u/boxer156

Looking to visit my Grandmothers home town (Catanzaro), and would plan to keep our home base for the trip in Tropea. I have the following questions, as this is our 2nd time in Italy--visiting the Amalfi Coast a couple months ago:

1. Plan to stay 9-10 days, and want to make sure there is enough to do in Tropea/Calabria, as I would REALLY like to see my family's hometown.

2. We would rent a car and do 'day trips' to the various Calabrian towns including Catanzaro

3. Not party-ers per say, but want some type of nightlife. We stayed in Vietri a couple months ago, and I kinda got bored because there was not much going on in the evenings (unlike, say, Salerno).

4. I want to make sure we are making the right choice by 'staying' in Tropea--rather than visiting for a couple days, and keeping our home base in Maiori or Amalfi. I much prefer to avoid the long train rides, so this is why I'm thinking just to say in Tropea

5. What airport do I fly into? Naples has decent prices, but I really don't look forward to all the train transfers and such.

Any help and advice is appreciated!!!

Just back from our trip to Vietri--and loved Amalfi area--but would probably stay in Maori if we go again. Vietri was very nice, just a little boring in the evenings. WIth this said, we are going again next June, and have the following thoughts:

1. If we go to Amalfi again, we would stay in Maoiri. Just felt like a different vibe in the evenings, less steps, and simply more to do than Vietri. Plus, we will rent a scooter again, so that puts us in the middle of Amalfi Coast.
2. Other part of my family is from Calabria, but not sure where to stay that would justify 9-nights? I have ZERO interest in packing-up and moving hotels, so we need a central place to stay, and tour from
3. Starting to look into Sicily, but don't know alot about it?

Biggest wishes for us are near beach/swimming, place we can do daily excursions from (either by scooter or by our own car--don't prefer public transportation), and enough to do in evenings. Don't 'party' at our age, but want to do into town in the evenings and feel like we are on vacation--if that makes sense, lol.

When is the sweet spot for buying RT Tickets to Naples? Trip is next June, so VERY expensive right now--but hoping they go down near to what we paid for this years trip.

Just got back from 11-days at Amalfi, and planning our return next year. My other part of my family is from Calabria, so would also like to see that--but not sure on if there is enough to do/see for an 8 or 9 day trip? Can you provide me details and opinions on which would be the better option? We LOVED Amalfi, and would absolutely like to go again, but I want to at least research Calabria region too.

First-timers Trip Report from our 12-day visit to Vietri/Amalfi Coast. Please note these are my 'opinions', and just put on here in hopes to help or provide another perspective for someone new at traveling to Italy. I did about 9-months research in booking this trip, and some things I heard were correct--while others not so much. There were (4) of us--myself, my wife, daughter and my teenage son:

