Culture, cuisine, cliffs and coastlines:
12 days in Campania
12 days in Campania
Logistics, part 1 - Transportation and other aspects
Planning
We booked this trip early (for us) – last August – since we were using
frequent flyer miles. That allowed us even more time than usual to read,
obsess, and add to our library of travel books. Among other things, we
utilized a plethora of trip reports from Fodors and Slowtrav, as well as
these books:
Getting there and back
Last August, we decided to dent Marisa’s still sizeable bank of United
Mileage Plus miles (thanks, Arthur Andersen) for two business class
tickets on Lufthansa, traveling Chicago to Naples via Munich. We
purchased a third economy-class ticket and intended to use 60,000
additional miles to upgrade it to business class. After a few months of
trying, it became apparent that this upgrade process between United and
Lufthansa was not quite the seamless affair that one would expect from an
‘alliance,’ so when we found an opportunity to buy up to a
restricted/discounted ‘Z’ business class fare for only $300 more than the
original cost of the economy ticket, we did so – and re-deposited the
60,000 miles for a future purpose.
Although it was several hundred dollars more expensive, we were very
happy with our decision to fly into Naples rather than Rome, as it simplified
our travel considerably. Our itinerary was a very clean one, with short, but
doable, layovers in Munich – a very nice and efficient airport, even if they do
insist on patting down (massaging? molesting?) everyone on their way
back to the US. Munich has, in our opinion, one of the best airports for
European connections.
A side benefit: the Lufthansa A340 used on the transatlantic routes has
been equipped with Lufthansa’s ‘new’ business class, which includes flat
sleeper seats (although it is ‘flat’ with a bit of an incline), a state-of-the-art
entertainment system, and wi-fi had we been inclined to bring along the
laptop (we did not). For the first time in his life, Chris slept on an airplane.
The food was okay, not great, and better ex-Munich. The service was top
notch.
Getting around
Unlike last year’s trip, where we put 1,300 miles on our rental car in eight
days, we did no driving this year. We relied on virtually every other type of
transportation to get around: ferries, funiculars, buses, limos, the
Circumvesuviana, and of course, our own feet. From the looks of things
around Positano, having a car would have been more a hinderance than a
help. Driving on the coast road did not look to be so bad, although there
were points where the traffic got a little backed up in Positano and other
towns. Parking would have been the big issue.
We found the public transport system very easy to use. Buy your SITA
tickets at a tabacchi. Buy your internal Positano tickets on the bus (and yes,
the driver can make change). The Circumvesuviana is not scary at all. If you
have ridden the El in Chicago, the subway in New York, the Metro in Paris,
etc., you can handle this. We did find the buses to be jammed to capacity
on occasion, although for the most part we were able to find seats. Be sure
to validate your tickets when you get on the bus (or before getting on the
train). In particular, we found the Unico day (‘giorno’) ticket to be a good
value; 2.7€ on the Amalfi Coast or 3€ in Naples. Most everything seemed to
run on (or close to) schedule. We even kinda, sorta got used to the
distinctive sound of those horns honking every time a bus goes around a
corner.
Marisa, who has a (not good) thing about heights, was a little tentative
about those Amalfi Coast bus rides. Not an issue at all for her, or for Allie
who is prone to motion sickness. We even sat on the coast side and
enjoyed the views down.
We’d considered taking public transportation from Positano to Naples, but
we decided at the last moment to spring for a driver to cut down on the
stress. It cost 90€; a good investment, particularly as we had some trouble
finding our Naples B&B and the driver was able to help out by making
some phone calls.
Sightseeing
We did purchase the seven-day Campania Artecard for 28€ each. This
variation does not include any transportation, but it does include
admission to a host of sites. We visited five of the sites, meaning that this
was probably a break-even proposition. However, the convenience of
having the card meant that we did not have to run around (particularly in
Naples) with cash for admissions, and that alone was worth something.
