V-Flyer

Right my fellow V-Flyers a little challenge.

I have decided to embrace Italy this August and currently having a little look online at various options (including a package but think it can be done alot cheaper)

We have decided that this is going to be very much a back to basics holiday. I am not bothered how I get there (as long as it doesn't involve a certain Irish airline). Accommodation wise it just needs to be clean. I don't want the RC or an MO at all, its much more about the company, the sun and the wine/food.

So dear V-Flyers anyone got any suggestions.

Edit: Having said that thinking of staying clear of the backpacker type hostels.

when we did this we flew dark side into Naples.
advice -if you do this beware, Naples is a sh*t hole and not very nice. we arrived late at night,taxi into town, small 'pensione' thing, taxi back to airport next morning and then hire car. GET A SAT NAV or you are dead
the drive is awesome but Italian drivers mama mia !!

we stayed a few miles outside Sorrento in a self catering house -lovely quaint village -not one person spoke English.
ADVICE -learn the lingo. I did despite being told 'no need everyone speka da english. Not true, it saved our lives.
Sorrento is gorgeous lots of superb restaurants and street markets, shops etc. there is a place called the English Club, someone recomended it to us and we had visions of a lager lout infested beer hall. Nothing could be further from it. It is the most amazing setting for a sunset meal overlooking the bay of Naples. food superb, waiter hilarious -he had been 'taught' English and everything was 'okey dokey' honest. we wondered if we should teach him dogs bo***x for the next poor customer .

there is lots of site seeing round the Amalfi coast- Positano is a must.

Capri- very disappointing-like a big seaside town , you get hustled as you walk past every restaurant, very pricey. the only real interesting thing is the blue grotto, however if you are a nervous boater it can be intimidating and scary - you sit in a gondola about 6" out of a bumpy sea and head towards a rock, at the last minute everyone ducks and as the waves go back you dive through a hole into this amazing cavern. of course you then get seranaded with one cornetto by your driver (gondolier) who happily informs you 'if you lika it you givva me da big tip, if you no lika den just givva me a smalla tip' -honest.
To my mind Capri was hugely over rated and not good value.
Sorrento and the coast very impressive.
Naples -could be blown up and no tears shed.

Having 'done ' Italy 3 times i would recommend the Tuscany region above Amalfi anytime, but its still quite nice.
do learn some Italian though !!

So, you can get a room here

http://www.torrebarbara.it/prenotare.htm

for 100 quid a day. Money well spent if you ask me. I don't know what the deal is for you in the non-MO sense, what price point you are looking for, but this place is pretty amazing, or at least was 5 years ago.

As a rule, you will do better on the north side (aka Sorrento side if you will) than on the south side of the coast, cost wise. Positano and Amalfi, wonderful and quaint as they are, will be much more expensive. And either way, as flabound says, you'll need a car, so better stick to the north side. You can hike up the hill in 15 or 20 minutes to a great pizza and restaurant, though, which is convenient.

I'd stick to the boat trip for Capri - I didn't feel the hard sell push there, then again I'm a local, and most certainly did not look like someone worth giving the hard sell to, but it's still not worth staying there IMO.

The other option in this region is to stretch out towards Salerno. It's especially worth doing this if you have a passion for the arts and antiquities of the area, as the greek temples in the Paestum area are apparently beyond anything you will see in Pompeii. I did the latter, and did not make it to the former, so can't offer specific advice, but the people who told us we were dummies for not making it that far were highest authorities

Napoli is an amazing city that is going through a really hard time. I would normally have told you to be brave and spend some time there. Its current situation with the garbage problems, though, makes it unsanitary at best. It has the premier archaeological museum in Italy, an institution of world class quality. There is lots to do around the area anyway, so stopping in the city is not a must.

And, well, having grown up in Tuscany, I might be biased based on flabound's statement, yet having only made it to the coast five years ago I felt like an idiot for waiting so long (who has the time, I suppose ...); Pompeii is something else. Things are a little less chaotic in Florence, driving there is not quite like driving in India or the Asian southeast (which is the case in Naples), though still a challenging experience for californian friends. You're always in a better position to do stuff near a beach in August in Italy, which to my mind puts Tuscany at a slight disadvantage. I know a ton of places to stay at out there, it's also generally easier.

My parents adore sorrentto and are going back again this year.

They stay at the hotel de la ville. They love it.

Stayed in Almalfi a couple of years ago. Lovely coastline - the fast(ish) ferries are the way to get around. Driving is OK but you need nerves of steel!

I would say Positanois a must as are the blue caves on Capri, also take the cable car up to the town.

Herculaneum is similar to Pompeii but worth a visit. Despite the heat Vesuvio was a good trip - need to be fit though!

W.