The Amalfi Coast

Our last full day in Sorrento and we’ve booked a semi private tour to the Amalfi Coast. We were picked up by Bernado and met three American woman who were travelling together then an American couple from San Diego.

It was a beautiful day all and Bernado stopped at a few key lookout points for us to take some photos of the amazing coastline. Every corner we went around was another fantastic vista and I found myself constantly pointing across the Alan who was sitting next me and saying how beautiful it was. The road was really busy but at this point it was flowing okay. It wasn’t until about 10 km out of Positiano that things started grinding to a halt. The number of cars and buses on the road was ridiculous. Luckily the scenery was still good to look at. 

We finally made it to Positano and Bernado had to contend with the traffic to get a carpark. There is very little parking in the town. A you drive along the road there are local’s cars parked and many don’t look like they have moved for a long time.

Positano is the first beautiful coastal town that reaches far up the hill. It almost looks like one house has been built on top of the one below. The local legend about why Positano was settled is that a Turkish boat became beached on the shore and the captain was carrying a painting of the Virgin Mary. He heard the painting whisper “posa posa” (set me down, set me down) so the captain threw the painting overboard and immediately the boat began to float again. The locals built a church on the spot the painting was found. Positano later grew when the locals were fleeing the Saracen invaders. There are a number of fortresses built along the coast as protection from the invasions.

We strolled down the main street It twisted and turned and just kept going downhill. The streets are narrow and lined with shopping similar to Sorrento although I think this was even more crowded that Sorrento. 

Just as we thought it would never end we entered a piazza where the church is located and just below that is the port. We sat and relaxed for a bit enjoying a coffee before the long hike back up the hill to the car.

Back in the car the traffic had not improved at all. If anything, it had got worse. Apparently, this is what is like in the middle of the high season but other than this weekend, this time of year is usually much quieter and this trip would take a tenth of the time. Trust us to pick a national long weekend.

Our next stop was at a bridge over the Fiordo di Furore. There is a little village and a sandy beach that lead up into the hills on one side of the bridge and on the other side is where they either jump off the bridge or the cliffs to the side. 

This is a 30m jump. My only question is why??? 

After the bridge it was decided that the road was far to busy to go to our next stop at Amalfi so it was decided we would head up the hill to Ravello for our lunch and if the traffic subsided we would come back down.

Ravello is a beautiful town way up near the top that has the most magnificent views. There is a 13th-century Moorish-style villa called Villa Rufolo. It has beautiful terraced gardens and the most amazing views we have seen so far. The building is not occupied and is only a museum now.

There is also a quaint little town that is pretty much like all the towns in this area. 

The villa has beautiful gardens on the terraced areas and at one point I did get into trouble because I stepped up on a ledge to get a better photo and a lady asked me to get down. It's not like I was near the edge. There was actually another step higher that I could have used. 

As we strolled around the area they did have this one interesting shop. At first, I thought the sign may have been a misinterpretation but then I realised that marijuana is legal in Italy. It just such an odd thing to see.

We all met back at the pick up point and had the discussion of should we/should we not try for Amalfi. It was a unanimous decision to ask Bernado to take us back over the mountains instead.

When Bernado got back with the car, he started a speech that was intended to convince us that it was not worth trying for Amalfi as it would be hours before we got back to our hotel. As he was talking and being very apologetic we were trying to tell him that we had already made the decision not to got down. It took a while before he understood and I have never seen a driver so happy. He was almost crying with relief.

The trip over the mountain was a great choice as we got to see a whole new landscape that we would have miss if we went back the way we came. It’s quite rugged country. On the other side of the hills is Pompeii and Naples. You realise just how big and sprawling they are. It’s also very flat by comparison to what we have just experienced. Even though we missed out of Amalfi we still had a great day. Again, meeting new and interesting people and seeing some amazing and beautiful places.

Today is our last day in Sorrento and when we got back to the hotel we asked Raffaella to assist us with getting tickets to Naples. I had checked late the night before and there were plenty of train tickets but when I looked again the next morning there were any that I could find. I didn’t have time before the tour to do anything about it and I also thought that I may having been looking for the wrong thing. At first Raffaella was able to find tickets but when she tried to pay it would not accept our cards. We tried all three. Up until this point we’ve had no issues at all with our cards. Finally, she was able to find us a flight and arranged a transfer to the airport. It ended up and expensive exercise but at least we will make it to Milan even though Raffaella was very keen for us to stay another night. What we didn’t realise is that the next day was a public holiday and everyone would be going home after a long weekend.

Our stay in Sorrento has been fantastic and even better than we thought. Much of that has been due to Raffaella and her knowledge and generosity. She has been amazing and helpful and I would recommend her and the hotel to anyone who would like to stay in the centre of Sorrento.