2019 – Italy – Amalfi Coast – contrasting views……..

Amalfi Day 1 of 2 – From the sea the Amalfi Coast is magnificent…….

A beautiful Salerno morning, a brisk walk to the ferry and we are off to visit Positano, which we have heard so much about, to explore get some lunch and then to Minori or Maiori for a pleasant swim, or at least that’s the plan.

It’s when one arrives at Positano as we did from our approx I hour ferry ride from Salerno ( NB Be early for your Ferry Times – they can leave EARLY – ours did 10 MINS EARLY) – that you realise the rest of the world may have also arrived.

Our visit on a Saturday in mid September coincided with wall to wall tourists queuing up the narrow streets of Positano, ever upwards away from the Port. And the streets are narrow and steep!

Eventually we get through the throng, and chance upon a lovely looking cafe / restaurant, just before lunch- Pranzo – totally and Grazie Mille!! This pretty venue was very busy, so we queued – nicely tucked inside the air conditioning curtain – ideal – and, “ did we mind sitting at the bar?” – “ certainly not” – as we witnessed two super Chefs composing our lunch!!

Lunch was the redeeming factor for Positano, such an amazing “ designer salad” – salad leaves, fresh fig, prosciutto, melon, cheeses, balsamic dressing, blue berries and more – yummy.

Public Transport in & around the Amalfi Coast – ferry or bus?

After lunch, we had had enough of Positano and took the ferry to Minori and Maiori which lie a few minutes east of Positano. We fancied a swim and the escape from Positano was ideal. NB Ferry Tickets – you buy these for each leg of a ferry trip at the point of departure. So you Cannot Get a Return Ticket, instead you must buy two singles – It’s how it Is!!

Swimming Notes – As beach space on this coastline is so limited, and often very pebbly, it’s advisable to bring or buy those rubberised slip on swimming shoes. Certainly avoids the pain of stones on entry and exit from the sea. Also most of the beach areas seem to be in the private hands of the bars and restaurants who will rent you an umbrella and sun lounger for between €7 and €20 for a day, where you can laze cheek by jowl for as long you can stand it.

You can find corners of these beaches that are “ public areas”- “ Spiaggio Communale”, as we did in Maiori and in Day 2 in Amalfi itself. But after a swim the question was do we take the ferry back to Salerno, or try the bus??? Yes, let’s try the bus, that sounds fun, we will get great views, it will be an experience YES IT WAS!!

It was immediately apparent that the bus driver was on a mission, so honk that horn at every blind corner, ignore the speeding motorbikes and scooters overtaking the bus and as a passenger HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE!!

Never have I been so glad to get out of any moving vehicle, when an hour later we arrived in Salerno. TAKE THE FERRY!!

Day 2 of 2 Amalfi and Ravello

All the reading we had done on the town of Amalfi said that when visiting, one must go up to the village of Ravello which is just up from the Amalfi township . So from our base in Salerno a ferry to Amalfi Port and then a bus or taxi the 5kms up the hill to Ravello.

After the previous days bus trip, some hesitancy, but hey only 5kms, we can manage that. First get your bus tickets from the “ ticket shop”, then find the bus stop and wait, and wait, and wait as the queue for the bus grows and grows. Finally the bus arrives and a mad scramble to get on, even before the disembarking passengers can get off!!

Being taller than the average tourist gives one some advantage, so clutching my dear wife I vigorously pushed our way through the crowd and on to the bus. Phew! It was then a 20 minute crazy ride up to Ravello but what a relief on arrival, pretty village, super views, an excellent Tourist Office, even a wedding underway!

We had read about a couple of Houses & Gardens in Ravello that were well worth a visit and we chose the Villa Rufolo one. We also decided that as there was a option to “ walk down” from Ravello via an ancient path some 4kms back to Amalfi that we would do the walk, rather than the bus!! And the Ravello Tourist Office supplied an excellent “Walking Path Map”!

Villa Rufolo, Gardens and those views…..

Villa Rufolo is accessed just off the main Ravello Piazza, and across from the Duomo. You walk in, buy your tickets – discount for pensioners , wander through a walkway, following the brochure map and inside the house get the first glimpse through the windows of the Amalfi Coastal . We hope these pictures above give some sense of the magnificence of the views.

Walking down from Ravello to Amalfi Port

First there is a lovely wander through the back streets of Ravello, past the Convent of St Francis , restaurant and locals gardens, and then, step by quite large step the descent down the ancient trail. Fantastic views, tough on the knees, but the swim at the end at Amalfi made it all worthwhile.

Amalfi Coast Footnotes

From the sea, the Amalfi Coast is little short of spectacular and from the village of Ravello above, even more so. We were not prepared for all the tourists but had we been, we would still have gone. Those views from Villa Rufolo and the walk down from Ravello to Amalfi were brilliant, and sharing with a few other tourists, why not!