- Get off at Avezzano then transfer to Arpa Bus to Ovindoli or: 2 - Get off at Celano/Ovindoli station (Ovindoli is a short drive away). There are Arpa buses, but also very infrequent. Call your relatives to pick you up. Otherwise rent a car in Rome, go to Ovindoli, then, after visiting relatives, drive to Sorrento and return the car in Sorrento. That would be faster altogether (the drive from Rome is about 1 and 1/2 hours).
Posted by
OP
Redwood City, CA, USA
53 posts
Thanks I think renting a car may be the thing to do there. I was just worried about the drive into Sorrento. I heard it's a windy road with cliffs, etc.. Not sure if the road from Ovindoli to Sorrento is windy, etc.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16231 posts
It's mostly freeway or very nice two lane highway. There are a few curves just before the town of Ovindoli coming from the freeway (Ovindoli is up the mountain). It's less than 5 miles of mountain road. There is also a short stretch of curves (maybe a couple of miles) along the coast before Piano di Sorrento a little bit after you get off the freeway. But if you can drive on hwy 84 from Redwood City to San Gregorio or to Pescadero, it's no worse than that. Other than those short stretches it's very easy highway driving. The real curvy and narrow road is past Sorrento, between Sorrento and Amalfi. Many Americans are scared of that one because it's narrower and, above all, on one side it's a very high cliff down to the sea. So people are scared because they are afraid of falling down the cliff hundreds of feet down to the sea. But if you return the car in Sorrento, as soon as you arrive from Ovindoli, you don't have to drive there. Besides if you drive in California along highway 1 in some parts it's just as bad. If you've driven on Highway one from Carmel to San Louis Obispo or up in Mendocino County, you'll be ok on the Amalfi coast too.