1. Vietri: A lot of the reason I booked here was because of the access to the train. Went to the station the first night, and found out the trains were not working the entire month of June, lol. Wierd, because I bought a few tickets on June 7th, so thought they would have kinda warned me about that one?!? Anyhow, our accomodations there were INCREDIBLE--but not sure I'd stay again in Vietri. Nice little town, but I think I would have gotten bored at nights if we couldn't travel out (see below). Not into ceramics at all, so that was no allure at all to me, lol--I booked strictly for the train access, so that one kinda hurt. Still, a nice town for a few nights--instead of the 12 we booked.
2. Language: I took Italian (Pimsleur, Tutors, YouTube) for about 9-months before the trip, and was told I was wasting my time because everyone spoke Italian. This was NOT true. I used WAY more of my Italian (keeping in mind I'm A1/A2 level) that I ever thought. I found that most did NOT speak English--and luckily I had some ability to speak, because my son had to go to the ER the 2nd day, and they spoke NO Italian, lol. Especially little shops, local places, etc had no real English vocabulary.
3. Busses: I did literally NO research on busses, as my plan was to use the train to Salerno, Paestrum, Naples, etc. After the train debacle, I attempted to understand that schedule, and then gave up. Even the Info Centers really couldn't explain the scheduling, so that tells you how difficult it is to understand.
4. Scooter/Driving on Amalfi Coast: Ended up renting a Scooter for our entire trip, and ended up being the BEST decision I made!!! My favorite times were driving up-and-down Amalfi Coast--drove from Vietri to Maori, Amalfi, Ravello, and Cetera several times during our trip. I disagree completely with Italian drivers being bad--I trusted them more than our (USA) drivers. Controlled chaos I liked to call it, lol. I absolutely would have driven a small car along the coast too--I didn't think the roads were 'that' bad once you understood the protocol and procedures 'how' to drive them. I will rent a scooter again for any future trip, as this was one of my favorite things to do and experience.
5. Amalfi Towns: Favorite town by far was Maori (probably next place I'll stay), LOVED Salerno, LOVED Paestum beaches, really liked Naples, and didn't care at all for Positano. Liked Amalfi--didn't like the prices and upcharging, lol.
6. Pompeii: Was actually thinking about skipping this--and glad we didn't!! Got a great guide, and ended up being highlight of our trip.
7. Rome: Got a Guide who wasn't that great, but still enjoyed our day there. Took high-speed train in--and you don't know anxiety except when you have to wait for a Platform number, and realize you have about 10-minutes to find it, lol
8. Naples Food Tour: Had an excellent Guide, and didn't like Naples when we first got there, and ended up loving it!!! Parades, fireworks, people, shops--it was all crazy, in a good way.
9. Transportation at Night: We had (4) of us, and we enjoy later-night dinners--which was tough with transportation (since Ferry's shut down around 6). This is something I didn't account for--and we ended up having $1,300 in Private Driver fees. What I will say is I met one of the best families in Italy when we did--Taxi House made us feel like part of their family (actually met the Owners parents)--so that was $1,300 that actually made it worthwhile to meet such great people. On time every single transport (one at 3AM) and I could call them within a couple hours of wanting a ride, and they made it happen. HIGHLY recommend.
10. Restaurants: Absolute best was in Ravello--Cumpa Cosimo was legit everything I expected and wanted in this trip!!! Others worth mentioning--Lame in Vietri, Saporia in Salerno, Al Dente in Salerno, and Casa Ferraiuolo in Maori. On the flip side, I think we got bamboozled a few times, and ate at some average 'tourist' traps too.
11. Absolutely no 'finding toilet issues', toilet paper, or anything like you read on here sometimes. Most were cleaner than USA ones
12. Absolutely loved waking up in the morning and having a cornetto and espresso in the Bars every morning. Never a coffee drinker before, but now I'm hooked.

All-in-all I'm glad I did the amount of research I did, because it came in handy when those trains shut down. Definately will go again, and do some things different this time. The biggest takeaway is have plans for what you are going to do--and how you will travel at night--because essentially everything except private drivers shut down early. Or pick a home base with enough to do there to do at night time.

I think next Home Base will be either Maori or Sorrento.

First-timers Trip Report from our 12-day visit to Vietri/Amalfi Coast. Please note these are my 'opinions', and just put on here in hopes to help or provide another perspective for someone new at traveling to Italy. I did about 9-months research in booking this trip, and some things I heard were correct--while others not so much. There were (4) of us--myself, my wife, daughter and my teenage son:

