We are hoping to rent a place on the Amalfi Coast with our family.
I realize it is late for this summer, so we will be looking for next year. We need a place near a town as we are trying to travel from Naples without a car. We want to be able to visit other areas along the coast and do some hiking, site seeing, and shopping. We will need to be able to walk to restaurants, grocery stores and shops. And very, importantly a bus stop.
We are looking at the towns of Maiori, Amalfi, or Sorrento. We have ruled out Positano for the obvious reasons.
As we have 3 younger children ( all about 10 years old). We would like access to a pool and be able get to a beach.
Here's my Questions:
Do you have a name of a rental service that is something besides Air B&B, or Vrbo.
Is there a town you have experience with that is reasonable to get around and less expensive than Positano.
Besides the train and bus, have any of you used the ferry system? I see mixed messages on line concerning the ferry's destinations.
It would be ideal to take the ferry to one of these towns.
I know we can take the train to Sorrento from Naples, but then is there reliable bus/ ferry service to these other towns?
I hope my wish list isn't too demanding. Thank you for your suggestions in advance.
Posted by
5107 posts
Anywhere on the ferry line is fine: https://www.travelmar.it/en/index
You can take train to Salerno and hop on ferry there.
These villages are not large, so you are rarely very far from transit, but try to rely on ferry and not bus (buses get packed).
Pools are a rare luxury, so I would focus on Minori and Maiori for the wide, sandy beaches.
I have heard this company mentioned but do not have personal experience with them: https://www.summerinitaly.com/villas/amalfi-coast
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7943 posts
Certainly large hotels have pools, but you're not looking for a hotel. In the unlikely event you can find a pool, I'd worry about whether it meets US safety rules for small children. Do you know that the modest sized gulf beaches in this area tend to be pebbled? From May to September, I would want air conditioning. We certainly needed it in Sorrento in the last week of May. (Hotel Ambasciatori. Nice pool and large gulf bathing platform reached by hotel elevator, boardwalk, not floating.)
There is no question that Sorrento has superb transit connections for daytrips, but you're not clear on whether you want to just see "any" other town, or go to, say, Pompeii. And superb connections does not eliminate long waits for busses that are insufficiently frequent (say, half-hourly) for the massive passenger demand. You should look for the SITA bus schedules online, because they list the stops, and the "break" at Amalfi for the farther part of the coast. i.e. second bus.
Every time we passed the bus stop (for Positano and Amalfi) in Sorrento in the last week of May, there were more people waiting than would fit on the next bus, standing like sardines in the aisle. BTW, Sorrento is built on a cliff, so except for one hotel with a private beach, Sorrento has only one beach, between the two marinas, with a distinct smell of diesel fuel.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7943 posts
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thank you all for your valuable responses. I needed a nudge to know that Amalfi Town was the better choice over Sorrento. Also, that the ferry a good option. I think the thing is not to rely on the busses and choose the small town to stay. And Sorrento would mean having to travel repeatedly travel if we want to see the other towns past Positano.
We wanted to stay right along the AC in order to access the hiking, churches, towns, restaurants, etc. without retracing our steps.
Good info about considering the pool option, too.
Thank you very much. Mille Grazie!