The legendary Amalfi Coast consists of thirteen towns nestled in the seaside cliffs of southern Italy, giving tourists endless options of itineraries through this breathtaking region. Greg and I were very happy with the three days we spent in the area several summers ago, having chosen to stay in the higher elevation and less tourist-oriented town of Ravello. From there we took a half-day hike to a monastery and the town of Minori, date night to lively Amalfi, and day trip to the breezy island of Capri. Hop on the back of my Vespa, and let's go!
Rooming in Romantic Ravello
The small town of Ravello had charmed my husband on a business trip several years earlier, so he was excited to take me there.
We'd had quite the day's journey from Milan to the Amalfi Coast, including a train stop at a platform surrounded by trees and not a human in sight! We hiked with our luggage down into the town and then faced another challenge--to locate the bus that would take us down the coast. We finally noticed a tiny sign in front of the pottery shop advertising bus tickets (Because that makes sense, right?), and we were soon on our way. (See photo--would you have noticed that little sign?) Our first glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea dazzled me, but when we stopped in crowded Amalfi for a piece of pizza and another bus ticket, I admit that I was less than enchanted. The surroundings were beautiful, but the place was packed and unfortunately felt a bit like Oceans of Fun on Memorial Day.
So when we stepped off the bus after our ascent to Ravello, I breathed a sigh of relief. People milled about and admired the gorgeous view of the coastline, but it felt slower-paced, more peaceful, and more authentically Italian.
We'd debated staying in a number of hotels but had decided to go with a property we found on Airbnb, which was less expensive than many of our other options and ended up being simply delightful. It was a bit of a walk from the bus station and main part of town, but we didn't mind this and appreciated that the neighborhood was quiet at night. Check out the amazing view from our window!
Several rooms shared this cozy patio overlooking the ocean, and our host served us pastries and the most wonderful cappuccinos for breakfast each morning.
The most prominent feature of Ravello's town square is its cathedral, which held mass each evening as we walked by; one night we watched a Catholic parade while we ate at an open-air restaurant. This part of Italy is known for beautiful hand-painted pottery and lemons, and there's an abundance of both in Ravello, including these lemons as big as grapefruits!
We visited the Giardini Caffe Calce several times because of its pleasant garden and delicious pizza--cheese for Greg, artichokes for me. Though we waited until 8:00pm to venture into a restaurant for dinner, we received some funny looks...because the rest of the town didn't begin their feasting until closer to 9:00pm! (Don't tell them we usually eat at 6:00pm!)
The Mysterious Monastery in the Clouds
At the suggestion of our host we decided to take a half-day hike to a location I'm calling "The Mysterious Monastery in the Clouds," so named because since we've returned from our trip, I haven't been able to track down any information on this place! It was once either a monastery or convent and is now simply an enigma. We could see this old structure from the entrance to our B&B, so we set out on our journey with a simple map and some lunch.
On our way we gawked at local agriculture, including green beans, grapevines, and tomatoes drying in the sun.
Once out of town we encountered no one on our hike until our descent into the town of Minori several hours later. Well, we did run into a fluffy, white stray dog trotting along the path, and we invited him to join us, but he was on a mission and couldn't be deterred.
We sat down to enjoy some lunch. No PB&J's for us--we'd stashed one of those mouthwatering pizzas in our backpack!
Revived, we continued on our way and arrived at our destination! We explored the area around the old monastery...
...and admired the birds-eye view of the town of Minori and the billowy clouds that seemed almost within reach.
We headed back into the woods and hiked down towards Minori, admiring the lovely greens all around us. Soon we were joined by a pack of pesky bees--not the sting-you-till-you-scream kind but rather the latch-onto-you-and-give-you-the-heebie-jeebies kind. We decided to try to run away from the bees, but they swarmed ferociously right along with us! I felt like I'd witnessed this scene in a cartoon.
The bees left us alone as we reentered civilization. Whew!
I loved seeing the pretty mosaics and carved doors as we walked through Minori's streets with a nice view of the town of Amalfi and the sea.
Here we are with Minori behind us, loving the sea breezes coming our way!
I had to get my picture taken next to this wall of brilliant purple morning glories, but immediately after I'd been photographed, a black snake slithered out of the wall right where I was standing! Yikes! Time to move on down the road!
We stopped to admire Minori's basilica and eat some gelato while we watched locals drive by on their motorbikes. Then we began our climb up the many stairs towards Ravello.
We peered into an interesting cemetery along the way and soon saw Ravello's famous umbrella tree ahead, assuring us we were almost home. We were exhausted after all those stairs when we finally reached our home base, but we'd had a wonderful adventure!
Date Nights in Italy Eat Other Date Nights for Breakfast
One evening we took the bus to Amalfi for a date night! I'm happy to report that though the city was bustling, this was a pleasurable liveliness, not the overcrowded theme park feel of several days earlier. We walked around town, picked up some fruit, bread, and fresh mozzarella, and admired Amalfi's imposing cathedral.
Our dinner of spaghetti with lemon garlic sauce, pappardelle with bolognese sauce, arugula salad with tomatoes, and crusty bread was truly fabulous. After dinner we walked out onto the dock to gaze at the twinkling city lights before heading back to the bus stop.
The Beachy Island that Turned Out to Be Big
I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the dreamy island of Capri, so we caught a ferry in Amalfi for the roughly two-hour ride to Capri, stopping along the way at several of the coastal towns to pick up more travelers. Look at that turquoise water!
All of the towns along the Amalfi Coast seem to have expanded entirely upwards, especially Positano!
When we arrived at Capri, we were greeted with brilliant colors, an awe-inspiring view of Capri's famous "three rocks," and hoards of people. Though I hate to admit it, I think I'd gotten caught up in a travel blogger's idyllic descriptions of the island's beauty and mystique and failed to focus on logistics! It was indeed gorgeous, but it was much bigger than I thought it would be, so it took a long time to get around. (I guess that's the power of the pen, and may we writers steward it well!)
Nonetheless we enjoyed hiking across the island. The first public beach we investigated had about three beach towels occupying each square yard of beach, which is quite simply against my beachy religion!--one must have personal space at the beach. So we located a less-crowded "family" beach and floated in the water there for the rest of the afternoon with Mt. Vesuvius as our backdrop. All in all, it was a day well-spent and completed our Amalfi Coast experience.
