When we booked our flight to Naples and started looking at hotels, I noticed that the Amalfi Coast didn’t look too far, and there were lots of shuttle options to get there. Since the two main goals we had for the weekend was to travel along the Amalfi Coast and see Pompeii, we decided to stay at a hotel on the coast so we could wake up to the water.
Our flight in landed about 12pm and the shuttle to Ravello was just under 90 minutes so by the time we got to the hotel we had about half of a day to explore. We checked in and dropped our bags and immediately headed to lunch in Ravello. Ristorante Pizzeria Vittoria was the perfect introduction to Napoleon food with delicious local wine, fresh seafood, and Napoleon pizza! After our late lunch (we finished around 3) we grabbed some bus tickets (you have to pre-purchase them at the tobacco shop in the main square of Ravello) and headed to the city of Amalfi. I did not realize that the “Amalfi Coast” actually has a city named Amalfi too — I thought it was mostly cities like Positano and Sorrento but in fact, there is a real Amalfi as well. It was about a 15-20 minute bus ride from our hotel but it felt longer since there is only one road along the coast and it is narrow and riddled with switch-backs.
Amalfi is a small town with a couple small but pretty beaches and a beautiful Duomo in the town square. We sat at a café and had gelato and cocktails while the town set up for a Good Friday procession. We didn’t really know what that meant so we decided to stick around and find out. The procession started a bit after 8pm and the church essentially walked around the entire city carrying a Jesus on the cross followe but a Jesus on the stone of anointment, that at some point along their journey they dropped off. It was really interesting to see but unfortunately it shut down the main road for over an hour and, like I mentioned, there is only one main road along the coast…
The next day we had a tour in Pompeii so we had to take a bus to the train station in Salerno and then the train from Salerno to Pompeii. It took about 2.5 hours but the alternative was a $150 cab each way (tickets cost about $10 per person each way). We booked a private small tour in Pompei so it was only our group and our local guide. Surprisingly most of the tours seemed to be small tours which I had not seen before. It’s a much smarter method because it allows for better flow of people as well as a greater potential for you to listen and learn from your guide. The tour lasted from 12-3, after which we decided to head back to Ravello for dinner and drinks. It was a lot of travel for a relatively short tour so I think there were things I would do differently but I will get to that at the end of this post.
The 2-Michelin Star restaurant, Rossellini’s, was fully booked at Palazzo Avino, but their café (that shares a kitchen) was open and had a martini menu that went on for days. This was definitely our splurge meal and everything was absolutely delicious, even down to the best balsamic vinegar I have ever had. The cocktail menu is divine, I think you could go there every day for a month and not run out of interesting drinks to try !
The last day, our flight departed after 6pm so we really had a full morning and afternoon to keep touristing. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with our plans. We had intended on taking the 8am bus to Amalfi and then catch the ferry down to Positano to explore another coastal city. It rained on and off all morning and the water was so rough that the waves were hitting and coming up over the roads. Needless to say, the ferries were cancelled and I was not looking to be in a bus for 40 minutes each way along winding roads in the rain.
We decided to stay in Amalfi for another hour and watch the waves before heading back to Ravello to do some exploring of the town we had stayed in. Like Amalfi, Ravello is a very small town, but it is on top of the hill so the views are of an entirely different perspective. In fact, Ravello was founded in the 5th century as a shelter place against the invasions marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Fun fact – Jackie-O stayed in Ravello when she visited the Amalfi Coast – something the locals mention and are still proud of! The sun came out long enough for us to enjoy a few more minutes of sun and views.
Hind-sight is 20/20 and almost every trip can be improved so if we did it again, here is what I would do differently
- Stay in Naples and go to Pompeii the day we arrived since our flight was early enough. This would have minimized the back and forth travel we did, and then the next day we would have a full day to explore everywhere along the Amalfi Coast
- Travel after May 1st so that our hotel’s pool (and every hotel pool) would actually be open instead of completely empty of water and unusable
- Stay in Sorrento if we skipped Pompeii. I loved our hotel in Ravello but that bus ride up and down the hill was something I would avoid if I could, so I would stay in Sorrento or Positano if we were just spending the whole weekend on the coast
Hope these tips can help you plan your next trip to Amalfi!
Xx
Kali