Hi

You're right, public transport is much cheaper than organised tours. We use the train for Pompeii, Herculaneum and Vesuvius. It's seriously cheap, roughly 3 Euros and it runs on time. You can get public buses along the Amalfi Coast and also get the ferry to Positano, Amalfi, Capri, Ischia, Naples etc. You can also get a train from Naples to Rome but we have not used it.

Organised tours can be good value for money. We did the Thomson, Amalfi Drive tour visiting Amalfi, Scala and Ravello with an excellent guide for 35E each. The Thomson, Monte Cassino tour is also a good day out.

Sorrento is a fantastic place, full of fabulous restaurants and all of them are special in their own way. Il Buco has a full Michelin star and may be very special but it doesn't look great to me. My favourite, Delfino's, is down on the Marina Grande on a bathing platform near the Admiral hotel and you actually sit on the sea. Imagine the Neapolitan moonlight twinkling on the sea with Vesuvius dominating the skyline. For me, the Marina Grande is very special and all the restaurants look great.

We've just had a week's holiday on half board at the Grand Hotel Riviera but we were not allowed to have breakfast or dinner in the outdoor restaurants because it was a bit chilly and pitch black at about 18:30 hours. But the sea views from here are fantastic and if I return to Sorrento, er when I return, I will definitely have dinner in the outdoor restaurant no matter what. I think it costs about 48 Euros for four courses but it's worth it.

The weather in May should be okay, I know it's red hot in June and July, and hey, October was quite good too.

Happy Honeymoon

Eddie

PS

Just noticed you're staying in June, silly me. Weather should be great.

Just read your most recent forum about restaurants and Taverna Allegra is a lovely little restaurant in an alleyway in Sorrento. Read the TA reviews - good food and music -a lively night .Delfino's is magical and right by the sea. You will have to plan the times to Marina Grande but do visit at some point in your trip. Avoid Restaurante Dona Sofia - total rip off.

Go on The Amalfi organised tour. We went with Thomsons. Much better than local buses as the roads are right on the cliff edge! Worth the money.All the other places are easy to do by train or boat. Don't miss Capri and Positano. Check out the lift from Sorrento to Marina Piccolo.

We are going at Easter time -a bit early for us. June is the perfect time - hot, but fresher than the summer .We have been so many times but are forever drawn back.

As for cookery classes we were going to attend one at an old bakery in one of the lanes in Sorrento but it was very expensive for a very short time. Have also done a day trip to Rome from Sorrento. It was well organised and wonderful but an extremely long bus journey. We enjoyed a three day break there ,followed by a week in Sorrento.

You will be amazed by all the places you can visit. Just sitting in a restaurant watching the world go by is a must in the town. There are alleyways full of little shops , buzzing with locals and tourists.Don't forget to plan for days by the pool. Make the most of the sunshine. HAVE A HAPPY HONEYMOON.

Congratulations on your wedding.

Sorrento is a lovely town and you have enough time to get hunkered down and really explore the area.

I see that several people have suggested you take an organized tour of the Amalfi coast. We actually just took the public SITA bus from Sorrento. It takes the same route that an excursion does and is very inexpensive.

Having said that the tour buses were stopping at advantageous points while the SITA bus is on a schedule and only stops for a few moments to pick up and drop off passengers. if you are on a tight budget SITA is fine the organized tours will probably give you a better experience.

There are two sites you have not included in your plan and since you have a generous amount of time you might want to consider. Pompeii of course is amazing. It is much larger than Herculaneum. If you decide to do both I would do Pompeii first. We were there 6 hours and never even came close to seeing it all. Pompeii will set you up for Herculaneum which is much smaller but better preserved.

The second site depends on your interest in Greek temples. Paestum has three Greek temples that rival the Parthenon in Athens. This is a long day trip and will require you to book an organized tour. We used Golden tours but I believe there is a second company also offering this tour. They pick you up at your hotel and drop you off again at the end. This trip is amazing and as a bonus you get a couple of hours to visit Salerno as well.

Here are images of Sorrento and the day trips that we took. All were on public transportation but Paestum

Sorrento

flickr.com/photos/…

Viale dei pini 52, 80065 Sorrento, Italy

Sorrento Cooking School has very good reviews. 80 euros each.

Website

Just looked at your collection of wonderful photographs stanb. Counting the days to visiting all those places. Hadn't thought about going to Paestum.

Thank you for posting.

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