Cinque Terre, Amalfi Coast, and Adriatic Side of Italy for $1228 a Person

There are so many beautiful towns in Italy that I had longed to see:  Riomaggiore, Positano, Alberobello, Lecce, Sperlonga, etc.. Finally, one day, I decided to make a list of these towns, plot them on a map and make a tour.  The result was a week long road trip to Italy that took us to the Cinque Terre, along the famed Amalfi Coast and over to the Adriatic Coast of the country to some lesser known areas.

A listing of our expenses for two people is below. Note that meals and city parking are omitted.

The hotels we stayed at were actually quite nice except for one; (the most expensive one and still it wasn’t that bad-just over priced. The people who ran the place were very nice). I am adding a listing of them here because I would recommend them. In addition to the costs below, all hotels charge a city tax of about four euro a person that must be paid in cash at check out.

Below is our itinerary.  We avoided Rome for several reasons.  First, it is not easy to take a rental car into the city.  There are restrictions on certain plate numbers and driving a car that isn’t authorized to be in the city limits carries a hefty fine. Secondly, if one could drive into the city, finding a parking spot may be how one spends one’s entire day of sightseeing.  Lastly, we both have been to Rome on previous trips.  Dealing with the crowds of tourists in the city is too stressful for me.

April 1-Day 1

• Civitavecchia
• Porto Ercole
• La Spezia
• Riomaggiore
• Vernaazza

April 2-Day 2

• Pignone
• Pescia
• Collodi
• Bagnoregio
• Orvieto

The day after Easter is a holiday in Italy.  Getting into Bagnoregio meant parking miles out of the town and walking in.  We were only able to get a peek at the town from our car.  When traveling, one always needs to be ready for the unexpected.  In this case it was a flat tire.  Since it was a holiday, we couldn’t find an open Avis office nearby that could put a regular tire on the car.  The spare only allowed us to drive 35 MPH. The only solution we had was to go back to the airport in Rome and swap out the car.

April 3-Day 3

• Anzio
• Sperlonga
• Vico Equense
• Sorrento

April 4-Day 4

• Positano
• Ravello
• Castelmezano
• Lecce

April 5-Day 5

• Lecce
• Alberobello
• San Giovanni Rotonda

April 6-Day 6

• San Giovanni Rotonda
• Isola Sacre

April 7-Day 7

• Morning departure from airport with a layover in Zurich.

~Bella