Travelers’ Guide to Southern Italy & Islands

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The Travel Exchange is a Whatsapp group where we focus on one country at a time, with a day or 2 dedicated to a different city. Members describe their personal experiences and tips. To join our next conversation send a message to PadovaTravels to get an invite to the group.

In July, we started a conversation about Kosher travel to Italy. After covering Rome, we continued to Southern Italy & surrounding islands, with Capri being the most popular destination.

Below we tried to sum up thoughts and helpful links shared regarding food, accommodations and activities. Feel free to add your own experiences in the comments below.

Transportation

For transportation in the region, you have many options including train, car, taxi, or vespa – each one with its own pros and cons.

Train

The trains are ‘city trains’ and aren’t the nicest. There is an upgraded train from Naples-Sorrento that requires advanced tickets and is less crowded and has AC.
To see if the Eurail Pass is worth it, you have to map out your whole trip.
Tickets are way cheaper when booked in advance.
“We took a train from Roma temini to Naples. Was a little more than a hour no special views. Paid a couple $$ for ‘1st class’ (we had a 2 week pass that we bought on trainline came out cheaper for all our trains) though you still have to pay around 5 Euro iirc for each seat booked. From Naples we took the local train to Sorrento, its a real ‘city train’ dirty, no ac, graffiti all over. Was also about a hour”

Car

“I rented a car. Its more expensive but really worth it IMO. Although in the summer (peak season) they have restrictions who can drive in the busy areas of the Amalfi Coast so they only let half the cars drive each day. (some days odd numbers some days even numbers). Although if you come in by train, then the best thing is to rent vespas.“
Roads are narrow and traffic is bad during peak season.
Parking is nightmare along the entire coast.

Taxi

Drivers are expensive
“I remember having a hard time booking in advance, but they hang around by the port”

Vespas

No issue with parking and narrow roads.
Very well priced.
Could be very dangerous though.
“Upon exiting the train station there are guys waiting outside to rent you vespas they drive you down the block to their shop and then they can drive your luggage to hotel. (Could be there was tiny fee for that-don’t remember)”

Naples

You’ll likely just pass through Naples as there isn’t much to do in the city itself.

Amalfi Coast

The most popular towns to see include:

Positano – a really nice coastal village with nice beaches
Amalfi – also a very nice town
Ravello – offers higher views of the coast
Sorrento – kind of the capital of Amalfi. Its much bigger and not as quaint but it’s cheaper to stay there.

Top 5 things to do/see:

Positano (Amalfi is also really nice)
Boat around Capri (including blue grotto)
Drive the coast
Hiking (Path of the Gods is the most famous)
Cable car by Anacapri
Bonus: Villa Cimbrone Gardens by Ravello also really nice.

Including Capri, you need 2-3 days, but there’s definitely more to do if you stay longer. If you only have one day, Capri is voted as the best choice.

Food

In theory if you’re looking to pay you can ask a catering service such as Eli Guthier from Cantina Guiliano
The only kosher is a restaurant in the area is in Capri – Capri Kosher Restaurant
- “Just stick to their schnitzel!! Was there for 2 days and that’s pretty much all I ate was very solid!”

Accommodation

Hilton Sorrento Palace – Really popular. Can book with points/FNC
Furore Grand Hotel – “I love it, but they aren’t so friendly with Kosher anymore (they used to be)”

Tour Guides

Roberto
- “Good tour guide for the Naples, Mt Vesuvius area. Good tour guide for the Naples, Mt Vesuvius area. Can also help you with drivers and other questions in the area.”
- “He was 🔥 the best!! Took one of his drivers for a full day tour of Ravello, amalfi and positano. Very informative but not to much”

Boat Tours

“We took a private boat tour from Capri to the Amalfi Coast. You can do full day or half day. He took us to the blue grotto as well even though there was no availability. We made several stops in a few towns on the Amalfi Coast. Was beautiful”
“Probably not cheap. It was many years ago. Travel with 2 friends so divide everything by 3 :). I remember having to pay extra for the gas plus a tip for the driver. If you arrange in advance you may have more leverage (re the gas). Can even stop to swim. It’s a beautiful way to see the coast”
“We had a full day with him, iirc it was 1000 Euro plus we had to give a tip of 50. It was for 10 ppl took us around to all the grotto’s we got out to swim (there’s a ‘mafia’ that runs the blue grotto that makes you pay entrance fees, he took us right before sunset when they were gone so was really quiet)”
“Was definitely a great trip, 12+ hours including exploring Capri”
“I seem to remember about $500 for half a day as well. Could have been euro.”

