Italy 10 days - Positano? Palermo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We stayed in Atrani this summer for a few days before going to Rome. I highly recommend this town! 10 minute walk to Amalfi if you need more dining options or a boat tour.

Love Atrani!

The "Ripley" mini-series (great, it's on Netflix) was shot there, they paid local businesses to close for a month in fall 2021 (tourism still down from COVID at that time).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/12/netflix-series-ripley-italian-village-atrani-amalfi-coast-tourism-visitors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not choose somewhere new to visit?

coastal Italy is new, per OP. thus, the questions.

[Anonymous]

Palermo was not nice at all - very gritty city. I was really disappointed. Wanted to leave as soon as possible -would not recommend more than one day in Palermo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go anywhere near the Amalfi coast unless it is the deadest of dead times. It’s so crowded you can’t move and everything has turned into tourist shops where they sell you the same crap with lemons on it and menus in English that also sell French fries. If you take the trip to Capri, go up to Anacapri and avoid the port. If you’ve never been to Pompeii, that is worth it.

OP here. I thought end of Sept - beginning of Oct might be a perfect time but now seeing travel sites that say September is peak season. But crowed do you mean Santorini Oia cruise-stop crowded, if you can compare? (which I'd avoid staying but might do a quick visit).

We were in Positano a couple years ago in September and it was as crowded as any place I’ve been (short of a concert). Just a sea of people. They generally had capacity for it (it’s not like we got shut out of every restaurant) but walking through the main street did feel as bad or worse as Santorini with a cruise ship.

This is enough for me to decide against staying in Positano. May be good for a 1/2 day trip. thanks

There isn’t much to see in Positano— you can admire it on the boat as you go to Amalfi or somewhere, or you could do path of the gods and finish there. Think Ravello is more worth a stop.

I thought Positano was all about the views? Or do you mean there's not much to do in Positano? Any place we stay would mostly be used as a base for day trips or for relaxing.

[Anonymous]

Go see the crypts in Positano anyway and the Roman villa
https://marpositano.it/web/en/crypts/
https://marpositano.it/web/en/

[Anonymous]

How do the steps in Positano compare to getting around San Francisco? I'm in decent shape and we typically walk miles on vacations but I have to say I didn't love the hill climbs in San Francisco. Wondering if that's enough that we should stay in Sorrento elsewhere and just day visit Positano. Any insights?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do the steps in Positano compare to getting around San Francisco? I'm in decent shape and we typically walk miles on vacations but I have to say I didn't love the hill climbs in San Francisco. Wondering if that's enough that we should stay in Sorrento elsewhere and just day visit Positano. Any insights?

The Amalfi coast has towns/roads on top of the cliff and towns/roads at sea level. If you are talking about steps to get from one to the other they are no joke. However Positano is set into the hill and fairly compact so I thought it was mostly manageable getting from place to place but SF might not be a bad comparison (it’s certainly not flat— there is a service which will take your luggage from the port to your hotel and we were happy to use it even though the distance was an easy walk).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Palermo was not nice at all - very gritty city. I was really disappointed. Wanted to leave as soon as possible -would not recommend more than one day in Palermo.

NP. I loved Palermo--felt like a city that people actually live in, not a tourist Disneyworld like Taormina.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Palermo was not nice at all - very gritty city. I was really disappointed. Wanted to leave as soon as possible -would not recommend more than one day in Palermo.

NP. I loved Palermo--felt like a city that people actually live in, not a tourist Disneyworld like Taormina.

+1

We did love Taormina. However for extended stays we'd prefer a grittier location to a location that has become a theme park.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for Ischia. Beautiful island. A few great hotels.

Also loved Puglia. It's a large region so you could either stay closer to the beach or closer to one of the towns. Lots of great hotel options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've been to every big city in Italy, most more than once. I'm just starting to looking into areas from Positano to Palermo. It would be Sept/Oct and we're pretty flexible on budget, but I'd love to stay with a view on the water and also walkable to coffee shops and good food restaurants. We'd mostly relax, take long walks, probably a boat ride or two. Preference to be easy distance from airport and fast train.

You can walk and relax in most places. And boats in many that are closer. Why go all the way to Italy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Palermo was not nice at all - very gritty city. I was really disappointed. Wanted to leave as soon as possible -would not recommend more than one day in Palermo.

NP. I loved Palermo--felt like a city that people actually live in, not a tourist Disneyworld like Taormina.

Why would you want to stay in a place that lacks tourist attractions? Are you trying to deny that you're a tourist? Yeah, people live there. YOU don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Palermo was not nice at all - very gritty city. I was really disappointed. Wanted to leave as soon as possible -would not recommend more than one day in Palermo.

NP. I loved Palermo--felt like a city that people actually live in, not a tourist Disneyworld like Taormina.

Why would you want to stay in a place that lacks tourist attractions? Are you trying to deny that you're a tourist? Yeah, people live there. YOU don't.

Palermo doesn't lack tourist attractions. How odd--this is like saying since lots of people live in NYC it must lack tourist attractions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've been to every big city in Italy, most more than once. I'm just starting to looking into areas from Positano to Palermo. It would be Sept/Oct and we're pretty flexible on budget, but I'd love to stay with a view on the water and also walkable to coffee shops and good food restaurants. We'd mostly relax, take long walks, probably a boat ride or two. Preference to be easy distance from airport and fast train.

You can walk and relax in most places. And boats in many that are closer. Why go all the way to Italy?

why get out of bed in the morning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go anywhere near the Amalfi coast unless it is the deadest of dead times. It’s so crowded you can’t move and everything has turned into tourist shops where they sell you the same crap with lemons on it and menus in English that also sell French fries. If you take the trip to Capri, go up to Anacapri and avoid the port. If you’ve never been to Pompeii, that is worth it.

OP here. I thought end of Sept - beginning of Oct might be a perfect time but now seeing travel sites that say September is peak season. But crowed do you mean Santorini Oia cruise-stop crowded, if you can compare? (which I'd avoid staying but might do a quick visit).

We were in Positano a couple years ago in September and it was as crowded as any place I’ve been (short of a concert). Just a sea of people. They generally had capacity for it (it’s not like we got shut out of every restaurant) but walking through the main street did feel as bad or worse as Santorini with a cruise ship.

This is enough for me to decide against staying in Positano. May be good for a 1/2 day trip. thanks

There isn’t much to see in Positano— you can admire it on the boat as you go to Amalfi or somewhere, or you could do path of the gods and finish there. Think Ravello is more worth a stop.

I thought Positano was all about the views? Or do you mean there's not much to do in Positano? Any place we stay would mostly be used as a base for day trips or for relaxing.

from what im reading, sorrento is the better place as a base for daytrips