Salerno good base in Amalfi coast?

I used Salerno as a base, albeit in winter (Feb) with a car. You can rent a car in Salerno when you leave. I rented from Europcar, across the street from the train station. There are high speed trains to Salerno from the north. It's likely that you will have to get to Salerno to get to Positano anyway.

Salerno isn't picturesque, it's mostly level. However it has a large sand beach (unlike the AC villages), a lovely seaside promenade, a range of good restaurants (cheaper than the villages), and a well-preserved medieval center.

The SITA buses and the ferries (I believe there are several lines) travel with frequency along the coast. I most enjoyed the natural beauty of the coast, rather than the somewhat touristy villages themselves. The ferries weren't running when I was there, but it's likely that you can get a direct ferry from Salerno to Positano. There are 2 bus lines along the AC, from Sorrento to Amalfi (via Positano) and from Amalfi to Salerno. So if you take the bus, you have to change in Amalfi. How easy is it to use bus/ferry? It depends on the crowds. My understanding is that even in early May crowds aren't bad, except around Easter week - then you may need to wait a long time to board a bus or ferry. You should also check if there are luggage compartments on the buses. If you have to take a crowded bus and have your luggage with you, that might be difficult.

Sorrento is better as a base for Capri and the Naples Bay sights (like Pompeii). It's more scenic than Salerno, but it's hilly. Take into account that the towns perched up on the cliffs, like Sorrento and much of Positano, means hiking up and down to get to the ferry piers. In general Positano is the most expensive place, then the other AC villages, then Sorrento, Salerno is the cheapest, both for food and rooms.

A lot depends on what you want from your visit. Do you want to relax or do you want to explore?

We have stayed in Ravella and Positano on 2 different trips. It really depends on what you want to do/see while there. 3 nights is not much time so you will want to have a definite idea of your expectations.

Yes, Positano is expensive but if it's your one shot on your bucket list go for it. I hear a lot of people on this forum saying it's only worth a couple of hours---but I feel you are missing the charm of the actual coast if you don't actually stay in one of the picturesque towns. Also, when the day crowds leave, only then can you get the true feel for the coast. Just remember the steps in Positano are a workout if you aren't in shape.

I haven't stayed in Sorrento--just driven through. But a cute town. Have not been to Salerno but hear good things about it. Given your short stay you would have to bus or ferry to get to any of the towns so that takes time from actually spending time there..

Sorrento!! Plus, there's stuff to see and do there (we did 4 nights and wish we had one more) and some of the best restaurants we ate at during our 3 weeks in Italy. We took a day trip to the Amalfi Coast with RS recommended sharedtours.com and that was really enough for us. We also followed his book and did a day trip to Herculaneum (which we liked better than Pompeii)
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Salerno is a good base close to the Amalfi Coast.

There is only one Positano in the world, I am sure in the US there are many middle-sized seaside towns as nice as Salerno. On your last day you could Take a Travelmar ferry from Positano to Salerno, in late April ferries will be running.

In 2021 the season will begin on April 4 (Without mentioning April 25 and May 1). Nobody except Sita bus drivers likes/wants/tries to drive along the Amalfi Coast after the season has begun, and Sita bus drivers are paid to do it.

I hope you have enough time to do Puglia justice. We flew in and out of Bari.
If you want to see the Amalfi Coast have you considered Ravello, up high with beautiful, sweeping views?There is an alternate access to this town.

Thank you much for your information.
Dario: you mentioned Travelmar ferry. I just looked up their rates. It's 14 Euro each way. I don't mind the price, except the rate was 8Euro before the COVID 19 lockdown. The price bump seem excessive. 75% price increase. Is this due to company trying to make up for the lost revenue, or is this the new norm.
This means I would have to pay 56 Euro each day (2 person RT) to get to Positano via Ferry...
Maybe I'll just stay in Positano instead (the cheaper alternative stay in Salerno is negated by high Ferry price?)

