Let's hear your Amalfi traffic jam stories
Dec 30th, 2006, 01:08 PM
#1
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Let's hear your Amalfi traffic jam stories
Drove the loop Sorrento - Sant Agata - Positano - Amalfi - Salerno - A3 - Sorrento today (Saturday, 12/30/06). Traffic was flowing fine everywhere except between Amalfi and Salerno around sunset.
Took exactly two hours (4-6pm) to go the 25km, for an average speed of 12.5km/h or 8MPH. Still faster than walking, though.
Anyways, the road is really not that hard to drive, day or night, traffic or not. It's not for everybody, and definitely not a lot of American. But it is not unsafe. And I, being the driver, still get to see A WHOLE LOT, despite what has been said many times on this forum.
Took exactly two hours (4-6pm) to go the 25km, for an average speed of 12.5km/h or 8MPH. Still faster than walking, though.
Anyways, the road is really not that hard to drive, day or night, traffic or not. It's not for everybody, and definitely not a lot of American. But it is not unsafe. And I, being the driver, still get to see A WHOLE LOT, despite what has been said many times on this forum.
Dec 30th, 2006, 01:21 PM
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I would be interested in why you think this particular road is "definitely not a lot of American."
Do you mean you didn't see many Americans (how could you tell?) or that the road is unsuitable for Americans?
Do you mean you didn't see many Americans (how could you tell?) or that the road is unsuitable for Americans?
Dec 30th, 2006, 01:38 PM
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Perhaps he meant "it's definitely not for a lot of Americans" because so many Americans keep posting that you should NEVER think of driving it. Frankly, I agree with rkkwan. It's a nice drive.
Dec 30th, 2006, 02:31 PM
#4
Agreed. It's not really bad. Naples is much worse. Only problem we had was in Praiano, when we met a tour bus coming in the other direction. We could not get by each other on the narrow road in the village & backing up was out as cars had lined up behind both of us. I pulled over within millimeters of motorcycles & shops & pedestrians & folded in my mirror. The bus driver folded in his mirror & inched by.
Ian
Ian
Dec 30th, 2006, 04:33 PM
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Have driven Amalfi Drive several times in late May and had only one traffic issue. A tour bus and large tuck came together at one of those places they couldn's pass and we all had to wait about 20 minutes for the bus to back up to a spot large enough for the truck to get by.
Other than that traffic was minimal - and we averaged about 25/30 (really max on this road) between towns.
Don;t understand any concerns about safety. The road is perectly safe - there's a large stone wall between the road and the cliff down to the sea. The only problem would be if you don;t drive very well (lanes are very narrow, there are some blind driveways etc).
But - if you're a good, confident driver - this is about 25% as difficult as driving in downtown Manhattan (where vehicles are double and triple parked, everyone ignores lane lines and taxis are likely to pull a uey just about anywhere).
Other than that traffic was minimal - and we averaged about 25/30 (really max on this road) between towns.
Don;t understand any concerns about safety. The road is perectly safe - there's a large stone wall between the road and the cliff down to the sea. The only problem would be if you don;t drive very well (lanes are very narrow, there are some blind driveways etc).
But - if you're a good, confident driver - this is about 25% as difficult as driving in downtown Manhattan (where vehicles are double and triple parked, everyone ignores lane lines and taxis are likely to pull a uey just about anywhere).
Dec 31st, 2006, 05:40 AM
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Hi rk,
>And I, being the driver, still get to see A WHOLE LOT, despite what has been said many times on this forum.<
Well, at 8mph, of course you would?
I agree that the road is not hard to drive, it's just the tedium of sitting in traffic as all of those tour buses get jammed up because they don't know where to stop to let traffic go by.
See pic no. 6 at http://tinyurl.com/ygbows
>And I, being the driver, still get to see A WHOLE LOT, despite what has been said many times on this forum.<
Well, at 8mph, of course you would?
I agree that the road is not hard to drive, it's just the tedium of sitting in traffic as all of those tour buses get jammed up because they don't know where to stop to let traffic go by.
