Ahhhh, the dreamy Amalfi Coast.
We landed in Naples at 11pm and had pre-organised a private transfer from the airport to our accomodation on the Amalfi Coast in Praiano which was around a 1.5hr drive. It was the most expensive option but also the easiest, train and bus are other ways to get to the coast from Naples.
First day on the Amalfi Coast and I couldn’t get to see the famous vertical city in Positano fast enough. Stepping outside, the hot air hit us hard and I quickly realised that I was going to be a sweaty mess the whole week. We caught the bus to Positano that cost less that 2 euro each and during the drive I wondered if I’d ever get used to these roads. Getting to our accommodation last night I didn’t feel too well in the last 15 minutes and I was the same on the bus. The roads are super windy and the drivers have no mercy throwing us around corners! The bus dropped us at a stop where we walk towards Positano and gives you the most beautiful view of the cliffside village. So surreal seeing it with my own eyes and definitely took awhile to take it all in *love heart eyes*. We got a taste for the stairs straight away as we trooped down a few hundred of them to the beach where we walked around and found a place for lunch and tucked into our first Italian meal together then surely walked it off exploring the streets [&stairs] of Positano. That night we headed to Il Pirata for dinner which was walking distance from us in Praiano, but more stairs down meant more stairs up on the way back. The dinner we had there was so good, we shared fried calamari to start which came with honey and fennel and is hands down the best calamari I have ever had. We shared pasta and steak for our mains and as lemons are huge here, a lemon sponge cake for dessert. We left with happy tums and somehow made it back uphill to our hotel.
The next morning we headed to Marina di Praia which is a beach close to our hotel and just across from where we had dinner last night, to catch a water taxi to One Fire beach. Its a day/beach club where you can hire out day beds, have drinks, food and swim in the sea. I came across it on Instagram and loved the colours of red and orange against the rocks and the colour of the sea and had to visit! We actually ended up getting there early and had to wait awhile for the sun to hit us but when it did, it was scorching. We stayed here most the day and enjoyed swimming in the sea on the provided floaties until the jellyfish started to be continuously spotted, eeek! We had an average lunch there and a couple of drinks before catching the water taxi back to Marina di Praia around 4.30pm. I’d also seen online that some afternoons they turn up the music and do watermelon cutting [sounds weird but google it, its pretty cool], dancing etc but I asked one of the staff members if they were doing it that day and she said probably not as its a pretty quiet day compared. That night we caught the bus to Positano and went for a drink at a bar called Franco’s. It is the most beautiful cliffside bar [you’ll hear “cliffside” a lot from me as everything is literally on a cliff lol] with expensive but beautiful drinks and I’d definitely rate it as a must do. One tequila drink down after a day in the sun and hit me fast so we went on the hunt for dinner before squishing back onto the bus and packing it in for the night.
DAY TRIP! 8am bus to Positano, walk to the port and onto the 9am ferry to Capri. Capri is only a 30 minute ferry from Positano and 100% worth doing a day trip if your on the coast and if I could re-do our time there, I’d even spend a couple of nights. Coming into Capri is like something out of Jurassic Park, huge tall cliffs with greenery running down them and birds flying around its actually breathtaking. Once we were off the ferry we brought tickets to the Blue Grotto, there are lots of places to buy tickets on the port, you pay to get on the boat that gets you to the cave then need cash to pay for the row boat that actually takes you into the cave. The boat to the cave took about 10 minutes and then we waited over an hour for our turn to get into the rowboats and enter the cave. There was limited shade on the boat we waited on and as we were in peak season, we did wait awhile in line to get our turn in the cave and bobbing in the sea under the sun for that long isn’t that fun. Its 4 to a row boat and we shared ours with a couple from the UK. To get into the cave, we needed to lay down on our backs as the entry is really narrow and low and the captain pulled us into the cave using a chain that was attached to the rocky wall. Once inside the cave though, its truly beautiful, so bright blue and peaceful. We got a sip of bubbles each and you can actually go for a quick swim but we didn’t know this and were fully clothed. We only spent about 5 minutes in the cave and it goes quickly. Its a lengthy procedure visiting the Blue Grotto but hey, its a once in a lifetime experience and I’m glad we did it. After that, we had a quick nasty lunch from the port [regrets, I had nice places I wanted to eat at but we were so hungry after how long the Blue Grotto took that we ate at the first place we saw] and then caught the bus to Anacapri. Another cheap bus that was under 2 euro each and we were squished in there like sardines. It took about 15 minutes to reach Anacapri and its a scenic drive as we were on a road for awhile that had beautiful views over the sea and town below. We headed to the Monte Solaro chair lift that goes up to the highest point on the island [588m], we watched the chair lift for awhile before and my fear of heights almost got the best of me but I pushed through and after nervous tears [v dramatic] I was up the top and looking out to absolutely unreal views. Its actually not that scary now I think about it *HAHA* because the chair doesn’t get that high off the ground, it follows the hill up and its about 10 minutes one way. Its beautiful up there, 360degree views and a restaurant where we got a drink and cooled down for a bit. After coming back down on the chairlift I had a little walk around Anacapri, there are so many beautiful things to look at, its a really cute town. We caught the 5.15pm ferry back to Positano, had dinner at Chez Black and headed back to our hotel. The small bit we saw of Capri was beautiful and I do wish we made more time to explore more of the island.