Hi Suki and Nona..
I considered Ravella, but didn't find much information on the town.
How is Ravella?? What are the logistics of traveling to Positano everyday?
Convenience? Cost of lodging?
thank you for your contribution to this thread...

Before the Lockdown they were not forced to travel half empty

If you are looking for information about Ravello, you have to spell the name correctly.
I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do more than one day trip to Positano. It’s mostly shops, aimed at tourists; and it’s not the most convenient hub for other AC attractions. If you stay in Sorrento, you have easy access to trains, buses and ferries to get you to the places you want to see. Have you scoped those out? 3 nights = 2 full days. Not much for such a wonderful area.
One more caveat: April 25 and May 1 are national holidays. Many people elide the two into a whole week vacation. There will be crowds, and, probably, reduced transportation schedules.

Ravello has beautiful views, being way up the cliffside. A Sita bus line runs between Ravello and Amalfi. There's also a footpath and taxi service. From Amalfi you can take a bus or ferry to other places.

Dario - it is my understanding (which appears correct by looking at a map) that Salerno is on the Amalfi Coast. Perhaps you meant Sorrento, which is not.

You may get more useful replies if you describe the specific objectives you have for your three days on/near the AC. People might stay in a suburb of Berlin to visit Berlin daily, but few people stay somewhere else to visit Positano every day of a vacation.

Note that the reason one uses public transportation in the AC is because using a rental car is even worse. It's not because public transportation is always "fast" or "excellent". (It is, always, "cheap.") I mentioned cost because you expressed concern about the ferry fare. People who are visiting Positano for the day may not want to spend the money to sleep there. But the cost of a single ferry ride is the wrong thing to focus on. The question is whether you prefer the view from the boat to the view from the bus, and maybe whether you have luggage with you on the trip.

You didn't mention the words "Pompeii" or "Capri". Are those part of your plans? When someone uses the word "base", it usually means that they plan to visit a different place every day. (Other AC visitors may prefer to sit by the pool or go to a beach every day. Note that some towns, like Sorrento, are not known for beaches. Ravello is particularly far from any beach.)

I have not slept in Positano, but it's reasonably clear from past posts on this web-board that it is possible to find lower cost accomodations there. One reason that's possible (in a high-end destination) may be that there are literally thousands of stair steps outdoors in Positano. Rooms that are far from the single road through town may be much lower cost. A few may have porter services available.

Post-Covid tourism is, as yet, an unknown. Before, this area (both Sorrento and Positano) tended to book up, fully, six months or more in advance. I also urge you to think about getting to your car rental agency on the last day. If you're not sleeping in that town, you'll have to allow for bus time or taxi money to get there. Did you mention Salerno because it has a long-distance rail station? To me, it's not an ideal base for the AC. But everyone's travel style is different. (We stayed at the Ambasciatori in Sorrento for five nights. Another time, Sorrento was cruise ship stop for us. While in Sorrento, we hired a car and driver for eight hours on the AC. It was expensive, but got the job done for us.)

Yes, we've stayed in Salerno and it is an excellent base for the reasons Chani offers. It's a more workaday Italian town than Sorrento but we liked that. Its cathedral is one of the more interesting ones in southern Italy. Pompeii or Herculaneum are easily accessible day trips via Naples. Also, Salerno is the best base by far for a day trip to the south, to the Greek temples at Paestum.

Hi Rosalyn, Chani, Tim and Slate..

Did some more research, and Ravello looks so much beautiful. (Only issue was, you have to take 2 bus transfers to get to Positano from Ravello). Is RAvello walkable to town of Amalfi?? Since Ravello is high up in hills, do bus go up to the mountain top, and to my potential accommodations (can't imagine me lugging a backpack and walk all the way from the beach to top of the mountain)...

I am also thinking of staying 2 nights in Naples (trying to hit up Pompeii while in Naples)... Haven't decided about Capri yet...
Tim, only reason I was thinking about Salerno as a base, is that it is a straight shot to Matera with a rental car... All the other towns looks circuitous and I'm not sure renting a car in other towns will be as convenient.