See pic no. 6 at http://tinyurl.com/ygbows
Dec 31st, 2006, 06:08 AM
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But ira, many people seem to suggest NOT driving, but taking the bus or a private car instead. Do either of those somehow relieve you of sitting in the traffic? Frankly I'd much rather be sitting in my own vehicle in slow moving or stopped traffic than sitting (or standing as we once had to do) on an overcrowded hot and smelly bus.
The point about the driver being able to see was a good one. Sure it's because you often have to stop for traffic and otherwise you may be moving slowly -- but nevertheless it negates the often touted "the poor driver doesn't get to see anything at all". Not so.
And even if there were no traffic at all, I'd much rather be driving it at 10 miles an hour than at 70. The slow drive gives you a chance to see it, not whizz by.
The point about the driver being able to see was a good one. Sure it's because you often have to stop for traffic and otherwise you may be moving slowly -- but nevertheless it negates the often touted "the poor driver doesn't get to see anything at all". Not so.
And even if there were no traffic at all, I'd much rather be driving it at 10 miles an hour than at 70. The slow drive gives you a chance to see it, not whizz by.
Dec 31st, 2006, 11:16 AM
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Doing it by car is obviously faster and more convenient than doing it by bus - since you're not stopping constantly to let people get on/off. And in high season aren't packed in elbow to elbow.
Don;t understand why anyone would be afraid to drive this road. I believe it would be very slow in high tourist season - in which case you might want to take ferries instead - bus is obviously worse not better.
Don;t understand why anyone would be afraid to drive this road. I believe it would be very slow in high tourist season - in which case you might want to take ferries instead - bus is obviously worse not better.
Jan 1st, 2007, 02:26 PM
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I'm back home now in Houston, after an excellent trip. Let me explain in more detail my experience on the Amalfi Drive.
- I was driving my parents in a rented Renault Clio 1.5 CDi. Decent diesel power on the hills and autostrada.
- I drive on racetracks regularly and have performed as co-pilots in TSD Rallys. So, I can more than hangout with most Italian drivers (but not motorcyclists). However, since I was chauffeuring, I would say I was driving at about 30% of my capacity. (That does NOT mean 30% of the maximum speed).
- We started from our excellent hotel (will write in another post) just east of Sorrento on Saturday 12/30/06. Start of the 3-day long weekend. We spent about 2 hours in Sorrento, and didn't leave until about 11.
- We went up to Sant A'Gata to see the view from Il Deserto. Coming down, after crossing to the south side of the Peninsula, we found an excellent 180-degree turnout area with an incredible view for a lunch picnic.
- Just before Positano, I found an area with a turnout to get some great view of the town, which we didn't stop in its center.
- I actually commented on how wide the road was up to that point, and how non-existent traffic was.
- We got to Amalfi before 2. But it took almost 15 minutes to get IN the parking on the causeway. Amalfi was a lot more busy than Sorrento and Positano was early the day. But the road closer to Amalfi was definitely a lot narrower than the earlier stretch.
- We left at 4. It was basically sunset time then. Then, traffic came to a halt virtually just after rounding Luna Convento. A few police were directing traffic closer to Minori, which took about an hour to get to. They were stopping some buses and a truck, so that at least the cars can get through.
I could see over the coast that traffic was still basically at a standstill east of Minori, in both directions.
- As I mentioned, it was another hour to get to A3 in Salerno.
Since it was total darkness for most of the traffic, I actually was commenting on the earlier drive when I felt I could get an excellent view as a driver - and I was going at around 50km/h.
Perhaps it was particularly bad because of the long weekend. I don't think it would be like this on other winter weekends, and definitely not on weekdays. However, I am still surprised, as earlier in the day, traffic was really very light between Sorrento and Amalfi. Sure, there were the SITA buses, but not all the tour buses that were on the road later that afternoon.
Anyways, the next day, Sunday 12/31, heading back out to Pompeii, there were a lot of tour coaches heading towards Sorrento. My feeling is that traffic would be even worse that day.
