FOOTLOOSE IN ITALY III ~ 3 Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast,

We want to see more of Europe and these footloose series give us such a great insight into places we want to visit.Thanks

I had a holiday in Rome in October and visited Sorrento on a day trip. There , I totally fell in love with the area. So much so I am staying in Sorrento for 10 days in June. This dvd is superb. The gentle helpful way this dvd is made makes it a must for holidays. It contains much advice and tips . I now sit and dream at what I will be doing on my holiday...Vesuvius Capri Pompeii Herculaneum here I come armed with all the tips from this wonderful dvd. If I could give it 6 stars I would. Next winter when I have decided on my next holiday I will be looking for another dvd in this great series.

I'm a bit of an Amalfi Coast/Bay of Naples enthusiast, with my fourth visit to Campania coming up in early summer this year. As a professional writer and serious reader, I'm keen on books about the region and have around 25 titles, plus I collect feature films made in the area on DVD/BD and I've always been keen on the popular culture of Italy - I love Spaghetti Westerns, Giallo movies and I've read dozens of Italian crime novels. I'm currently making my partner watch the TV series "Gomorrah" and the only rock concert I went to last year was Claudio Simonetti's Goblin. In other words, I'm growing obsessive about Italy....So what? Well, what all this means is that I'm not easily impressed by entry-level material about Campania. I've been looking for a souvenir video about the region for a few years - the Germans have released quite a few, as they love Campania -so I was pleased to see this disc come on the market, but I didn't expect it would be anywhere near as good as it is. In fact, I've seen nothing on TV about the region that comes close. Take 'The Trip To Italy' - the BBC gives two talented comic actors a free holiday in the boot and all they can do is make lame jokes and perform bad impressions of scenes from films. Pathetic! And we license payers are supposed to be grateful for this? The rich cultural heritage of this impeccable place go all but ignored by BBC and ITV. Brydon and Coogan, you disappoint me....Deb and Dave Rixon have, however, pleased me. Quick delivery of the disc impressed me. I started to watch the Capri segment of the film first (as I'm particular champion of the sublime island) and initially, I was peeved. Debra makes the classic and typical error of referring to Capri as Ca-pree instead of Kap-ri (if you don't get it, think of the Capri-Sun drink commercials, where the voiceover pronounces the name of the island correctly) and she and husband cameraman Dave then goof badly by getting on the car ferry from Sorrento rather than one of the equally quick and much better small ferries, which would have allowed them to depict the magnificent sight of approaching Capri's Marina Grande through the lens of the camera. Have neither of them read any of the guidebooks, I thought?I took the disc home to my parents (who have visited Sorrento) to show them the film and despite my initial misgivings, I warmed to the film very quickly. The opening segment is about Naples and although it's the weakest part of the film, it does show the potential traveller the benefits of walking in Campania. Although at times I feel Debra and Dave favour sights that aren't the best of Campania, this is an arguable point: there is so much to see in the region that to cover everything worth seeing would take a 10 part TV series. I haven't visited Ischia or Procida yet, but I was disappointed they didn't cover the latter. Tellingly, Debra says it's less popular with tourists, which all the guidebooks also say - meaning it's probably well worth visiting.The second segment covers The Sorrentine Peninsula and is excellent. I've stayed in Sorrento twice and the Rixons cover several activities/places that I didn't on my trips, so next time I'll be following in some of their footsteps. They also walk out of the town to Massa Lubrense and Termini - so many tourists don't walk beyond the limits of Sorrento and they're missing out. Like the Rixons, I've done the walking and have reaped the benefits. This segment in particular reminds the viewer how beautiful he entire region is, veen the parts rarely visited by tourists. It isn't simply upkept, it's just naturally stunning.The third segment covers the Amalfi Coast drive and is particularly good on Positano. Amalfi is also covered, but its' a shame Dave didn't spend more time trying to get a more panoramic view of the piazza at Amalfi, but the Rixons are visiting in June (I've visited in April, May and June and can confirm that the region is equally pleasant and much less crowded in May). They also don't make enough of Ravello's piazza, which is a shame as it's a real highlight of the town. Dave's failure to frame enough panoramic shots of the breathtaking highlights of Italian squares is probably my key criticism of this disc - instead, he trains the lens on Debra too much.Finally, Capri. There is so much to see on Capri that only a full-blown 90 minute disc about the island would have satisfied me, but I really enjoyed this segment despite Debra's dropping the ball by repeatedly pronouncing 'Capri' incorrectly - though to be fair, I think some of my Italian pronunciation is equally wrong! I've visited everywhere the Rixons tackle on the island save Damecuta (which was already on my itinerary for my next trip) and they do miss out by not visiting Faro's lighthouse (and bar!) and by not taking the chairlift to Monta Solaro, which has the best view in Campania with the possible exception of the views from Cimbrone in Ravello. I also take issue with the claim that one of the churches in Anacapri is the most important monument on the island (it's not - Villa Jovis is so significant to world history that it has no peers even on culturally blessed Capri.As I say,though, you can't show everywhere in such a modest package and Capri is particularly amazing. Most people visit for a few hours, but you need a week to explore it thoroughly.Overall, the wealth of historical, cultural and artistic material in the voiceover is very good, even if some of it clearly comes almost word for word (in my opinion) out of guidebooks (most of which say pretty much the same thing). The cultural history of Capri in particular is under-explored by tourists (and under-celebrated by the Caprese themselves) and one day I'll remedy this by writing my own book (or maybe making my own video) about the island. Watch this space!As a souvenir of the region and as an appetizer for anyone thinking of visiting Campania, however, this disc is very good indeed and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves -or is interested in holidaying in - the magnificent Neapolitan Riviera/Amalfi Coast area.

We are off to Naples/Pompeii & Sorrento in July as a family, and saw this DVD for sale on Amazon. It is a really feel good DVD. Very well narrated and we have managed to pick up some very good tips on things to do on our holiday. We had considered driving the Amalfi coast from Sorrento but have now decided to take a more leisurely route by boat from Sorrento to Positano. Capri looks lovely too on the DVD so we will also do a trip there on one of the days, and make sure we buy our tickets for the funicular BEFORE we get in the queue - as suggested in their report. We will watch this again before we go. Lovely couple! Thank you

Not sure how one can visit the Amalfi coast on a walking pretence and then not walk along the path of the gods.....however the rest of the content was enjoyable as the rest of their programs.

This was the first DVD I watched filmed by Debra and her husband. This area in Italy is truly spectacular in this DVD and it did not disappoint. Other than that they showed all the town where Tourists would not see and much of the Countryside not normally seen by tourists.They accomplished this by doing many walking tours. I feel I could not have seen as much of this area as they have shown and I truly believe many Tourists who have been there would have seen only a small percentage of what is shown in these DVDS.Thank you Debra and your husband for all these wonderful DVDS.

The latest in a fabulous series of travelogues, this film gives the viewer a comprehensive insight into this beautiful part of Italy. It runs for 150 minutes, is filmed in widescreen, and is presented in 4 parts. Part 1: Introduction, the Neapolitan Riviera & Ischia; Part 2: The Sorrentine Peninsula; Part 3: The Amalfi Coast; and Part 4: The Isle of Capri. It is presented and filmed, as usual, by this talented husband & wife team and takes the viewer on a tour of this beautiful region. It is complemented by original music by Barnaby Smith and represents extremely good value for money. Buy it and the others in this excellent series, you will not be disappointed !

Very informative did, only reason I'd dint give it full 5 stars as at times some if the camper work wasn't great.