Positano

Sorrento

Airbnb 20 minutes or so from Sorrento with beautiful views of the water and coastal town, with a private pool.
Maison Marie – A very nice affordable Boutique Hotel in Sorrento.

Capri

You can stay over in Capri, however it’s quite expensive. Most people do a full day trip. From Sorrento it’s a 25 min ferry ride. From Naples, it’s a 50 min ferry ride to capri. (Book in advance). April best time to visit it’s beginning of season very empty hotels are very cheap.
Things to do:
- Take a boat around the island and go to the Blue Grotto. It’s stunning. (See section below for more about boat tours).
- There are a bunch of nice hikes in Capri as well.
- Main town center
  - Can be reached by foot (a lot of stairs as it’s on top).
  - You can also take the funicular or a bus/taxi.
“Used Ferryhopper.com to book a ferry to Capri, make sure to check the last time for return so as not to get stuck there 😂”
“Capri is 💯 worth it to go, I went April time and hotel was about 280 euros. Weather was also amazing”

Highest Point of Capri

Monte Solaro is the highest point on the island of Capri. From here, you can see the Faraglioni Rocks, Mount Vesuvius, the Isle of Ischia, Sorrento, and the Bay of Naples.

Directions to the top:
From the boat dock, take the bus to Anacapri. Ask around where the bus is, should be easy to spot. Or take a taxi up. Buses arrive roughly every 15 minutes and it is a short ride to Anacapri (20 min). Get off when announces Anacapri. From the bottom station in Anacapri, it is a 7-minute ride by chairlift to Monte Solaro.
The bus station in Anacapri is next to Piazza Vittorio and from here it is a very short walk to the chairlift Monte Solaro Chair Lift there will be cute shops along the way
Monte Solaro Chair Lift
- Tickets cost €12 round trip.
- Once at the top, there are a few terraces to visit to look out over the island.
- The entire visit takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour
- Check the schedule to see when the last chair lift back down from the top of Mount Solaro is as it’s pretty early
- “It’s not really a cable car it’s a single seat lift, I would imagine hard with a kid.”
- “I thought it was very cool ride, beautiful scenery”

View from the highest point in Capri

Other

La Palma Beach Club – “Great place on the bottom of capri to chill, and order drinks”
Gardens of Augustus in Capri is beautiful

Boat Tours

“You only need one day in capri definitely do this boat tour and I would skip the grottos (blue and green)”
“The emerald grotto was a fun stop along the coast”
Vincenzo Boat Driver – “This was our boat driver from Capri , in case it’s helpful for anyone”
Charter & Villas –“We used him. Was great!”
Capri Boat Tour Guy – “I used this guy. Was chilled and well priced” “I used him as well. Recommended”
“Imo I think you’ll get the best deal if you walk around and bargain a little right when you get off the boat. This was who I ended up using” – Capri Damare

Sicily

“No one really talks about it, but aside from the lack of kosher food, Sicily is easily one of the top one or two experiences in all of Italy!”
“You can’t drive you need to fly. Sicily is its own island.”
“Mafia style! Full time godfather. 🥃”
“Scenery in Corleone and the rest of the countryside is 🙌”

Pompei

Aside from the coast, there is also Pompei in that area with all the ruins from a village that froze in time when a volcano erupted. Interesting for those into history, others found it boring.

“I wasn’t able to go since I’m a kohen. That’s what my Rabbi said…”
“Very cool”
“It’s ruins…. If have a good tour guide can be interesting.”
“There’s a lot of history, nothing good was going on in that town if you know what I mean. They still have bodies that are frozen from that time from the volcano”
“I went without a tour guide and thought it was amazing”