1. Vietri: A lot of the reason I booked here was because of the access to the train. Went to the station the first night, and found out the trains were not working the entire month of June, lol. Wierd, because I bought a few tickets on June 7th, so thought they would have kinda warned me about that one?!? Anyhow, our accomodations there were INCREDIBLE--but not sure I'd stay again in Vietri. Nice little town, but I think I would have gotten bored at nights if we couldn't travel out (see below). Not into ceramics at all, so that was no allure at all to me, lol--I booked strictly for the train access, so that one kinda hurt. Still, a nice town for a few nights--instead of the 12 we booked.
2. Language: I took Italian (Pimsleur, Tutors, YouTube) for about 9-months before the trip, and was told I was wasting my time because everyone spoke Italian. This was NOT true. I used WAY more of my Italian (keeping in mind I'm A1/A2 level) that I ever thought. I found that most did NOT speak English--and luckily I had some ability to speak, because my son had to go to the ER the 2nd day, and they spoke NO Italian, lol. Especially little shops, local places, etc had no real English vocabulary.
3. Busses: I did literally NO research on busses, as my plan was to use the train to Salerno, Paestrum, Naples, etc. After the train debacle, I attempted to understand that schedule, and then gave up. Even the Info Centers really couldn't explain the scheduling, so that tells you how difficult it is to understand.
4. Scooter/Driving on Amalfi Coast: Ended up renting a Scooter for our entire trip, and ended up being the BEST decision I made!!! My favorite times were driving up-and-down Amalfi Coast--drove from Vietri to Maori, Amalfi, Ravello, and Cetera several times during our trip. I disagree completely with Italian drivers being bad--I trusted them more than our (USA) drivers. Controlled chaos I liked to call it, lol. I absolutely would have driven a small car along the coast too--I didn't think the roads were 'that' bad once you understood the protocol and procedures 'how' to drive them. I will rent a scooter again for any future trip, as this was one of my favorite things to do and experience.
5. Amalfi Towns: Favorite town by far was Maori (probably next place I'll stay), LOVED Salerno, LOVED Paestum beaches, really liked Naples, and didn't care at all for Positano. Liked Amalfi--didn't like the prices and upcharging, lol.
6. Pompeii: Was actually thinking about skipping this--and glad we didn't!! Got a great guide, and ended up being highlight of our trip.
7. Rome: Got a Guide who wasn't that great, but still enjoyed our day there. Took high-speed train in--and you don't know anxiety except when you have to wait for a Platform number, and realize you have about 10-minutes to find it, lol
8. Naples Food Tour: Had an excellent Guide, and didn't like Naples when we first got there, and ended up loving it!!! Parades, fireworks, people, shops--it was all crazy, in a good way.
9. Transportation at Night: We had (4) of us, and we enjoy later-night dinners--which was tough with transportation (since Ferry's shut down around 6). This is something I didn't account for--and we ended up having $1,300 in Private Driver fees. What I will say is I met one of the best families in Italy when we did--Taxi House made us feel like part of their family (actually met the Owners parents)--so that was $1,300 that actually made it worthwhile to meet such great people. On time every single transport (one at 3AM) and I could call them within a couple hours of wanting a ride, and they made it happen. HIGHLY recommend.
10. Restaurants: Absolute best was in Ravello--Cumpa Cosimo was legit everything I expected and wanted in this trip!!! Others worth mentioning--Lame in Vietri, Saporia in Salerno, Al Dente in Salerno, and Casa Ferraiuolo in Maori. On the flip side, I think we got bamboozled a few times, and ate at some average 'tourist' traps too.
11. Absolutely no 'finding toilet issues', toilet paper, or anything like you read on here sometimes. Most were cleaner than USA ones
12. Absolutely loved waking up in the morning and having a cornetto and espresso in the Bars every morning. Never a coffee drinker before, but now I'm hooked.

All-in-all I'm glad I did the amount of research I did, because it came in handy when those trains shut down. Definately will go again, and do some things different this time. The biggest takeaway is have plans for what you are going to do--and how you will travel at night--because essentially everything except private drivers shut down early. Or pick a home base with enough to do there to do at night time.

I think next Home Base will be either Maori or Sorrento.

Have our trip coming up, and started looking into Train Tickets.......and the schedules are pretty rough to deal with, as we have tours planned, so 'fixed' times we need to be there. I hear horror stories about the trains being late, so I'm now kind of worried about not getting there in enough time (for example--I need to be at Pompeii 9AM--and only train around that time gets there at 8:55AM). Since its a month out, do schedules change or get added? Other trip is Vietri (or Salerno) to Naples--trip down is pretty easy, but ONLY train coming back is like 2.5 hours, because of several stops.

I kinda thought it be a little easier to book trains, but either I'm doing it wrong, or its not as easy as I thought lol.

I'm not afraid to drive in Italy, but I hear parking is a nightmare. We plan to visit the Amalfi towns too, but planned on ferries for that. Don't wanna pay $100/day for car rental, and only use it a couple days.