Indulge / Campania, Italy
A Romantic Escape Along the Amalfi Coast
Amalfi Coast · 8 min read
The Amalfi Coast has been the setting for other people's romance for two centuries, and it is easy to arrive slightly braced for disappointment. In May or late September it delivers completely.
The secret is to stay in one place, use the ferries and refuse to try to see all of it.
Where to base yourself
Ravello sits high above the coast, quieter than the towns below, with two garden villas and the best views on the whole stretch. Evenings are cool and unhurried, and the concert season runs through summer.
Praiano gives you sea level and sunsets without Positano prices. Atrani, next door to Amalfi, is tiny and largely residential. All three are better bases than Positano itself, which is beautiful and relentless.
Days on the water
Ferries run between Salerno, Amalfi, Positano and Capri from April to October, and they are both the nicest and the fastest way to move. The coast road is spectacular and frequently gridlocked.
Hire a small boat with a skipper for a day. Grottoes, swimming stops, lunch in a fishing village and the coast seen from the angle it was designed to be seen from.
Eating and evenings
Food is simple: scialatielli with clams, anchovies from Cetara, mozzarella that arrived that morning, lemons the size of your hand. The finest restaurants are formal and worth one night; the trattorias are worth the rest.
Book dinner late. The light at eight in the evening is why people come.
Walking it off
The Sentiero degli Dei, the Path of the Gods, runs from Bomerano to Nocelle high above the sea and takes about three hours. Go early in the day and downhill.
The Valle delle Ferriere above Amalfi is shaded, wet and full of ferns, and it is the best option on a hot afternoon.
Why it feels like a gift
This is beauty that requires nothing of you. No hiking, no early starts, no logistics beyond a ferry ticket.
Which is exactly what most people mean when they say they need a holiday.
