During our honeymoon in Positano, we were coaxed into leaving the village only once - to go to Capri. The second we landed in the Marina Grande, we wished there was another boat we could get on to go back to the Amalfi Coast immediately. It was like all the worst of all the ‘transportation’ centres of Europe rolled into one - crowded, overpriced, dirty…
The Amalfi coast is beautyful. The views are wonderful. All the pictures I took look like postcards. The area is so unique and unlike any other.
Getting there is a bit difficult. Most tour books recommend taking the SITA bus line;however, the bus route takes more than an hour. I would recommend hiring a private driver if you are headed in that direction. I do not recommend taking the bus. We hired Marcello Maresca, a driver located in the Sorrento area. His services were very professional and the price that he offered us for a whole day excursion was agreeable. He drove us to see the following cities: Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, and Ravello. If we had taken the bus we would not have seen so much. It is also nice to have a guide who knows the area and can offer you great advice and tell you about the local people. You can contact Marcello on his website: www.seesorrento.com
I just can”t get enough of the Amalfi coast. Everybody should go at least once in a lifetime to indulge in Italian food and immerse themselves in Italian culture. It is simply heaven on earth.
And it wouldn”t be a trip to the Amalfi Coast without the guidance of the now famous Marcello Maresca (”akmare” on epinions) -cell phone- 338 338 18 28. Marcellomaresca@tin.it, http://WWW.seesorrento.com Many of you here on epinions.com obviously agree that his services are priceless. He has quite a few glowing reviews here as well as on aol.com and virtualtourist.com. Trust me, if you want to make the most of your precious vacation time in this spectacular area of the world CALL MARCELLO. My last two vacations to the Amalfi coast wouldn”t have been nearly as wonderful without the benefit of his expertise.
Properties
Metro Region
Amalfi Coast
Region
Campania
Country
Italy
World Region
Europe
Positive Everything is great!
Cons: Nothing!
Praiano was my favorite place I went when I traveled to Italy this past summer. It was so welcoming, and the Hotel Continental staff will treat you like family. They are so great. If you walk down about 200 steps from your room, there is a little place where you can swim, and you can go really close to the Africana night club…where they catch the fish. You can also jump off of the 10 foot cliffs. It is such a blast and the scenery is beautiful. Plus you are really close to the famous Isle of Capri.
I write this from the perspective of a backpacker who sampled much of Italy, especially the area around the Amalfi coast near Napoli. Capri is often hailed as the place to go to relax. In reality it is quite crowded and pretty expensive. So instead of Capri, I offer instead its more peaceful, colourful cousin Ischia.
Excerpts from my travel journal this summer:
“From Pompeii I went to Ischia, which seemed complicated at first, but I ended up navigating rather easily. The island itself is amazing. The mediterranean landscape is familiar to me, (I’m a Californian) but here on Ischia it seems so much more, well… alive… kinda like a mixture of Southern California and a Hawaiian Island.”
It is December. The weather is cold. What better time to dream of a French vacation? Not any French vacation, mind you, but one that includes the use of a house and car, and doesn’t cost you for them. If you want to pay a bundle, don’t mind being on your own and are willing to stay somewhere that is not right next to the Louvre, home exchanging could be for you.
My husband and I have been fortunate to have travelled to Europe five times. Italy is very high on our list of favorite destinations. We have always been on a tour so our viewpoint is different from those who have ventured out on their own. We went in early June, so weather was perfect for travelling, not too hot.
Whoever likes my simple style is welcome to come back to this opinion in a month or so for part 2. YOU are about to get information on Locations, transportation, sites, hotels, food and all of Napoli’s charm Please enter and I hope by the end you realize that Venice shouldn’t hold the MONOPLY on Italy’s tourists.
First- The Practical Stuff
LOCATION:
a twenty minute ride from the airport
an hour’s subway ride from Serrento
an hour from Pompeii
4 1/2 hour train ride from Rome
an hour boat ride to Capri
about 2 hours to Positano, Amalfi, the blue caverns and lot’s more.
Review Topic: Accommodations
I’ve visited Italy on a number of occasions, but always stayed North near Milan (Milan is really the center of finance and industry for the country and so most of my trips were within 1-2 hour train ride). This trip was recreational and so I was able to visit parts of Lugaria, Umbria and Tuscany.
Because much is said about the form Cinque Terra and the wineries that line the hills of Tuscany, I wanted to follow-up on a more remote area known as Porto Stefano and a small hotel, L’Hotel Torre di Cala Piccola.
If you are crazy enough to travel to Palermo (Sicily) during the summer months and share an Alitalia flight with dozens of restless Italian bambini, well, you will probably experience what I experienced a few weeks ago. Here it is…
Reaching Palermo
