After thankfully testing negative for COVID in Greece, I was able to board my flight for my first stop in Italy – Sorrento & the Amalfi Coast. I visited Sorrento when I studied abroad, but I never made it over to the Amalfi side of the peninsula. I arrived in Sorrento very late on Friday evening, so the only thing I did before going to bed was grab dinner. In what felt like quite a full circle moment, I unintentionally ended up staying across from the lemon grove my friends and I had visited 2 years prior. Originally, I had planned to spend my one full day on the Sorrentina Coast in Capri. However, the weather forecast was a 100% chance of severe thunderstorms for Saturday. Therefore, I scrapped those plans. So naturally, not only were there no thunderstorms, there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It appears there’s some consistency internationally with regards to the accuracy of meteorologists at least. The last time I was in the area I spent my only full day in Capri, so this probably ended up working out for the best.
While previously I had only spent a couple evenings in Sorrento (most of the time of which was spent eating), I was excited to return as I greatly enjoyed the little time I had there. Sorrento is quite obviously a major tourist destination and for good reason. The architecture and narrow streets in the town are beautiful and stereotypically Italian. Sorrento also has incredible views over the Bay of Naples, and if you’re lucky you might catch a stunning sunset. My hotel had a spacious rooftop with incredible views that not many of the other guests seemed to know about.
After my one full day in Sorrento, I took a bus to my hotel on the Amalfi side of the peninsula. While the buses were an extremely efficient and cheap way to get around, they were still quite crowded. I would hate to see what they are like during peak tourist season, especially outside of the pandemic and all the current travel restrictions. This first evening I just walked down into Amalfi for dinner.
The next day however, I spent the entire day at the Silver Moon beach club in Amalfi. I think this may have been my favorite day of this part of the trip. The beach club was not too crowded, and quite frankly nothing beats being served cocktails and pasta while lying in the sun by the ocean. After leaving the beach club I meandered around town for a bit. Then I grabbed a panino and a drink for a picnic dinner on the jetty, while watching the sunset. All in all a great day.
The following day I took the bus to Positano, and it genuinely was as stunning as the pictures you’ve seen. However, I found I didn’t like it as much Amalfi. This was mainly due to how crowded it was, which is only amplified by the very narrow streets and lack of piazzas. Additionally, even though the beach in Positano is larger, it was more crowded, and felt much smaller / a lot more cramped. This is partially due to the fact that a portion of the beach is reserved for locals (no complaints about that), making the tourist section feel significantly more packed. I think if I were to go again I simply wouldn’t bother as much with the beach in Positano and would solely visit to walk around the town, as that was the part I enjoyed most.
Busing back to my accommodation near Amalfi from Positano ended up being quite difficult. I missed the first bus as it was absolutely packed and there wasn’t room for everyone waiting. Once again, I don’t even want to think about how packed it would be in the high season during a normal year. Then again parking in this area can be difficult to find, so I’m not sure what the best option would be. Regardless, once I got back to my hotel I watched the sunset from the rooftop terrace before heading to dinner. The next morning I caught an early bus to a train station, and was off to the city that all roads in Italy lead to – Rome.
If you take one thing from this post I hope that it’s to always check if your hotel has a rooftop or terrace of any kind!
Sorry for the delay in getting this post up. I’m now settled in Valencia and hope to catch up / post more regularly about my travels!
Voyaging Vitally 