After we left Florence, we had two splendid days on the Amalfi Coast.
Oh boy, this was a huge bucket-list place to see for me.
I was in charge of this portion of the trip, and I took my friend’s advice and got a travel agent to help with these couple days. And we loved him and his advice!
Naples
We took a train from Florence to Naples, got picked up at the train station and taken on a quick tour of that city.
Naples was built by the Greeks, and was an originally a huge Greek colony stretching all the way to Solerno. It was built 2,700 years ago (way before Rome). The eruption of the volcano destroyed the city and the Greeks rebuilt it calling it “Naples” which means “new city.” I think our driver said there are FIVE big old castles like this right in the city:
We got lunch at a pizza place right on the water.
It was hot as blazes sitting on that patio but the pizza made it worth it (and the fans they gave us were lifesavers too!)
Sorrento
The driver took us right to our next little AirBNB in Sorrento, which was down some winding roads right to the beach of Marina Grande.
Sorrento is a new favorite place imprinted on my heart built right on a cliff. In the planning process I had debated and wrung my hands over whether to stay in Sorrento or Salerno (both with totally different reviews), and although I have never experienced Salerno, we LOVED this choice of Sorrento.
Our little rental was up a whole slew of stairs, right on this little port on the water, a black sand beach crowded with picturesque restaurants.
We explored a tiny bit…
…took a quick dip in the water…
…and then raced up the winding road, drinking in the sunset on each turn.
I love how they maximize space and put little tables for the cafes and restaurants everywhere (above left).
We loved the main street of that city, filled up with people and good dinner smells and everything-lemon lining the little shops.
You see, the Amalfi coast is famous for lemons and there are a bazillion lemon trinkets you can buy and famous “limoncello” for sale EVERYWHERE). We got the most delicious crepes and loved just basking in that evening.
And walking back down to our little Marina Grande to that bustling area on the water.
Capri and Positano by boat
The next day we took a boat out from dawn until dusk, exploring the Amalfi Coast from the sea.
It was something that deserves it’s own post, filled with little caves to explore:
That island of Capri that all of us fell in love with:
Deep blue waters to swim in:
And views like this:
Yes, it was CROWDED!!!
But we loved it.
And I wrote all the details so I could keep them forever.
When we got back to our little port, we raced up the windy steps to catch the sunset again:
…and spent one more night just soaking in the ambiance of Marina Grande.
Path of the Gods Hike
The next morning we got picked up nice and early to head to what I had been dreaming of hiking: The Path of the Gods right along the ridges of the Amalfi Coast.
We wound through the tiny streets.
To get to Nocelle where we started the hike.
Once again, this part deserves it’s own post because I want to remember the instructions. We did it backwards from this awesome guide from Earth Trekkers (the best travel website!).
Check out that post for all the details of that hike we loved.
Amalfi Town
From there, we headed, again on these tiny roads, over to the actual glorious town of Amalfi.
I had to snap a picture of us trying to pass this bus on the road along the ridge…yow!
Here’s the road from the window:
And HERE, is the beach at Amalfi:
Ha!!
August is the worst month to visit these towns in Italy. All of Europe is on holiday, and everyone wants to come to these beautiful spots. But we knew this going in and did it anyway since it was the only timing we could make work before Claire leaves. And we just embraced the crowds and the heat. It was awesome:)
Amalfi and Positano are the two most popular Amalfi Coast cities, and we were so happy we got to explore this one for just a little bit. LOVED walking from the beach into the main little square to find this incredible church there to greet us:
It was so beautiful!
Didn’t hurt that there was, of course, delicious gelato to greet us too.
Elle tried the lemon, because when in Amalfi…
Farm Lunch
Our next stop was at this gorgeous little farm in the middle of the valleys surrounding the Amalfi coast where this Italian family made us a garden-fresh, home-made lunch.
It was filled with fresh vegetables from their garden, home-made gnocchi and meatballs, and the most delicious tart for dessert.
I will be dreaming of that lunch for a long time.
This was our hostess Olivia:
…and her parents who were. the chefs. So full of light.
Ravello
From there we made a quick stop at the town of Ravello, another popular, more quiet town up away from the water.
With more incredible views.
We all wished we could have stayed here longer, maybe a day or two.
But loved at least getting a feel for that place before we headed away from our newly beloved Almalfi coast.
Off to visit Pompeii.
On these tiny streets:
To be continued!
Shawni, I am in awe of your trips. Would you consider doing a blog post about how you approach/plan your trips? Hints/ insight/ etc would be much appreciated!
All the planning comes with a lot of stress and time and work, but so worth it in the end! I use a lot of Trip Advisor, Google Flights, AirBnB, Get Your Guide, and just dig in and do the research. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have more specific questions.
I loved all of your travel adventures and the beautiful pictures! I would like to mention that you have Amalfi spelled wrong. It is not Almalfi, thought you might want to fix that.
Oh my goodness, THANK YOU for pointing that out! I had it written wrong all over the place! Not sure why they extra “L” just clung on to my spelling! I think I have caught them all now, but let me know if you see other misspellings!
xoxo
The Amalfi coast is such a magical place! We were there about 5 or 6 years ago. I dont recall it being quite as crowded. Love following along on your trip.
Yes I think we may have chosen the very most crowded time to visit! After COVID, and in the middle of the summer. But I guess sometimes you just have to brave it and I’m so glad we did!
Hi
We are headed to Amalfi coast where did you have the farm lunch? We would love to experience that.
Thank you
I actually don’t know because this was planned by our travel “helper” Milo Tours. Honestly the BEST people to help plan a trip like this portion in the Almalfi Coast. I’d definitely recommend contacting Mario and Pinar (who run Milo Tours) to help and guide you. They set up the driver to take us to this farm lunch. You can email them at info@milotours.com for more information. And give them my love when you do, because they are awesome! Took all the stress out of these two days for me!
Yes would love to know how you plan etc… your trips like the above comment from Jo😊
We had a trip planned to the Amalfi Coast but had to cancel because of COVID 3 yrs ago. So it’s definitely still on my bucket list!
Oh I hope you get to go again! See my answers above for help.
xoxo
Loving this report! (Last month-sob) We took the train from Rome to Naples and then had a driver that took us to Sorrento and Positano. Dreamy!! Definitely bucket list worthy. We also took had a private guide for Pompeii on our way back to Rome. It was so amazing.
Re: Ravello: My daughters spent 4 days there this summer as their Amalfi coast base and it was wonderful! We did not make it there unfortunately.
Sounds heavenly to stay in Ravello for four days! Sounds like we had similar trips! We did Pompeii as well…more details coming on that!
xoxo
I will be visiting the Amalfi Coast in October. I would also like to know the Farm address where you had lunch. It looked so delightful.
It really was delightful! See the information in the above comment to figure out where that farm lunch was. Olivia, our host, as well as her parents, were just full of light and goodness. And the food was so good!
xoxo
What an incredible “let” of the trip that never entered our minds when we were planning our trip! Thanks for showing us this gorgeous place so now we don’t even have to go! Ha!