Sorrento/Amalfi Coast

[jnnfsil]

Can anyone recommend a good (but cheap) place to stay in this area?
I was looking at Villaggio Turistico Azzurro or A Scalinatella.
The former is camping? What would that entail? Would I need a sleeping bag? I'm pretty used to roughing it.
The latter has good reviews on hostelworld and pretty good ones on hostelz, but pretty scary results on trip advisor.
We will be wanting to travel to Pompeii, but other than that we are just here for three days to enjoy the scenery.
Suggestions?
Thanks so much!

[madamtrashheap]

Cheap accommodation around this area can be found, the only difficulty is in Positano. For Sorrento, the Villaggio Turistici Azzurro is a camping ground that offers different types of accomodation. It is not in Sorrento as such, but in Seiano di Sorrento (which I believe is actually the town Vico Equense), on the coast north of the city just off the main coast road. Pretty, but out of the way, evne though it's not far from Sorrento. Public busses are fairly frequent to get to Sorrento and the marina or to go north, but the traffic is jammed in the morning and evening due to there only being 2 lanes, so don't plan to go anywhere in a hurry. They have cabins and caravans so I believe you'll need your own sleeping bag/covers.

A'Scalinatella is an Affittacamere (hostel style, but also appartments)and is also not in Sorrento, but a town called Atrani which is further south of Sorrento and Positano, but still right on the coast. It's an impressive part of the coast - on a clear day you can see Capri - and isn't as frequented as say Positano or Sorrento so between the two I'd choose this one. There are boats from the next town Amalfi (yep, the area's namesake, 10mins away) to Sorrento, Positano and Capri and busses run here from Sorrento train station.

If you want to stay in Sorrento, there is a camping village just up the hill from the town called Camping Campogaio Santafortunata. They have cabins and dorm rooms. Or look at Camping Nettuno which is just south of the city right on the cliff. It has cabins, etc and includes linen in the price. It was renovated about 5 years ago (it was pretty run down) so is vastly improved. And it's only 5mins on the public bus to the centre of town. Hotels like Casa Giulia are small and basic (around Euro60 for a double room) if you'd prefer a hotel instead. There are also appartments in the centre of town that are often rented for 3 night minimums if you'd prefer.

[lia]

As madamtrashheap said, A' Scalinatella is a hostel style thing (I looked over in the flashbooking site) - and, as the name says, it's way up high on the coast ("scalinatella" - that is, "scalinata" is a flight of steps), which will offer you a good sight. Atrani was the residence of the nolbes, and it is next to Amalfi, so it allows daytrips to pompeii, the vesuvio, capri, paestum, naples, salerno, sorrento and..well, lots of places! that area in general is quite turistic - and therefore expensive (I remember being shocked when paying the car parcking in Amalfi!), but if you look for "hidden places" you'll be alright! anyway, though i think amalfi (or atrani) is much nicer, sorrento could be a good option, too - it's nearer to naples, so it depends on what you wish to visit in your 3 days on the amalfi coast (wonderful choice, i must say!!). just to make some confusion, I just remembered castellabate ;D. it is a very little town more on the south (already out of the amalfi coast, maybe you could remember it for a future trip ) , up on a hill looking towards the sea; to be honest, i don't know any type of accommodation there, but it's very very nice.