Herculaneum and Amalfi Coast

[bizmarkie24]

Hi all,

 

I will be traveling on the celebrity constellation cruise in a few weeks and was looking for some help our last shore excursion when our ship docks in salerno at 7am. my dad has this idea of renting a car and driving to herculaneum and also driving portions of the amalfi coast (i guess along the way?).

 

is this recommended or even doable in a day? from what i am gathering, traffic can be particularly awful. any help on this would be really great. Thanks!

[euro cruiser]

It is completely possible; the total trip is less than 100 miles.

 

The excavations at Herculeneum open every day at 8:30 AM, so it makes the most sense to go there first, via the inland (autostrada) route. This section of the drive will take about an hour; once you add the time to fill out the rental car paperwork and find parking, you should be there right around opening time.

 

Heading back to Salerno you can drive the entire Amalfi Coast road, heading from Ercolano (Herculeneum) to Sorrento, and on to Positano, Amalfi, etc. Depending on how long you spend at the excavations, you could time it so you are in Positano for lunch.

 

You said "in a few weeks", so I'm assuming late September or early October. By then you are past the absolute height of the season, so while there will certainly be traffic, it won't be the awful crowds you may have heard about. I've driven along this route twice in October and once in May and never hit the traffic people tell tales about.

[bizmarkie24]

Hi,

 

Thank you for your response. Yes, we will be there on Thursday Sept 30th. Do you have any recommendations for a car rental company that will pick up/drop off at the port? Also, as far as Herculeneum is concerned, are there usually tour guides at the entrance to the site? If so, how much do they usually run? Thank you!

 

 

 

It is completely possible; the total trip is less than 100 miles.

 

The excavations at Herculeneum open every day at 8:30 AM, so it makes the most sense to go there first, via the inland (autostrada) route. This section of the drive will take about an hour; once you add the time to fill out the rental car paperwork and find parking, you should be there right around opening time.

 

Heading back to Salerno you can drive the entire Amalfi Coast road, heading from Ercolano (Herculeneum) to Sorrento, and on to Positano, Amalfi, etc. Depending on how long you spend at the excavations, you could time it so you are in Positano for lunch.

 

You said "in a few weeks", so I'm assuming late September or early October. By then you are past the absolute height of the season, so while there will certainly be traffic, it won't be the awful crowds you may have heard about. I've driven along this route twice in October and once in May and never hit the traffic people tell tales about.

[Andym]

bizmarkie24,

 

We are on the same cruise. Herculaneum is nice and easy and yes there are guides at the gate. They usually gather small groups together and the charge last time we were there was 10 euros per person. We had a group of 4, and had an absolutely fantastic tour.

Make sure you pick up you free map and guide book. they are in the room opposite the ticket booth.

 

Andy

[euro cruiser]

You can read more about the site and download a map here: http://www.pompeiisites.org/Sezione.jsp?titolo=Herculaneum&idSezione=1166&idSezioneRif=1726

[bizmarkie24]

thanks for the link! do you have any information on rental cars?

You can read more about the site and download a map here: http://www.pompeiisites.org/Sezione.jsp?titolo=Herculaneum&idSezione=1166&idSezioneRif=1726

[bizmarkie24]

the problem I am having with the car rental search is it seems all the car rental companies dont open till 9am. we want to leave earlier than that. any help with this?

[Hlitner]

Hertz is open at 8:30. But you have hit on a common problem throughout Europe (Sundays are even worse since most agencies are closed). You can sometimes get lucky by directly contacting the local offices (by phone or e-mail) and asking if they can provide you a car before hours. Its hit or miss if it works and some agencies might ask for an extra fee (we have done this elsewhere and paid as little as 20 Euros extra).

 

Hank