Day four was a slow one, I Facetimed my family in the morning before we decided to walk up hill in the heat to a laundromat which I regretted about 30 seconds in! Once our washing was done, we dropped it back to the hotel and then walked down to Marina di Praia where we ate lunch at one of the restaurants before hiring a sun lounger to sunbathe and swim the afternoon away.
Last day on the Amalfi Coast and I had 2 more things I definitely wanted to do and that was to visit the actual Amalfi town and go to Fiordo di Furore. Our last day turned out to be a bit of a shambles though… We waited for the bus from Praiano to Amalfi, 2 drove straight past and when we did finally get on one, we were stuck in traffic at a standstill for about 40 minutes. Traffic jams aren’t unusual in the Amalfi Coast as there is only one way through it but after waiting an hour for the bus we were already feeling impatient! Once we got to Amalfi we spent time wandering the streets before some loud explosion sounds went off for about 10 minutes. It took us by surprise and we had no idea what was going on, it honestly sounded like a war was starting. No-one around us was fussed as we were looking at the shop owners etc for their reactions… so random [does anyone have an explanation for this?! does it happen often? would love to know]. I wanted to go to a place called Donna Stella for lunch as you sit outside in a garden underneath lemon trees and it looked beautiful online but they just didn’t open that day. That seems to happen a lot in France too, places just don’t open without warning and Donna Stella even has an Instagram page, like just put a story up saying you’re closed for the day y’know… not hard. So we got lunch at an average overpriced place opposite the Amalfi Cathedral. Then we set off to find a taxi to take us to Fiordo di Furore only to be told that he can’t get us there because the road is closed and the only way to get back that way, which is also the way to our hotel, is by water taxi. So we booked a water taxi to Positano where we would have to get off the boat, walk uphill though the town and then catch a bus to our hotel in Praiano [turns out the beach at Fiordo di Furore is closed from falling rocks but the road was open and we could’ve just bussed there or straight back to our hotel in Praiano]. So that was a huge detour and we were so over it by then we just wanted back to our hotel room. Deciding to make the most of our last night, we sucked it up, showered and bused back to Positano where we actually got a cool picture under the vertical city before eating our last Italian meal and limoncello shot. But, it wouldn’t have been the end of our eventful day if Ihaia hadn’t spilt oil and balsamic vinegar that he was dipping his bread in all down his front, loooool!
Thats us Amalfi Coast, over and out!
AMALFI COAST OBSERVATIONS
Not for the faint hearted if you don’t like heights or get motion sickness. The roads are windy and narrow and your literally always on the edge of the cliff with driving, eating, accomodation etc.
Biggest regret – not hiring our own scooter. We would’ve had a lot more freedom to explore if we did. Water taxis are triple the price than the bus and we didn’t get a normal taxi during the week as the bus was easy enough. They pack you into the bus if its busy, you’ll be pushed up against about 10 people at a time.
We stayed in Praiano which is halfway between Positano and Amalfi and a cute little town in its own. Restaurants, bus stops and a beach, it has all you need.
Thinking back we actually ate a lot at convenient places eg; boat ports, near big tourist attractions etc but I wish we’d eaten at more hidden, local places with nice fresh tasty produce.
There are so many stairs and uphill walking to get anywhere, add the heat to that and you’ll be dripping with sweat before you even get 100m up the road. Every time I stepped outside I was literally damp, its definitely the hottest place this trip so far. Because the whole coast is rock, I think the sun hits the rock then has nowhere to go so just beats down on you.
In saying that, this was the most scenic place ever. Everything is picture perfect and 95% of my favourite holiday pictures are from here. When you do arrive to a destination after sweating your ass off to get there, you stop and stare and realise how amazing all of this actually is.
Watch the short Youtube video of our time in Amalfi Coast here.
See the “Euro Summer” highlight on my Instagram for more pictures and videos.
DANNIELLEGRACE 