Rome and Amalfi coast end of April or mid May for less crowds?

Based on our trip to Sorrento/AC last May, 2023, it will be packed throughout April and May, and into the summer and fall.
I think the area is a victim of its INSTAGRAM success, just like the Cinque Terre. We were shoulder-shoulder packed in both Positano and Amalfi town, I couldn't stand it! Ravello , however, was very pleasant and not crowded . We didn't make it to Capri because of the storms and the ferries not running as a result . We stayed in Sorrento and did enjoy the town and food, and it wasn't overly packed. Moving about in the entire area is time-consuming, and there is no efficient mode, whether public or private. We were caught off-guard by the congestion and chaos.

If you haven't booked lodging yet, you'll will most likely have problems finding reasonably priced places. This has already been reported here. Most folks book 9-10 months in advance in this area.

Forget using the SITA buses, folks were standing in the streets for over an hour waiting for these buses.

Pompeii is incredible , but even in May, it will be warm. But taking a guided tour of this amazing area is well worth it.

Folks here have reported that Salerno is a pleasant place to stay, and you can get a train from Rome. I wish we had done that.

Have a great trip, but be prepared for the realities on the ground. Safe travels!

For all intents and purposes, I haven't been to the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento or Capri, but I spent 4 nights in Salerno in early March 2023. It's a very nice, real-world city not overwhelmed by foreign tourists. The historic center is atmospheric and seemed to have some good restaurants. Hotels were very reasonably priced at the time of my trip. From reports here, Salerno remains nice and non-mobbed even in busier months. As I understand it, there are ferries, at least in warmer months, from Salerno to Amalfi, etc. There are buses year-round going at least as far as Positano, but I believe that would be a long slog on a bus; the road is very curvy, and once you got to Amalfi the bus would probably be packed to the gills.

I combined my 4 nights in Salerno with a longer stay in Naples, from which it was easy to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum. There are ferries from Naples to Capri, so you could use Capri as the link between Naples and Sorrento or Amalfi if you didn't want to return to Naples and take the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento.

That week is very busy. We spent the week at my friend's home outside of Naples and also visited Salerno, Minori and Capri. Capri was May 1st and it was jam packed (many Italians). The day prior we used the bus after having taken the ferry. The bus was jam packed as we returned to Salerno. Had to stand for most of the way. Salerno is in my mind like a little Naples. I spent a month there in October 2021 and loved it.

There is sustained demand for Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast, from many countries in addition to the United States, over many many months of the year. We went in the last week of May and Sorrento and Positano were absolutely jammed. I had to take my sixth or seventh choice of hotel in Sorrento. Do note that this area books up 6 to 12 months in advance.

I am also planning a trip that will coincide with the 5/1 holiday. I’m curious if it would be better to plan for 5/1 as a travel date between cities or avoiding travel on that date. Anyone know if we may expect a reduced schedule for Circumvesuviana, campania express or ferries that day? The fast trains appear to have a normal schedule.

@acraven I am leaning towards a few nights in Salerno - any recommendations for accommodations or restaurants here?

As others have said, the Amalfi Coast and Capri will be extremely crowded whether you go in April or May. I wouldn’t count on hiking being an escape from the crowds, especially the Path of the Gods and on Capri, but there are other lesser known hikes in the area if that is what you really want to do. There isn’t much to really DO on the Amalfi coast except shop, eat and enjoy the scenery. April is a bit early for the beach, but May will be warmer most likely.

I stayed at the B&B Amalfi Coast and would do so again unless I decided I wanted to be closer to the historic center (which I might, but historic area is quite a walk from the train station). However, my lodging standards are much lower than most others'. Basically, I want a decent location, cleanliness (virtually never a problem for non-picky me since I check the reviews on booking.com) and Wi-Fi. An elevator is a plus. I have no specific memory of the B&B Amalfi Coast beyond being satisfied with it. I don't remember the breakfast one way or the other. It's possible it was optional for an extra charge, in which case I would have opted out. Sorry not to be more helpful.

Although I care about food, I prioritize sightseeing, so I usually settle for what seems the best nearby option when I get hungry. Sometimes there's not much open. In Salerno I had a good meal at Mariterraneo. It was more expensive than my average, about 45 euros (including tip) for fish, chips, a salad with fruit (I must have been hungry!) and water.

I had Greek salad, moussaka and water at Mythos for 21 euros, including tip. I'm a bit vague on this one; I went to more than one Greek restaurant on that trip, and I'm not confident of which one was better. Google shows a rating of 4.4, so it should be fine for what it is. That I ordered moussaka suggests it may not have a very sophisticated menu.

...the thought of not being able to walk around without bumping into people, or having to wait endlessly to catch a bus that isn't full worries me...

I can speak only of Rome - it was crowded the first two weeks of November 2023. This may be the new normal for the foreseeable future. Right now it seems like every other inquiry on the travel forum is regarding the Amalfi coast.

Hint: we left Rome for five nights and spent two of them in Lucca - a marvelous, uncrowded experience.

