where should I stay? I want to go down and visit naples and go out to pompeii - would love suggestions of how to get out there as well as what the easiest city to have as a base would be. maybe a day trip out to capri?
Any hotel or hostel suggestions?
Pompeii is on the way from Naples to Sorrento. Positano is closer than Amalfi to the places you mention. Both are beautiful, but I think Positano would make a better base because it's a shorter trip back to Sorrento and to Capri.
I use Sorrento as a base. Ease of ferry rides to Positano, Capri, Naples and a great town in itself, train it to Pompeii. Positano is pricey also. ck Ricks books for hostel recom. And do not rush this wonderful area. I stayed 5 nights and it was not enuf. Do not forget Ravello on the bus route from Amalfi.
We used Sorrento for two nights as a base to see Pompeii and Capri, and then took the bus to Positano for three nights to explore the rest of the coast. I enjoyed Positano a lot more than Sorrento, mostly because it was so much smaller we were really able to get to know the place. Hotels in Positano can be very expensive but we stayed at the Hostel Brikette which was fantastic. They have private rooms w/bath for €75/night including breakfast on the balcony with the most amazing views!
We stayed at Residence la Tavolozza in Positano last May and loved it. Celeste and her daughter and her sisters were all very friendly. The rooms were spotless and the cost was 85Euros. We had a balcony looking at the sea. I would love to go back there. There are some great restaurants in Positano. The Three Sisters had wonderful pizza. Cambuso had great prawns.
We took a boat to Capri from Positano and did the Blue Grotto thing - very fun! We took the train to Pompeii for a day trip. We took the bus to Amalfi and then up to Ravello for another day trip. Amalfi was a big tourist trap. Prices were unbelievable for a small sandwich. We wished we had skipped Amalfi.
To get to Positano we took the train from Rome to Naples. We took a taxi from the Naples train station to the port and then took a boat to Amalfi. Then took a bus from Amalfi to Positano. The scariest ride of my entire 50 years was the taxi in Naples. But arriving by boat to the Amalfi Coast was very fun.
We based out of Sorrento (there now) and stayed at Casa Astarita...wonderful convenient location and charming hosts. This was easy connection to train station (short walk) and took Circumvesuvia train to Pompei and Ercolano yesterday. Took same train back to Ercolano today to catch shuttle bus for climbing Vesuvius. Buy shuttle ticket at tourist connection to left of train station when exiting station.