- I was driving my parents in a rented Renault Clio 1.5 CDi. Decent diesel power on the hills and autostrada.
- I drive on racetracks regularly and have performed as co-pilots in TSD Rallys. So, I can more than hangout with most Italian drivers (but not motorcyclists). However, since I was chauffeuring, I would say I was driving at about 30% of my capacity. (That does NOT mean 30% of the maximum speed).
- We started from our excellent hotel (will write in another post) just east of Sorrento on Saturday 12/30/06. Start of the 3-day long weekend. We spent about 2 hours in Sorrento, and didn't leave until about 11.
- We went up to Sant A'Gata to see the view from Il Deserto. Coming down, after crossing to the south side of the Peninsula, we found an excellent 180-degree turnout area with an incredible view for a lunch picnic.
- Just before Positano, I found an area with a turnout to get some great view of the town, which we didn't stop in its center.
- I actually commented on how wide the road was up to that point, and how non-existent traffic was.
- We got to Amalfi before 2. But it took almost 15 minutes to get IN the parking on the causeway. Amalfi was a lot more busy than Sorrento and Positano was early the day. But the road closer to Amalfi was definitely a lot narrower than the earlier stretch.
- We left at 4. It was basically sunset time then. Then, traffic came to a halt virtually just after rounding Luna Convento. A few police were directing traffic closer to Minori, which took about an hour to get to. They were stopping some buses and a truck, so that at least the cars can get through.
I could see over the coast that traffic was still basically at a standstill east of Minori, in both directions.
- As I mentioned, it was another hour to get to A3 in Salerno.
Since it was total darkness for most of the traffic, I actually was commenting on the earlier drive when I felt I could get an excellent view as a driver - and I was going at around 50km/h.
Perhaps it was particularly bad because of the long weekend. I don't think it would be like this on other winter weekends, and definitely not on weekdays. However, I am still surprised, as earlier in the day, traffic was really very light between Sorrento and Amalfi. Sure, there were the SITA buses, but not all the tour buses that were on the road later that afternoon.
Anyways, the next day, Sunday 12/31, heading back out to Pompeii, there were a lot of tour coaches heading towards Sorrento. My feeling is that traffic would be even worse that day.
Jan 2nd, 2007, 05:21 AM
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Hi wliwl
>Love the picture Ira.
Thank you.
>Did they squeeze through?
Eventually
>I like the guy on the road above checking it out.
It's a common pastime in Praiano.
A typical incident:
The road through Praiano is only about 5-5.5 meters wide (I paced it off). So buses and trucks have to know where to stop to let the other buses and trucks through.
Tour bus drivers generally don't know the road, which is why there are so many traffic jams.
A German bus heading West gets to Praiano and stops. The local gentlemen who congregate at the bottleneck get out on the road to direct him.
After some gesturing, it appears that he won't go forward because he thinks that he can't get past a car parked on the road.
They assure him can.
He won't budge.
The driver of a SITA bus going the other way gets out to speak to the German driver. He offers to drive the bus past the car. The German won't let him.
(You have to imagine the Italian speaking Italian and making very Italian gestures and the German speaking German and being very stoically Germanic.)
Finally, about 6 guys pick up the car and move it onto the sidewalk.
The German bus moves forward.
The Italian bus driver runs along side shouting frantically.
The German continues forward until he gets trapped next to the SITA bus.
The road going West from Praiano is now open.
The road going East from Praiano is now open.
Praiano is blocked.
After about 15 min of wild gesticulation, the local traffic- watching gentlemen get enough cars to move over for the German bus to back up.
However, the driver won't budge.
Eventually, the local gentlemen threaten to wreck his bus if he won't let the SITA driver take over.
He relents.
The SITA driver backs the bus up.
The locals don't let the driver back on until the SITA bus goes by.
Two bottles of wine to share with the local traffic wardens - 15E.
One pack of cigarettes to share with the local locals - 2E
An evening's entertainment - priceless.
>Love the picture Ira.
Thank you.
>Did they squeeze through?
Eventually
>I like the guy on the road above checking it out.