We traveled to the Amalfi Coast area May 1 - May 21) and there were plenty of tourists. As a base, check out Minori. They have ferries to take you to neighboring towns as well as buses. Good restaurants. The Lemon Trail hike. We spent the first week there. From there, we hired a driver to take us on to our next base which was Ravello. Ravello was wonderful. Two wonderful gardens to tour. Great restaurants and shopping. We took the bus to Positano from Ravello (just for the day). It was a long ride and the bus was fairly crowded but an interesting ride with great scenery along the way. I was glad that we were not driving that route! And I was glad to return to Ravello. After out time in Ravello, our driver took us to Pompeii enroute to our final accommodations in Naples for 3 nights. From Naples we took the ferry to Capri one day. Another day we went by ferry to Ischia to see the gorgeous garden there that has some interesting history and some easy hiking. We also visited along the way the colorful pastel fishing village of Procida. We feel like we saw a lot from the 3 bases at which we stayed. Our accommodations were airbnb's. By the way, we had some rain and it was very chilly in the evenings while hot in the daytime.

acraven, there was more than one Greek restaurant in Salerno? Mythos is probably my favorite restaurant in town, but it was apparently blasphemy when I arrived after a 3 month absence and told my friend I wanted Mythos as soon as I set foot in town instead of Italian food HAHAHAHAHAHA

I was in Salerno from April 26-May 2nd one year and we tried to do something "non resorty" feeling on May 1st, trying to miss the mobs and we decided on Herculaneum....we did see plenty of Italians in the parks with picnics (I feel like I did that a lot on those days with my friends when I lived there) but Herculaneum wasn't TOO overrun, besides the fact that they ran out of English guides and I had to pick up an Italian guide and my friend picked up a Spanish one and we tried to make do with what we saw from that.

If I were going to stay on the coast, I would want to be within walking distance from a ferry because the SITA buses can be SO JAMMED. We went to walk the Path of the Gods from Amalfi to Bomerano and the 12:30 bus (I think it was the first one after the first ferry from Salerno arrived?) was SO BAD and I had to use my Italian squishing skills to even get ON the bus and my friend who was standing right beside me ended up 8 people behind me getting on....good thing I saved her a seat. But it was so bad they had to add another bus. I would suggest trying for a taxi, for ease, and getting there when you want instead of with 70 other people.

Restaurants in Salerno, best pizza, Trianon (I think its a restaurant from Naples) where I always get the hot dog and french fry pizza, best ever. Mythos is my fav for gyros! Nettuno is the best gelato. For a full, multicourse meal, I would say CiCi Rinella is my go to, behind the Duomo. It is good for a special dinner.

You could plan 5/1 for a travel date, but know that the trains will sell out earlier than normal (because they will also be on a holiday schedule) and regionale trains will be jam packed.

Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary! 30 years is certainly a milestone.

Have you traveled in Europe in general and Italy in particular before? We've been to Italy a couple of times and just got back from a December trip to Austria and Slovenia. There's really no shoulder season in popular European areas any more.

I'm afraid your concerns about bumping into people and facing crowded buses will be realized. I very much doubt you'll find that seclusion you mentioned. I'm assuming you don't have much choice on the time of year you travel.

I'm not very familiar with points south of Rome. Hopefully others can make suggestions regarding that area. Further north, Lucca or even Pisa might be pleasant and less crowded. You could use Lucca as a home base and take some day trips out in the country.

Also, as has been mentioned, it's definitely not too early to firm up some plans in order to get accommodations that you would prefer. Also, try not to overschedule. For us, the charm of Italy is not so much seeing the sites as it is to take it easy and soak in the charm of neighborhoods and small villages.

Don't know whether there's more than one Greek restaurant in Salerno, but I definitely also went to one in Rome on the same trip. And I've been back to Europe (the north) for four months since I was in Italy, so things have gotten distinctly muddled.

The only time that the Amalfi Coast was not crowded in Spring was in 2020 when not even Italians could get out of their apartment.
For sure avoid the days around Apr 25 and May 1, which are national holidays when Italians come out in droves. Also the days around Easter are very busy. Since nowadays, after Covid, people seem to have discovered travel in huge numbers, I don't think either period would be a great difference in crowds, therefore you might as well go in May, when at least the water might be warm enough for a quick swim and the days are longer..

Thank you everyone for your advice. I think we will be reevaluating our travel destination. Although Italy seems like a dream for all its history, culture, food and natural beauty, navigating all the logistics along with the crowds seems too overwhelming. Considering North Shore Kauai or South Island New Zealand for later in the year.

OP Cutler,
Our AC trip last year preceded your time frame by about a month. Our loooong TR below includes imagery that in some cases reveals which locales had crowds (Positano, Amalfi) and which didn't: Minori, Atrani, Ravello, Procida,*Scala et al.
We based in Minori and Ischia to offset crowding and that plan worked a charm.
As for Rome, our part two to this linked AC TR ('Beyond Capri: an Ischia TR') features a bit of that city as well.

Over on Fodors, i go by 'zebec'. Btw, it may be necessary to scroll back to the beginning--sometimes this link appears already halfway thru the TR.
*Scala had exactly zero other travelers. Even locals seemed to be in hiding!

I am done. The end.
https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/costa-damalfi-a-tr-1719110/page2/#post17517628

cutlerasc, those destinations sound great too, but don't give up on Italy just because of crowds please! It will always be crowded in particular places, but as others have shared, there are many ways to enjoy the coast (or many other places) without confining yourself to the most crowded places! If you do your research, you are able to have the particular type of Italian trip that you want, and with enough research it can be very easy!

Although Italy seems like a dream for all its history, culture, food and natural beauty, navigating all the logistics along with the crowds seems too overwhelming. Considering North Shore Kauai or South Island New Zealand for later in the year.

cutlerasc, I agree that you shouldn't necessarily give up on Italy. I think you could visit in April and have a wonderful time, just avoid the tourist hot spots like AC. Yes, Rome will be busy (it's always busy), but if you divide your time between the busy tourist spots and lesser known and visited areas, you can have a delightful experience. Our last visit to Italy was in December. There were times we found the peace you seek. We spent a wonderful morning in Radda and saw only one other tourist couple. April will be busier, but I still think you can find uncrowded out of the way places.