My itinerary so far.... 3 nights in Rome, 2 nights naples, 3 nights AC, 2 night Matera and 5 nights in Puglia, before returning back to Rome and flight home.. Is this doable??. I am thinking of returning the car to the same place... maybe either Sorrento or Salerno (Ravello don't have rental car place) and take fast train back to Rome... Or should I just drive straight to Rome and return the car there??
thanks everyone...

the problems with returning the car in Rome include, no car can do the 300 kilometres an hour that the train does (fines for speeding on the Autostrada are high, and Tutor averages your speed so you get one for momentary speeding as well as average speeding), there can be quite a lot of traffic on the GRA around Rome, and if you have avoided ZTLs in the south you will have a much harder time avoiding them, their cameras, and the very high fines which result for every time you pass a camera.

We stayed 4 nights in Sorrento- visited Pompeii and Capri from there. Then moved to Amalfi (town) for our time ON the Amalfi coast.
We liked Amalfi very much. It is the transpo hub for the coast so getting around from there was easy. The cathedral and cloisters is worth a visit. Accommodations were slightly less expensive than Positano and the town itself is a bit flatter, although still hilly- we stayed on the water level.
We took bus to Positano- spent a quick few hours, had lunch and returned to Amalfi via ferry. The views OF the towns from the water are better than the views IN the towns IMO.
From Amalfi we took bus up to Ravello for 1 night. Villa Cimbrone is lovely and the views from there were fantastic
Then we took ferry from Amalfi to Salerno for 2 nights and visited Paestum from there- that was a highlight. Again the views of the coast from ferry were terrific.
Salerno is nice but not really the "amalfi coast " experience you seem to be looking for. It is a working town, fewer tourists for sure, the cathedral there is interesting, it has a nice waterfront and a really fun passiegiata every evening.

The car rentals are right at train station in Salerno and the ferry dock is just steps from there so it could work to stay in Amalfi- ferry to Salerno and pick up your car.
There are direct trains to Rome and elsewhere from Salerno- we trained from Salerno to Venice.

genemd, Salerno is the southern terminus of the high speed rail backbone. Driving from Matera to Salerno makes sense, driving from Matera to Rome via Salerno is a waste of time most of the times (because of traffic on Rome's ring road, ZTLs, speed traps etc).

It would be different if you were going directly from Matera to Rome's airport to fly back home.

If your only reason for staying in Naples is to see Pompeii, you can do it about as easily from Sorrento (on the Circumvesuviani) or Salerno (on Trenitalia). It will be easiest to rent a car in Salerno. You'll have to drive through Salerno to Materna from Sorrento. And unless you really really want to drive that narrow, twisty, cliffside road, you won't want to get a car from any other place. I was intrepid for the most part driving there in February (when there's almost no tourist traffic) but part way up the road to Ravello I decided it would be me in the gully if I met a bus head on. I finally came to a place where I could slowly and carefully make a "3-point" u-turn (it was more like 7 - not knowing where the road ended and the descent or mountain began (there are NO shoulders).

All that being said, if it's your dream to stay in a scenic location, there are ways to manage it. It sounds like you'll have minimal luggage, so you should be okay on the ferry or the bus. Take the fast train to Salerno, then either get a bus in front of the train station or a ferry 5 minute level walk to the pier, to Amalfi town. Then take the bus or a taxi to Ravello. Yes, you'll be dependent on the bus to get up and down - though down is worthwhile for the views. I haven't done it so I don't know how long it takes. Or take a ferry to Positano - or bite the bullet and take another bus, it's a bit far for a taxi. Ask your hotel how far and how much "up" to get there from the pier. The bus probably stops very close to the pier, but there may be a closer stop as well.

Keep in mind that the Circumvesuviana has a stop right at ancient Pompeii. Trenitalia has three stops, all in modern Pompeii.