Sorrento/Amalfi Coast Itinerary

looks good enough; don't over think it when people might comment making suggestions when one would think you know your family's interests better than we do;

but I understand the beaches in the area are more pebbly and not as conducive to lounging, especially in the late June/early July heat.

Have you been there or is this hearsay? I was at the beach in Positano in May 2018 and could not take a picture as there were a lot of people there spoiling it lounging. It is not a secluded white sand beach like in the Cariabean if that is what you are after.

now you just need to ask for clarification on how to get where you want to go if you need to.

or I would start a separate thread "Activities in Sorrento and Positano that are interesting to 16 and 13 year olders"

In the interest of slowing down a bit, you might consider staying over a night on Capri. Otherwise, you are tied to the ferry schedule. When we were there, the last boat back to Sorrento was not very late, so our day was quite curtailed. You could make your return to Positano, instead of Sorrento. On that score, by the way, I found Positano the least appealing and most expensive of the 3 towns. Too many tacky, tourist oriented shops. Ravello is gorgeous and should be visited.
What you’ve heard about the beaches is true. However, if you get a hotel with a pool, you could satisfy your daughter’s yen for relaxation time.

As much as I love the town of Amalfi, there’s not enough to do for a full day so split the time between Amalfi and Ravello- which is a “don’t miss.” Since you’ve already been to Rome, why don’t you spend the first two nights in Naples? I feel it’s underrated but there are great sights to visit including the archaeological museum that has the artifacts recovered from Pompeii. And pizza, of course.

I spent 4 days on the Amalfi Coast sleeping in Positano, and can say it is a great base! (I did not get to Sorrento). There are really fun boat cruises you can take as a relaxing way to visit Amalfi/Ravello as a day trip, with opportunities to also see little cove along the coast and jump out and snorkel. For this I used Blue Star boat tour based in Positano, and joined a group tour so it was pretty cheap. I could have spent far longer in Ravello though than we had...it was so enchanting!! Also took the ferry to Capri and spent the morning exploring, and then had an afternoon boat tour with Gianni's Boats (splurged for a private one for this), and it was magical...we got to go to some hidden beaches and coves you can only get to by boat and the snorkeling was unreal in the turquoise water. Also used that company to get a private transfer back from Capri to not have to worry about making the ferry schedule. Doing a boat tour would give your daughter her beach/leisure day. Feedback that I have gotten and that I wish I had done, is that it was wonderful to stay a night at Capri as there is so much to see and because it is lovely at night when day trippers leave. I have a bunch of notes if you want to private message me. I also have a great Airbnb we stayed in Positano. It's an entire house owned by a family with 6 or so apartments in it, and it's right over the water and near the ferry dock. It was nice to have a little kitchen if needed, and the family is really nice.

We are working on our return trip to the Coast.

Can you share the airbnb you stayed at ?

I think your itinerary looks like a good pace.

As far as the tour of the coast (day 4), have you thought about hiring a private driver? I have used Amalfi Coast Destinations for private transfers and day trips. It is certainly more expensive than a bus option but they can customize to exactly what you want to do and it takes all of the stress out of it.

Also, what about hiking and kayaking? There are many opportunities! Even if your kids aren't normally hikers, the views are so amazing, I think they would love it.

Sorrento doesn't have a "beach" but they do have docks on the water where you can rent chairs and then take steps down into the water for a swim. It is a very different experience but I thought it was great. There are also several places in Sorrento with pools. It is great to come back after a hot day of sightseeing and jump in the pool for a bit.

Check out " Zia Lucy" for hiking the Path of Gods. Great for teenagers and adults. And the views were spectacular.

Yeah, Wendy, looks pretty good to me, too.

I will say that you must gear yourself up for the massive crowds that will populate the A.C. that time of year. It is why we travel there in March! However, you seem to have inherently factored in the amount of time it takes--with crowds, not even talking the actual logistics--to get around, good for you.

And investigate various modes of travel around the A.C. for your daytrips. We took the SITA bus for the most part to get around in March, but with few tourists it was easy. In late June the buses will be full, and once one bus fills, there will be a crowd waiting for the next one. If you do end up taking the bus, start your daytrip early.

No doubt it will be a tad pricey, but maybe it would be best to check out private drivers for some of these daytrips, like Day 4 around the A.C. (Oops--saw that Kristen recommended the same thing!) Sorrento to Pompei should be easy on the Circumvesuviana commuter train, and they run about every 20-30 minutes.

If you have not yet booked your Sorrento & Positano lodging, please do it soon. The good stuff will be booked up within weeks, I guarantee.

Thank you to all the wonderful travelers on this forum who provided advice. I really appreciate it! I'm still trying to scope out airfares but I have a good sense now for what could be our itinerary. Over the years, especially with two kids, I've realized that trying to pack too much into one day (especially with summer heat + crowds) makes for an unhappy family! So I'm looking forward to building in downtime every day and not feeling like we're rushing from place to place.

Thanks again,
Wendy