Our 21 and 23 year old daughters are studying in Rome and we are visiting in the second week in April. We are taking them to the Amalfi Coast for a long weekend to get away from the city. Arrive in Naples by train Thursday April 7 at 3pm with return train on Sunday from Naples at 4pm.
For this weekend we are looking for spectacular views of the water, sunsets, boat rides, walking trails, quaint towns for window shopping, good food and fun nightlife. We will stay in an Airbnb so we have 2 bedrooms so we won’t have an on-site restaurant. In April I don’t think it will be warm enough to swim at the beach but it should be nice enough to take the ferries?
Which do you think is the best place to stay for panoramic views, nice walks (path of Gods may be too long for my husband unless you can walk only part way and come back), restaurants and nightlife? They prefer to sleep until 10 and stay out later at night (bed at midnight). My husband and I will get up early and walk for coffee until they’re up.
Based on this, which is better Sorrento, Positano or Amalfi? Which is a better itinerary:
Itinerary 1:
- arrive Sorrento by train Thursday 4pm, dinner, nightlife
- Friday bus or car tour to Positano and Amalfi, walk on Path of Gods, return to Sorrento for dinner and nightlife
- Saturday ferry to Capri?
- Sunday spend in Sorrento until train to Naples
Itinerary 2: Stay in Positano or Amalfi (which is recommended?)
- arrive by hired driver from Naples Thursday. Dinner and nightlife
- Friday hike part of Path of Gods, tour nearest towns, see famous bridge in Fuore, return to Airbnb to shower, go to nice restaurant for sunset and nightlife
- Saturday take ferries around the coast
And visit other Amalfi towns (or do you recommend Capri instead)
- Sunday ferry to Sorrento if we can store our luggage somewhere (are there lockers at the train station?). Then train to Naples to return by train to Rome
Thank you for your help,, I want to have a fun trip for our daughters with just enough to do but not too hectic.
Posted by
2528 posts
Regardless of where you stay, I think you are trying to do too much. I certainly would skip Path of the Gods if you all cannot enjoy it. It is not easily accessible from either Amalfi or Positano and thus takes some time just to get there. We took a bus from Amalfi to a starting point and walked to Nocelle and then took another bus down to Positano where we took a ferry back to Amalfi. You can walk down to Positano but it is a lot of steps! It was marvelous but took more than half a day with all the transportation.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you, I didn’t realize it was hard to get to. Have you ever walked through the tunnel from Amalfi to Positano?
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7364 posts
It is true that this is a year-round destination, but we don't see a lot of posts about the off and shoulder-season. I don't have any data on night life in April, for example. If you can still get housing on two months notice, in an area that normally books up six months in advance, I would wonder about full opening of nightlife and so on in April.
You should check internet climate data for April. Maybe the effective-dates on whatever ferry timetables you can download will give you a hint of where in Shoulder Season your visit is falling. Certainly Positano is likely to have the most nightlife, but the date is questionable. You may find that Sorrento is better because it's bigger and more touristy, if less physically attractive than Positano.
==quaint towns for window shopping==
What does this mean? Positano has way too many international fashion and cosmetic boutiques that you can visit in all the major cities of the world. The quaint towns don't have much waterfront, and a waterfront retail location has to provide more revenue volume to justify the rent. Positano doesn't sell quaint, it sells ... er ... glamor. Amalfi is a little more "unspoiled." To me, there is less teen nightlife in a quaint town.
Posted by
2528 posts
I think you are thinking of tunnel from Amalfi to Atrani. And yes, we walked through it. We took a bus to Ravello from Amalfi and the bus was very crowded in July. So we decided to walk back to Amalfi. The path went through Atrani and then through the tunnel to Amalfi.
There are other trails near Amalfi. We walked one a different day and walked all the way to another town (which I can't remember), expecting to take the bus back but it was a Sunday and we couldn't figure out the schedule. We walked down stairs back to Amalfi and our legs regretted it.
I stayed in all three towns and liked Amalfi best. But Sorrento is much larger and especially in April might be the best choice.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Hopefully you are going on the weekend of the 9th, as Easter is the next weekend and I doubt if at this late date you’ll find adequate lodging.
I agree with BethFL Amalfi will give you better access to trails you can all walk. It’s also the transportation hub of the Amalfi Coast.
https://www.tripsavvy.com/best-hikes-on-the-amalfi-coast-4779532
Look at hikes 2, 7 and 9.
Ferry schedules are not yet out, you can find them and bus schedules at either Sorrento insider.com or Positano.com.
Edited to add.
Posted by
Portland
3607 posts
Tim has summed up Positano pretty well. I’ll just add that when we were staying in Amalfi, we thought to see Positano. After a couple of hours we’d had enough. I recommend a day in Ravello instead. It has a pretty duomo and two beautiful villas with lovely gardens. The one that is situated at the cliff’s edge affords absolutely gorgeous views of the coast.
Posted by
Jersey Shore
336 posts
We stayed in Sorrento May 2018. It was beautiful. We stayed a short walk from town (La Tonnarella) overlooking Bay of Naples and Mt Vesuvius. I would stay there again. Lot's of shops, great restaurants (best pizza in Italy Pizzaria da Franco). We did a small bus tour of Amalfi coast (Positano, Amalfi, Ravelo) and I was not blown away. It is beautiful for sure, but heavy traffic, small rocky beaches, lots of stairs and the worst pizza in all of Italy in Amalfi (they used a microwave to reheat it). We also did a Capri boat tour which was alot of fun.. My opinion, Sorrento is the place to stay.. Have fun!!!
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you all for taking the time to provide your suggestions, I really appreciate it!