Linda had a hot date so Chris and I explored the Amalfi coast without her. I told Chris that I really wanted to wander around Positano and Amalfi, examining the contents of the various shops and getting lost amongst the winding streets. Knowing that wasn’t his thing, I told him we could split up – he could go do his own thing while I did mine. Brave man decided to stay with me AND he promised not to complain about my vagabond ways!
Ferry Ferry bo Berry
Salerno has a pretty reasonably priced ferry that goes to both Positano and Amalfi. Technically it also goes to Sorrento and Capri but that’s a bit of a haul on a ferry for a day trip. The night before, we researched both cities as well as the ferry schedule and decided to spend 2ish hours in Positano and 5ish hours in Amalfi. We probably could have used a little longer in Amalfi but we weren’t willing to be on the last ferry out of town.
When you research ferry tickets online the site says things like “It’s the busy season. Avoid ticket lines by buying online!” I’m okay with online transactions and especially avid to avoid lines so that’s what we did. When we queued up for the ferry though, everyone had paper tickets. Chris questioned whether or not we also needed paper tickets and I told him we were fine because there was a QR code on the email confirmation I received. I’m paranoid enough though that I reread the email. Sure enough the last line of the email, in tiny print, said go to the ticket counter upon arrival. Bleh. We lost our good spot in line but we got the paper tickets. Bonus: we got all 3 sets of tickets so I only had to do this once.
The ferry goes west with the coastline on the right so I, along with everyone else, pushed my way to the open top ferry to find a seat on the right (starboard for all you nautical types) side of the boat. I won! Turns out we weren’t in that bad of a spot line wise after all. We enjoyed a nice scenic journey to Positano after a brief stop in Amalfi to drop off / pick up other passengers.
The area is very reminiscent of the Cinque Terre region. Nice winding roads with houses, villas, and vineyards precariously perched on the hillside.
Positano
Positano is a picturesque city tucked into the crevasse of the hillside and the city goes up either side of the cliffs. Sea levels being what they are, we were obviously dropped off at the foot of the city. In order to get the Instagram worthy views I was searching for (never mind the fact that I don’t really Instagram) I immediately started climbing. We climbed quickly too irregardless of the heat because we only had 2 hours! Poor Chris. He kept his promise though and didn’t complain.
Logic being what it is, when you build on both sides of a cliff within a pretty tight crevasse, there aren’t really a lot of open views within the city to get the “perfect” shot. I eventually gave up and started back down to find second breakfast and wander the shops. I ducked into what I thought was a small coffee shop for take away pastries and discovered it had a huge covered patio. We quickly decided to have a sit down second breakfast instead. Chris had coffee and we both had pastries. I had a chocolate donut which was the best donut to be had in Italy and Chris had an absolutely fantastic croissant with pistachio cream. I seriously need to find the recipe for these!
Plus our table had this Instagram worthy view of the city!
We left the restaurant and explored the shops of Positano but the high prices left me empty handed. I gave up with 30 minutes to spare before our ferry so we stopped for drinks at one of the many beach side restaurants. This is where I had the best Bellini ever. Bellini’s are the bomb to begin with but this one took it to the next level. If you’re into beaches and good food, go to Positano.
Amalfi / Ravello
We were a smidgen concerned about being able to stay busy for 5 hours in a beach town without going to the beach, so we planned an excursion to Ravello to visit one of the many cliff side villas. We immediately went to the information desk when we arrived in Amalfi to determine where to buy bus tickets. Fun fact: you can get a bus schedule and bus tickets from the info desk. Win!
Ravello: The Bus Ride To / From
I confess that I have trust issues. When ascending / descending steep cliff side roads, I would much prefer to do so on my own two feet rather than in a vehicle. If I must travel such roads in a vehicle, I want to be driving. Preferably something small. Thus my ulterior motive in selecting ferries as our primary travel method to Positano and Amalfi rather than the more traditional bus ride.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a reasonable alternative to get to Ravello. I suppose we could have hiked up a lot of steps but that would have taken more time than we had plus it was hot out and I didn’t want to push Chris too far in his promise not to complain. So we took the bus.
The bus acted as a city bus traveling back and forth from Ravello to Amalfi but it wasn’t your typical public transit bus. It was more of a retired tour bus that had clearly seen better days. A number of the seats were missing or broken and the ones we sat behind had huge holes in the back. But they did the job! We successfully filled every non broken seat and then all the standing space before heading up the cliff side.
If you haven’t heard or experienced it yet, driving in Italy is like a giant game of chicken. It doesn’t matter if you’re traveling up a cliff along a steep winding road or the middle of the city. It doesn’t matter if you’re traveling in a bus, on a bike, or are a pedestrian. The person who flinches first loses. Period. Flinch too often and you’ll never get to your destination. Our bus route had blind switchbacks that were only wide enough for a single bus but that didn’t stop us from getting passed by scooters both on the inside and the outside of these blind curves. It was a heck of a ride and yet we all lived to tell the tale.
Ravello: Lunch
From the bus stop, we made our way to the main square of Ravello, taking a quick peek at the line to get into Villa Rufolo on the way. I was on a mission to check out the scenic views which trumped standing in line. I found and enjoyed them and then got side tracked by cats. There were several kittens playing with a ball of paper and I had to pause for quite some time to enjoy the scene. Chris took the opportunity to find a highly rated restaurant in the area for lunch. Lucky me as I’d probably have just grabbed a takeaway sandwich.
He selected a pizzeria that was just around the corner from the cats / main square and off we went. Once we settled in at our table for 2, we were promptly served an unasked for adult beverage of what I think was Prosecco and grapefruit juice. It was lovely.
A little while later, a couple with a 4ish year old boy sat down. The same thing happened to them and the poor young man pouted adorably that he wanted juice too. Poor guy. Of course he later wanted dad’s coffee so he may just want everything he can’t have….
We ordered a Caprese 3-Way salad and 2 pizzas. All of the food was amazing. The salad turned out to be 3 different Caprese salads each with different types of tomatoes and mozzarella. They probably also had different types of basil but I couldn’t taste the difference. The pizzas were huge by even our American standards. Everything you read says that pizzas are single servings and intended to be eaten by yourself with a fork and knife. I don’t know how they do it. Mine was delicious but I couldn’t possibly finish it. It’s probably because I had breakfast and second breakfast. Italians aren’t known for eating breakfast…
We wandered the shops of Ravello and then took the bus back to Amalfi. We decided to skip the Villa as we no longer had 2-3 hours to dedicate to it given that the bus schedule can be quite unpredictable. In hindsight this was brilliant. We arrived at the bus stop just as the extremely full bus was leaving 20 people behind at the bus stop. We ended up waiting another half hour or so for the next bus.
Amalfi
Amalfi is your classic beach town. Lots of beach goers, filled up beaches, touristy shops dedicated to their needs and wants. Apparently they want ceramics (tables, platters, dishes, etc.) and clothing. I too wanted clothing but I have expensive taste and / or I was only shopping at the high end shops. Regardless of what Chris says, I am not worthy of a 175 euro top. I can buy so many books / ice cream with that kind of dough! I once again left empty handed which was the best decision for both my pocket book and my over stuffed backpack.
We boarded the final ferry back to Salerno and caught up with Linda over a dinner of pizza.
PS Chris kept his promise 🙂
That sounds like a fantastic day!!! Loved the bus video – those type of trips are so scary!!!
The food all sounds amazing! Let me know if you doing those recipes! 🙂