Tour advice requested

I don't have any advice specific to Italy, but I did want to mention that Viator is actually a 3rd party reseller of tours. Sometimes I will look at their site to see what sorts of tours are available, and then I go to the actually company itself to purchase the tours.

Sorrento- take a bus or ferry to the Amalfi Coast. These are small towns so there is no need for a tour. Walk around, have a nice lunch.
Capri- again no tour is needed at all and don't you want to see the island itself rather than get on another boat? We were there four nights and boats only went out the last day due to rough seas. The boat ride was nice enough but not as good as the walks we enjoyed on the island by ourselves with spectacular sea views.
Look at capri.net for ferry schedules.
Of course you do Florence on your own. Get those museum reservations ASAP for L'Accademia (David) and Uffizi. A walking tour is nice but not necessary.

gopherjohn, I've got personal issues with third-party Viator tours or similar if you can book directly with some of the tour companies themselves instead.

A tour is great if you don't want to take the time to figure out the transport piece or do the research on what you'll be seeing. Not a thing wrong with that unless you're a tourist like me who is much, much happier doing things at their own pace and don't mind cracking a few books. :O)

For Capri - which we stayed on for a couple of nights and didn't use any tours for, including boat tours - you might want to look at the shared Mondo Tour from Sorrento:

https://www.sharedtours.com

These have been highly rated so if tours are your thing, this would probably be a good choice. You are a little late in the game for high-season reservations so hopefully there are some openings still available for your dates.

Regarding your question about tours of the A.C, how many nights are you staying on the Amalfi Coast? What sorts of things do you want to see?

Regarding your question about Florence, are you staying in Florence or day-tripping from Rome? We spent 5 nights in the city and didn't get "everything" done so I'm unsure that "everything" means for you? You need to make advance reservations or buy advance tickets for some of the most-visited attractions there to avoid very long ticket lines. Also, how many of you are there and your ages? There are museums I'd be less likely to advise for young children during high season due to the immense crowds.

Looking at question three - Florence - because we were just there. The line for people who had not made reservations at the Accademia was insanely long. If you want to see the David, I'd make reservations in advance. Same for the Uffizi.

I have had reasonably good luck booking through Viator, but as others have pointed out they simply function as a one stop shop for lots of tour providers. I wouldn't hesitate to use them to book a tour which interested me, but always read the fine print to make sure of the details which vary a lot from one tour to the next. What's included. What's extra. Meeting points. Stuff like that.

Hope you have a wonderful trip to Italy!

There is a hop on hop off bus that travels between Sorrento and Amalfi. It makes numerous stops and you get on and off as you please. I've never taken it but I was on the Amalfi coast earlier this month and it seemed popular.

You could always take the bus one way and the boat back depending on the weather.

Just one proviso to Frank's suggestion about the SITA bus between Sorrento and Amalfi -- you can "hop off" at will, but you can only "hop on" if there is room, and I have heard of the bus being full on the way back from Amalfi so there was no room for people wanting to go back to Sorrento from Positano.

In my opinion, the best way to approach and to see the Amalfi coast from Sorrento is by taking the ferry. It is just beautiful and a bus or car just doesn't do it justice. I don't see the need for an organized tour for Positano or Amalfi (be sure to climb those stairs and visit the cathedral). From Amalfi you could take a bus or taxi to Ravello, depending on the amount of time you have and what you'd like to do/see.

As others have said, Capri can be explored on your own as well. But I suppose you could hire a drive for the day if that suits you better. I don't have one to suggest, but perhaps someone else will.

As far as Florence is concerned, it depends, I think, on how much time you are spending there. In my opinion, great art should not be rushed, so take into consideration your approach to it and what you'd like to experience in seeing some of the most incredible art in the world.

Have a great trip.

There is the SITA bus that runs from Sorrento to Amalfi, making lots of stops along the way. It serves locals as well as tourists and gets very crowded. And, if you want to stop off in Positano, you either walk downhill into town or take another, smaller bus, down. There is another red bus run by City Sightseeing that runs from Sorrento to Amalfi, with a stop in Positano. If I read their website correctly, you pay an initial fee and then each time you “hop” back on you pay a smaller fee for that leg. I suggest that you check out the websites for both to see what you think.

You are probably already aware that it’s a winding, two lane road along the Amalfi Coast and it gets very heavy traffic.

Thank you all for your replies! Based on your input plus some more online digging, we've decided on the following:

• Capri - We are going to just take the ferry in the morning; explore on our own, then find a small boat tour to take us around the island at the end of our stay.

• Amalfi - We are hiring a driver to take our family of four around to the sites; this will allow for more flexibility with drop off and pick up

• Florence - given the advice here, we have just booked our tickets to the museums we want to explore + tickets to climb the stairs of the Duomo.

I've got other questions, but will start a new post. Thanks again!

Two things we did that I recommend:
- Florence- We took an all day Tour of Tuscany with Walk About Florence. On the Best of Tuscany Tour we went to Sienna, San Gimignano and Pisa, and had lunch at an Organic Farm. BIG air conditioned bus, very comfortable and I think it was like a 12 hour day, great value for the cost.

-Amalfi. We hire a driver from Amalfi Coast Destination. All day took us to Amalfi, Positano and ravello. Wonderful day for a taste of the Amalfi coast.