Weather
Historically, the weather here is generally dry and pleasant in June. Only
once did the rain put a damper on our activity, unfortunately in Ravello, but
even that was short-lived. In addition, we ended up with a fairly cloudy day
for our Amalfi Coast boat trip. Otherwise, the skies were blue. It was a bit
cooler at the beginning of our trip; the area was coming out of a brief rainy
period. By the time we left, it was well into the 80s and humid.
One tip: don’t believe the weather reports. When they said it would be
sunny, it was cloudy. When they indicated a chance of rain, we baked.
There also are many microclimates in this area; what applies to Ravello
may not apply to Positano.
Telephones
For the first time, we felt it was important to have a mobile phone along,
particularly since we were staying in an apartment with no phone. Our
primary concern was being reachable in the event of an emergency;
secondarily, we anticipated making just a few local phone calls for
reservations, but not enough to justify renting or buying a phone with local
SIM card. Instead, we researched the international roaming service
available from Cingular and, since we already had two tri-band phones, we
signed on. Since Marisa is taking another trip that involves short stays in
five countries later in the summer, this seemed a more adequate solution.
Well, aside from being able to check messages from home (which was
important), it was pretty much useless. We had reception most everywhere
(through Vodaphone or IWind), but no reception in Positano. This wasn’t
completely a surprise, as the map showed some uncovered areas along
the coast, but…..it kind of defeated the purpose of having the service. We
had to wait until we were in Ravello or Sorrento to check messages. The
biggest inconvenience was when Gennaro e Salvatore had no way to
reach us when they cancelled the trip for which we had signed up.
The bigger issue is that we simply could not make calls. We got error
messages any time we tried to dial through to any other cell phone, and
the several calls we made to land line phones were connected with the
wrong numbers (even though we dialed correctly).
We’ll be circling back with Cingular on this one….
We ended up buying two calling cards – one for local use and one for
international use. With public phones abundant, we found this very easy
and inexpensive for making calls.
Next > Logistics, part 2: accommodations and food
See all of our trip photos
our travels
home
contact us
Planning
We booked this trip early (for us) – last August – since we were using
frequent flyer miles. That allowed us even more time than usual to read,
obsess, and add to our library of travel books. Among other things, we
utilized a plethora of trip reports from Fodors and Slowtrav, as well as
these books:
- DK books for Naples and the Amalfi Coast; both the standard book
and the Naples Top 10 book. - Time Out Naples
- Sunflower Guide to walks along the Amalfi Coast
Getting there and back
Last August, we decided to dent Marisa’s still sizeable bank of United
Mileage Plus miles (thanks, Arthur Andersen) for two business class
tickets on Lufthansa, traveling Chicago to Naples via Munich. We
purchased a third economy-class ticket and intended to use 60,000
additional miles to upgrade it to business class. After a few months of
trying, it became apparent that this upgrade process between United and
Lufthansa was not quite the seamless affair that one would expect from an
‘alliance,’ so when we found an opportunity to buy up to a
restricted/discounted ‘Z’ business class fare for only $300 more than the
original cost of the economy ticket, we did so – and re-deposited the
60,000 miles for a future purpose.
Although it was several hundred dollars more expensive, we were very
happy with our decision to fly into Naples rather than Rome, as it simplified
our travel considerably. Our itinerary was a very clean one, with short, but
doable, layovers in Munich – a very nice and efficient airport, even if they do
insist on patting down (massaging? molesting?) everyone on their way
back to the US. Munich has, in our opinion, one of the best airports for
European connections.
A side benefit: the Lufthansa A340 used on the transatlantic routes has
been equipped with Lufthansa’s ‘new’ business class, which includes flat
sleeper seats (although it is ‘flat’ with a bit of an incline), a state-of-the-art
entertainment system, and wi-fi had we been inclined to bring along the
laptop (we did not). For the first time in his life, Chris slept on an airplane.
The food was okay, not great, and better ex-Munich. The service was top
notch.
Getting around
Unlike last year’s trip, where we put 1,300 miles on our rental car in eight
days, we did no driving this year. We relied on virtually every other type of
transportation to get around: ferries, funiculars, buses, limos, the
Circumvesuviana, and of course, our own feet. From the looks of things
around Positano, having a car would have been more a hinderance than a
help. Driving on the coast road did not look to be so bad, although there
were points where the traffic got a little backed up in Positano and other
towns. Parking would have been the big issue.
