In the end we stayed at the beach campsite near Nicotera for 3 nights, this gave us time to catch up on our washing plus plan the next couple of weeks particularly in relation to campsites and sostas as now that we have reached the end of September many close.

Always good to find campsite with beach

Plus it was good to spend few days not doing very much (short bike ride along coast 20km or so, swimming in sea and pool, and generally kicking back).

The next part of our trip is focused around the Amalfi Coast, Naples, Pompei and Vesuvius however it was a fair distance north so we decided to go via Maratea and hope to find a campsite or some wild camping. It was only after we made this plan that we read that the coast road to Maratea was similar to the famed Amalfi Coast road only narrower! It was narrow but no worse than some of the mountain roads we had already travelled on and as it was Sunday late morning to early afternoon (everybody out having Sunday lunch) it was fairly quiet so not a problem.

As it turned out all the (2) campsites in Materea were closed – slightly annoying as we had passed loads 20km or so back down the road which we had taken a a good omen! Anyway we had a quick look at the map and identified Marina di Camerota  as a likely looking town further up the road and our sat nav also confirmed campsites in the area –however  we take this information with a large pinch of salt. As it turns out it was a sizable seaside town with a surf beach and 3 open campsites so ideal as a point to break our journey.

The following day we head for Sorrento – we take the motorway, only a short toll section 2 euros. The last part of the journey involved a short section of the coast road. We had already made the decision not to drive the road from Sorrento to Amalfi and back but instead catch a bus, and our impression from what we have seen so far is that the road itself is fine and in fact easier than some of the mountain roads we have been on however it is the sheer volume of traffic, including lots of buses, and the desire for everybody to get past everybody else which is the problem.

Sorrento Marina

We ended up in a campsite 1 km from Sorrento town centre and planned to travel the coast road by bus in the morning only to be thwarted by a 1 day train and bus strike. Plan B – ferry into Naples.

Napoli

Once again set the alarm, only the second time on this trip, so that we had plenty of time to catch the ferry. The weather looks a bit dodgy and we debate need for umbrellas, decided not to bother (mistake!). Walk down to marina (20 mins) where it immediately starts to rain hard, luckily for only 10 minutes or so. Guy selling umbrellas! When rain stops and sun comes out he instantly switched to bottles of cold water, he seems to have a product for all conditions.

The ferry costs 24 euros each return. Advertised as 35 minutes  but in reality nearly 1 hour. From where we are sitting we can see the captain through the open bridge door and in keeping with standard Italian driving protocols he appears to spend most of his time on his mobile phone. I am sure that if the window had been closer he would have had his arm out of that as well.

Napoli side street

The ferry port at Napoli is fairly close to the town centre and we spent 4 hours or so just wandering the streets during which time it grew on us. I think after our chilled time on the beach the hustle and bustle of a major city came as a paradigm shift. Food discovery of the day – chopped egg and ham baked inside of a sort of bread roll. Not sure if this is a Neapolitan dish but it was tasty all the same and I will seek it out again.

The Amalfi Coast Road

The one piece of advice that we had received from a variety of sources prior to departing on our trip was do not drive along the Amalfi Coast road. We are not ones to be easily put off however the advice came from such a wide variety of people we decided to heed it, plus we both wanted to look at the views and we figured parking in Amalfi would be both a nightmare and expensive.

We therefore caught the local bus (7.2 Euros for 24 hour bus pass). We had heard that the bus could be rammed however we appeared to be lucky as we managed to get a seat both ways and on the coast side for the return journey.

We are pleased we decided to take the bus. Whilst the road itself was no worse than anything else we have driven on and indeed the drops better protected, the volume of traffic combined with parked cars would have made the journey tortuous in the van if not exciting. The stretch between Positana and Amalfi appeared to be the worst.

When we returned to Sorrento we went out to lunch as today is Sharon’s birthday and we are now lazing by the van. Tomorrow we plan to head off to Pompei and stay there for a night or two. It looks to be about an hour up the road, in fact we can see Vesuvius from our current pitch across the bay of Napoli.