Amalfi Coast

BailMeOut

Heading to Amalfi Coast with family for 10 days next week. Other than Pompeii any must see/do things you'd recommend? We are staying near Positano.

Thank you!

jt_dublin

BailMeOut wrote: »

Heading to Amalfi Coast with family for 10 days next week. Other than Pompeii any must see/do things you'd recommend? We are staying near Positano.

Thank you!

You can climb Vesuvius. There is a great view from there. If after Pompeii you haven't had enough of Roman Ruins, then you could also go to Herculaneum (Ercolano) which is near to Pompeii.
I would recommend the lovely villages & towns along the coast. You can take the ferry from Positano to the Isle of Capri & also to Amalfi. From Amalfi I would recommend you also go to Ravello, which sits up above it. The views along the coast from there are wonderful. There is a music festival in Ravello at this time of year, so if you visit Villa Rufolo there, you will see the orchestra balcony that they build out over the mountain side. Further along is a fishing village called Cetara. There is a great fish restaurant there called AcquaPazza that I would recommend.
Further along the coast is Vietri Sul Mare which is famous for its ceramics. And just beyond Vietri, there is Salerno. This is a big town on the coast. I used to live there so I really like the place. It has a lovely historic centre, nice atmosphere and some great restaurants too. It is not touristy, so to me it's the the real Italy.

Happy travels.
JT.

BailMeOut

jt_dublin wrote: »

You can climb Vesuvius. There is a great view from there. If after Pompeii you haven't had enough of Roman Ruins, then you could also go to Herculaneum (Ercolano) which is near to Pompeii.
I would recommend the lovely villages & towns along the coast. You can take the ferry from Positano to the Isle of Capri & also to Amalfi. From Amalfi I would recommend you also go to Ravello, which sits up above it. The views along the coast from there are wonderful. There is a music festival in Ravello at this time of year, so if you visit Villa Rufolo there, you will see the orchestra balcony that they build out over the mountain side. Further along is a fishing village called Cetara. There is a great fish restaurant there called AcquaPazza that I would recommend.
Further along the coast is Vietri Sul Mare which is famous for its ceramics. And just beyond Vietri, there is Salerno. This is a big town on the coast. I used to live there so I really like the place. It has a lovely historic centre, nice atmosphere and some great restaurants too. It is not touristy, so to me it's the the real Italy.

Happy travels.
JT.

Thank you JT - this is really useful info. We have a car so do plan on exploring these places now.

One question - do you know if there are any public outdoor pools in the area? Our place we are staying does not have a pool and kids bugging me out this!

jt_dublin

Hi

I don't think that there are any outdoor public pools close to Positano. You might find a hotel that would allow your kids to use the pool if you were also going there for lunch. Also distances are longer than they look on the coast due to the bendy roads & summer traffic. Positano to Amalfi could take you an hour ( or sometimes 2!) even though it's less than 20km.

Here is a link to the beaches along the coast. I've been to most of them and they are quite stoney. But the water is beautiful and a lot of them have an area cordoned off for swimming.

http://www.positano.com/en/e/beaches-amalfi-coast

Have a great holiday. I'm heading out to Salerno myself this week.. Cant wait to be back there.

JT.

LoLth

Herculaneum , better than pompeii and less crowded!

boat trip to Capri for a day out. Sorrento has some great buildings / cultural activities / foodage

dammit, I wanna go back now

razorblunt

Just back from a week in Sorrento. There are various options for Capri, given you have kids, the day trip is probably best.
Traffic from Naples to Sorrento/Amalfi coast is a nightmare on Fridays and heavy enough at 5pm most days.
Roads are tight and windy, keep an ear out for buses tooting their horns to advise they're coming around the corner.

Both Pompeii and Herculaneum were fantastic, Herculaneum itself is probably better preserved as it covered in mud rather than ash.

If you're driving to Vesuvius make sure you get a pass that allows you climb to the top (off road 4x4s bring you up most of the way), our tour only allowed us to get to the crater, I was disgusted!

Sorrento itself is worth a visit for a night or two. If you're interested ring and book a table at L'attica Trattoria, best food I had over there.

Hrududu

We stayed in a little village above Positano last year. There are little local busses that take you around. So if you don't fancy driving on those windy roads it's a good option

I highly recommend a hike called The Path of the Gods. From Positano you can drive or get the bus up to the top village Nocelle. There is a stunning hike from there across to Bomerano. There are a couple of points you can branch off and go to different villages but I don't recommend that. We did that down to Priano and it was steep steps down for a few miles. Really took the fun out of it.

Also recommend a trip to Capri

For swimming the beach at Positano is nice but stony

BailMeOut

flying out tomorrow morning. Thanks for all your tips, I printed this page so taking your notes with me.

grogi

LoLth wrote: »

Herculaneum , better than pompeii and less crowded!

boat trip to Capri for a day out. Sorrento has some great buildings / cultural activities / foodage

dammit, I wanna go back now

Pompei are absolutely great - but on condition you rent a private guide. Sightseeing on your own - nice, but nothing special.

grogi

BailMeOut wrote: »

flying out tomorrow morning. Thanks for all your tips, I printed this page so taking your notes with me.

If you're renting a car - take a FULL ALL INCLUSIVE EVERYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF insurance...

I lived a couple of years in Italy, but Naples area was just a different world. You don't want your holidays ruined thinking about those dents, believe me.

BailMeOut

it is beautiful here. We are staying in a spectacular house in Praiano with just amazing views from its terraces. Rental car company upgraded us to a nice new Alfa with just 2,500kms on clock which is a lot of fun on these roads. So far so good. Weather is quite hot but house has a/c. Thanks for all the tips!

BailMeOut

beautiful place here. We are all very sad packing this evening as heading to Naples airport in morning for home. Have put on some weight with all the great food, my leg mussels are in great shape with all the steep hills and have a lovely bronze tan! I will however miss the Alfa and these roads.

If anyone wants a really great recommendation on an excellent house to rent here just PM me. I have the owners details and booking directly with her will save you around 20%. Beautiful house in such a stunning location.

jt_dublin

Great to hear you enjoyed the holiday. I was just out there in Salerno for a few days and yeah, it is beautiful around there. On Saturday evening we went for a drink to one of my favourite hotels in Ravello, called Palazzo Avino. What a view from the terrace. Anyway I got back home a few days later to read that Jennifer Aniston was out that way at the Giffoni Film Festival and was staying in the hotel Caruso right next door to where I was having the drink. Darn, I couldn't believe I'd missed her! Anyway I'd go back in the morning, with or without her