Which town to stay in on Amalfi Coast

Lori:
I think this depends a little on whether you have identified your specific hikes yet. Amalfi is great for getting to Ravello, Bomerano (for Path of the Gods), Rick Steve's recommended valley hike. But there are many segments of the Path of the Gods, and the Sorrentine Peninsula is a network of trails. FWIW we are staying in Sorrento and bussing it to Bomerano for the POTG, walking to Montepertuso then bus to Positano and bus back to Sorrento. (Lots of busses but we want to stay in one place for a week so are willing to put up with that.) Do you have a good hiking guide to the area?

no guide yet. I was trying to narrow down which town to stay in first. I do have Rick's book on Italy and have read about the hikes he suggests. I also saw a good website about Travel to Amalfi that suggested some very attractive hikes. I just wasn't sure which town it would be best to base out of. We only have a few days and we prefer small towns rather than big ones. Sorrento sounds big to me. Positano sounds beautiful but Amalfi sounds like it is more of a starting point for the hikes. Not sure how easy it is to get back to where we started. Thanks for your help. Let me know how your hikes work out.

Lori, I was just in Sorrento 2 weeks ago and I visited both Amalfi and Positano while we are there. Let me tell you one thing, getting around the coast by bus (while entirely possible) is not as easy as it sounds. From Sorrento it is 40 min to Positano and another 20 to Amalfi along a very windy road. The buses are also extremely crowded especially at the end of the day. They carry not only tourists, but locals so by the end of the day they can be standing room only. They are not comfortable for anyone who is prone to motion sickness as my friend could confirm. I would recommend staying in Sorrento as a base. You have many more options for travel. If you stay in Amalfi your choices are by boat from Naples, or the local train from Naples to Sorrento (about an hr ride) and then the bus on to Amalfi. I believed Sorrento would give you more flexability than Amalfi, especially if you do not want to rent a car. The town is larger that Positano or Amalfi, but very quant with narrow shopping streets and views to the sea. I do not think you will be disappointed. Hope you have a great trip. It rained the whole time we were at the AC so I wish you better weather.

I do not have any advice for you but am interested in your replies.We are staying for 3 nights in Praiano in July and also are considering the Path of the Gods. Or maybe just part of it.
I also need to do more research regarding how to get around. We hope to park our car at the hotel and not have to use it much.

There are trade offs. Sorrento is a good base camp with plenty of options to Naples, Pompeii etc, but Sorrento is not near any of the trail heads that I know, and it is uber touristy. The Sorrento-Amalfi bus is interesting. Once. But the ride gets old real fast, as did commuting to the trail heads. Amalfi is the start of several hikes (bus up, walk down) but at night it is a little town. And it makes day trips to Pompeii, Naples etc into quasi epic logistic day trips, unless you hire a car. Check out YouTube: many of the hikes around Amalfi have been filmed, especially the path of the gods. In good weather, bag the bus and use the boat because the view is spectacular. The Sorrento-Amalfi bus ride also is on YouTube so you can see why the average speed must be something like 1.1 mph.

Sorrento is less touristy than Positano, Capri, Pompeii, Rome, Florence, Siena, Cinque Terre, Venice...just to name a few.

Positano has a good combination of location and bus access to trailheads. Sorrento is some distance away

There are some excellent walks on the Sorrentine Peninsula, some down to bays that have no road access. This very useful guide book should help. It caters for wakers of all abilities. It suggests Sorrento or Amalfi as bases because they are public transport hubs. http://www.sunflowerbooks.co.uk/sorrento.htm

The TI in Ravello has an excellent map and guide to the trails in the area. We did one from Ravello down to where the bus station is on the coast. Also, about 50m from the TI, we got one of the best and cheapest sandwiches we had in Italy. Finally, we stayed in Sorrento, however, if you want more trails, I'd stay at Ravello; it's easier to walk down and drink in the view than to walk up!