Amalfi Coast

Amalfi

Beautiful mountains.  Breath-taking views.  Fun roads to drive on.  Great hotels. Incredible food.  Limited nightlife.  This is an awesome spot for a couple to visit!

My suggestions:

General:

  • Mozzarella:  Sorrento is famous for its cow-mozzarella; Salerno is famous for mozzarella di bufala (which is only 70% from buffalo milk); make sure you get it fresh!
  • Driving:  Don’t let anyone intimidate you!  If you enjoy challenging driving, nothing compares to the Amalfi Drive!  Nothing beats jamming your car in reverse on a 10 foot wide road with a 2000 foot drop-off to let a bus get by you while trying to appreciate the view!
  • Summer visit? No! Try to visit off-season (slightly).  May or September/October.  This place is not built for crowds, but they come in the summer.

 

Ravello:

  • Stay at the Palazzo Avino,  the best hotel experience I have had! Request Room 001 well in advance…it is the only room with a large private terrace(see below)!
  • Eat at Rossellini’s in the Palazzo Avino; the portions are quite large so save room for the most incredible cheese plate in all of Italy; this place has definitely earned its Michelin star; make sure to get a table in the main dining room…not the hallway.
  • Cook with Mama Agata in her modest kitchen in her cliff-perched home; all ingredients come from her six garden terraces; homemade wine, olive oil, etc.   She is charming and can cook a feast…you won’t be able to eat for 24 hours afterwards.  We made fried zucchini flowers with smoked mozzarella cheese, eggplant parmagiana, spaghetti with peasant’s sauce, penne arrabiata, fettuccine with sausage and peppers, chicken with lemon, garlic and rosemary, sausage and peppers cooked in tomato sauce, roasted potatoes and peppers, lemon cake, and limoncello.
  • Drink limoncello after every big meal.
  • Visit the Villa Cimbrone; stroll around the gardens.
  • Listen to the outdoor chamber music concerts during the summer.

 

Vietri

  • Buy your Italian ceramics here…direct from the factories; do not listen to anyone who tells you differently.

 

Amalfi

  • Visit this great little seaside town for a half-day

 

Positano

  • Lunch at the San Pietro hotel; stay here only if you a) have a car and b) want to be a little isolated; the lunch is wonderful.
  • Think long and hard about staying at Le Sirenuse; the rooms are wonderful, but they are over-priced and the service is slightly above average; there is a very nice spa, a beautiful pool, some incredible views, and you cannot beat the location!
  • Dine at Le Sirenuse’s restaurant; it is completely lit by candles and the food is fantastic.
  • Eat at many of the village restaurants:  Cambusa is great for seafood; Chez Black is over-rated; the “sisters” place next door is great.   I cannot remember the name of the coolest lunch place which is about 500 meters up a path past the ferry dock.
  • Don’t plan on much shopping in Positano; go to Capri for this.
  • Take a  bus ride up the mountain to Montepertuso and walk back down the thousands of steps to Positano; stop and check out the cemetery on your way down!

 

Santa Agata

  • Dine at Don Alfonso, the only three Michelin star restaurant in all of Italy; don’t worry about the atmosphere, focus on the food; ask for a tour of the wine cellar after your meal!

 

Capri

  • Shop for all your high-end Italian designer needs on this little island.
  • If you are here for the day, take to funiculare from the docks to Capri-town.  Also try to visit Anacapri.
  • Lunch at Pizzeria Aurora…the best pizza we had on our trip
  • Stay at either Punta Tragara or Scallinatella (this is only based on my external observations as guests are only allowed in to these fine establishments.