It's a common pastime in Praiano.
A typical incident:
The road through Praiano is only about 5-5.5 meters wide (I paced it off). So buses and trucks have to know where to stop to let the other buses and trucks through.
Tour bus drivers generally don't know the road, which is why there are so many traffic jams.
A German bus heading West gets to Praiano and stops. The local gentlemen who congregate at the bottleneck get out on the road to direct him.
After some gesturing, it appears that he won't go forward because he thinks that he can't get past a car parked on the road.
They assure him can.
He won't budge.
The driver of a SITA bus going the other way gets out to speak to the German driver. He offers to drive the bus past the car. The German won't let him.
(You have to imagine the Italian speaking Italian and making very Italian gestures and the German speaking German and being very stoically Germanic.)
Finally, about 6 guys pick up the car and move it onto the sidewalk.
The German bus moves forward.
The Italian bus driver runs along side shouting frantically.
The German continues forward until he gets trapped next to the SITA bus.
The road going West from Praiano is now open.
The road going East from Praiano is now open.
Praiano is blocked.
After about 15 min of wild gesticulation, the local traffic- watching gentlemen get enough cars to move over for the German bus to back up.
However, the driver won't budge.
Eventually, the local gentlemen threaten to wreck his bus if he won't let the SITA driver take over.
He relents.
The SITA driver backs the bus up.
The locals don't let the driver back on until the SITA bus goes by.
Two bottles of wine to share with the local traffic wardens - 15E.
One pack of cigarettes to share with the local locals - 2E
An evening's entertainment - priceless.
Jan 2nd, 2007, 05:29 AM
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BTW, just want to add that I did witness an accident on the Amalfi Drive. So such things do happen. In fact, witness another accident few days ago in Sicily; plus a BMW totally destroyed on the wet A3 in southern Italy.
So, it's a myth that accidents don't occur in Italy. They do.
Anyways, this is what happened on Amalfi:
- It was close to Salerno, at night, traffic stopped or crawling in our direction.
- At that particular time, the opposite lane was open.
- A driver decided he would pass everybody on the opposite lane and then squeeze back in.
- I saw him doing it even before he passed me, so wasn't surprised. But about 6 cars in front of me, cars start coming in the opposite direction. He tried to squeeze back, but ran out of room and hit the car that was in the our proper lane.
- A heated argument followed, in Italian of course, which I didn't understand.
So, it's a myth that accidents don't occur in Italy. They do.
Anyways, this is what happened on Amalfi:
- It was close to Salerno, at night, traffic stopped or crawling in our direction.
- At that particular time, the opposite lane was open.
- A driver decided he would pass everybody on the opposite lane and then squeeze back in.
- I saw him doing it even before he passed me, so wasn't surprised. But about 6 cars in front of me, cars start coming in the opposite direction. He tried to squeeze back, but ran out of room and hit the car that was in the our proper lane.
- A heated argument followed, in Italian of course, which I didn't understand.
Jan 2nd, 2007, 05:43 AM
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Accidents don't happen in Italy?
I've mentioned before about the time we were sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Naples and decided to count the passing cars WITHOUT any body damage. Our game got boring quickly because there weren't ANY.
I've mentioned before about the time we were sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Naples and decided to count the passing cars WITHOUT any body damage. Our game got boring quickly because there weren't ANY.
Jan 2nd, 2007, 05:45 AM
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NeoPatrick - I agree with you. But that wasn't the impression I got from reading some guidebooks, which seem to have a romantic view of the driving capability of Italians. Overall, I wasn't that impressed.
Jan 2nd, 2007, 10:23 AM
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Ira, that road going up the hill is the road I walked every day when I rented an apartment on that hill in Praiano.
I loved watching the local men who sat along side the road and "helped" with traffic. Priano is a cute little homespun town, I see why you like it too, of course.
I loved watching the local men who sat along side the road and "helped" with traffic. Priano is a cute little homespun town, I see why you like it too, of course.
Jan 2nd, 2007, 02:29 PM
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Here is a website that might be of interest http://ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/..._10225193.html