We found the public transport system very easy to use. Buy your SITA
tickets at a tabacchi. Buy your internal Positano tickets on the bus (and yes,
the driver can make change). The Circumvesuviana is not scary at all. If you
have ridden the El in Chicago, the subway in New York, the Metro in Paris,
etc., you can handle this. We did find the buses to be jammed to capacity
on occasion, although for the most part we were able to find seats. Be sure
to validate your tickets when you get on the bus (or before getting on the
train). In particular, we found the Unico day (‘giorno’) ticket to be a good
value; 2.7€ on the Amalfi Coast or 3€ in Naples. Most everything seemed to
run on (or close to) schedule. We even kinda, sorta got used to the
distinctive sound of those horns honking every time a bus goes around a
corner.
Marisa, who has a (not good) thing about heights, was a little tentative
about those Amalfi Coast bus rides. Not an issue at all for her, or for Allie
who is prone to motion sickness. We even sat on the coast side and
enjoyed the views down.
We’d considered taking public transportation from Positano to Naples, but
we decided at the last moment to spring for a driver to cut down on the
stress. It cost 90€; a good investment, particularly as we had some trouble
finding our Naples B&B and the driver was able to help out by making
some phone calls.
Sightseeing
We did purchase the seven-day Campania Artecard for 28€ each. This
variation does not include any transportation, but it does include
admission to a host of sites. We visited five of the sites, meaning that this
was probably a break-even proposition. However, the convenience of
having the card meant that we did not have to run around (particularly in
Naples) with cash for admissions, and that alone was worth something.
Weather
Historically, the weather here is generally dry and pleasant in June. Only
once did the rain put a damper on our activity, unfortunately in Ravello, but
even that was short-lived. In addition, we ended up with a fairly cloudy day
for our Amalfi Coast boat trip. Otherwise, the skies were blue. It was a bit
cooler at the beginning of our trip; the area was coming out of a brief rainy
period. By the time we left, it was well into the 80s and humid.
One tip: don’t believe the weather reports. When they said it would be
sunny, it was cloudy. When they indicated a chance of rain, we baked.
There also are many microclimates in this area; what applies to Ravello
may not apply to Positano.
Telephones
For the first time, we felt it was important to have a mobile phone along,
particularly since we were staying in an apartment with no phone. Our
primary concern was being reachable in the event of an emergency;
secondarily, we anticipated making just a few local phone calls for
reservations, but not enough to justify renting or buying a phone with local
SIM card. Instead, we researched the international roaming service
available from Cingular and, since we already had two tri-band phones, we
signed on. Since Marisa is taking another trip that involves short stays in
five countries later in the summer, this seemed a more adequate solution.
Well, aside from being able to check messages from home (which was
important), it was pretty much useless. We had reception most everywhere
(through Vodaphone or IWind), but no reception in Positano. This wasn’t
completely a surprise, as the map showed some uncovered areas along
the coast, but…..it kind of defeated the purpose of having the service. We
had to wait until we were in Ravello or Sorrento to check messages. The
biggest inconvenience was when Gennaro e Salvatore had no way to
reach us when they cancelled the trip for which we had signed up.
The bigger issue is that we simply could not make calls. We got error
messages any time we tried to dial through to any other cell phone, and
the several calls we made to land line phones were connected with the
wrong numbers (even though we dialed correctly).
We’ll be circling back with Cingular on this one….
We ended up buying two calling cards – one for local use and one for
international use. With public phones abundant, we found this very easy
and inexpensive for making calls.
Next > Logistics, part 2: accommodations and food
See all of our trip photos
our travels
home
contact us
Amalfi, Duomo
Capri, Via Camerelle (before the big
crowds)
crowds)
Naples
Naples, church in Spaccanapoli
Naples, Castel dell'Ovo
Pompeii
Ravello
