We wanted to hire scooters but realising we didn't have the required driving licence, decided to hire a small motor boat instead. This was an amazingly affordable and relaxing way to explore the beautiful Amalfi coastline. With no prior experience of sailing the hire process was extremely simple and the boat very easy to maneuver. We found a lovely spot to drop our anchor and sat sunbathing with complete privacy, making the occasional dive into the wonderfully clear blue water to cool down. There were several hire companies in the Amalfi harbour, very easy to find and organise. This was the highlight of our three week trip to Italy.

Amalfi

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This is a great restaurant right in the centre of Amalfi. Great cooking and wines. Quite pricey but worth it.

www.trattoriadagemma.com/
Via Frà Gerardo Sasso, 11 84011 Amalfi SA, Italy
+39(0)89 871345
Google map: bit.ly/uPcWVu

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The Costiera Amalfitani has to be one of the most spectacular and dramatic coastlines in Europe. That said, it is a road trip where the driving is best left to others, whether on the service bus from Sorrento or a dedicated coach trip. The road is a wonder of engineering in itself, as it winds its way 500 metres above the sparkling azure sea, revealing jaw-dropping vistas around every bend. Sandy coves and tempting lemon groves remain tantalisingly out of reach as you head down the coast to Positano, with its pretty pastel villas tumbling down the mountainside.
Check out the spectacular Cathedral of Santa Monica in Amalfi and the famous views from the gardens of Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo in Ravello.
But however lovely the stops are, this is one road trip where it's all about the journey itself - where travelling hopefully is almost better than arriving.

Google map: bit.ly/kByfcU

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If you go to the Amalfi coast, you must go to Da Gemma. It's a great restaurant serving traditional Italian cuisine. Ask for their recommendations before choosing. Great sea food!

Via Fra Gerardo Sasso, 9
84011 Amalfi (SA), Italy
+39 089 871345
www.trattoriadagemma.com

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Praiano might not be the most beautiful town on the Costiera Amalfitana, with the competition it faces from the world-renowned Positano and Amalfi (which has actually given its name to the entire coastline), but it still carries the typical relaxed and full-of-bright-colours atmosphere of one of the most beautiful coastlines in Italy.

Praiano is really well located along the Amalfi coast because if you decide to go to Positano, you do not need to take your car and face a parking challenge there since the coast is really well connected with both public transport and “the orange busses” as the locals call them, with which you need no more than 15 minutes to reach Positano and encounter another of the Amalfi coast marvels.

Useful information:
If you are headed for the Amalfi coast and decide to have Praiano as your tourist headquarter on the cost, here are the contact details of the Pensione “Pellegrino” tel: 0039 089 874-186 or go to www.pensione-pellegrino.it

You can find a lot more information and ideas on the Amalfi coast at www.italytravelnotes.com - a great Italy travel blog.

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Vivaro is a new bar on the main Amalfi coast road as it passes through Praiano.

It opened at the beginning of June 2007 and specialises in Italian wines.

It is contemporary rather than traditional in design, more like a bar in Milan or Florence in looks but much friendlier.

The English-speaking owner Gennaro is very welcoming and enthusiastic in sharing his knowledge of regional wines, of which he has many examples.

The food is simple (panini, torte etc) but tasty. We popped in for one drink and ended up staying the whole evening and going back the next evening as well. We got talking to one of the regular customers, Sylvia, who, it turned out, had once worked in Ipswich. It is indeed a small world.

Highly recommended.

Via Capriglione, Praiano.
Telephone: 3355624805.
No train station.
Sita buses pass through Praiano.

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On two occasions visiting the Amalfi coast I was lucky enough to have a local guide at my disposal.

Based in Ravello (but covering all of the Amalfi Coast and further afield), Angela speaks fluent English and Itallian. Her inside knowledge of the coast and its attractions really brought the area to life.

www.aguideinside.com/

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Minori is a small town 4 kilometres from Amalfi. It is much cheaper for everything - food, drink and accommodation - and is a beautiful small town. It is ten minutes by ferry, a great way to see the coast, and a ticket costs about 4 euros. Well worth it. A great spot with very friendly people, particularly the staff in Antares restaurant, and beautiful food.

For accommodation check www.amalfivacation.it

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The road from Sorrento to Amalfi hugs the cliff as it curves around vertical rock faces with the tail of the bus swinging out over the edge and bringing visions of the Afterlife to those passengers sitting on the right hand side. Be thankful that this observation is from a large air-conditioned, soft-sprung, reclining seat in the front of a Mercedes coach and not from the small hire car that is between this coach and another in front.

Coach drivers consider it a matter of pride to be as close as possible to everything including the cliff edge. Every corner is blasted peremptorily by the wind-horn and coaches give way to nothing. It is small consolation that the casual manner of the driver comes from driving this coastline several times a day and that he sleeps soundly in his bed at night.

The final plunge into Amalfi some ninety minutes later leaves the traveller in a melee of coaches parking, baffled tourists and drivers arguing.

South of Sorrento

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Enjoy the beauty of this town which seems to have grown from the rock, and been added to piece by piece to suit the inhabitants; but don’t eat in it, or buy anything.

Leave it with the memory of its beauty and a quotation from an Italian journalist Renato Fucini who said, “For the Amalfians called to Paradise, Judgement Day will be a day like all others.”

If the return by road is too daunting, try the alternative – the hydrofoil. And stop off at Positano on the way. The ferries on this coast ply their trade to the islands and back on a regular basis. It’s even possible to go to Naples by one from here. Not that anyone would really want to go to Naples.

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This is an area to be explored slowly from the lane which curves up the hillside, covered in parts by buildings with little stone-stepped alleys climbing into further shadows. Narrow entrances lead down darkened tunnels and up more steps to little shops, trattorias and strange blind alleys. This warren sprawls up the hillside to where vertiginous cliffs tower directly over everything and induce that uneasy feeling about falling rocks.

Find the old paper mill beside the underground river which can be continually heard underfoot. Inside what looks like a derelict mill, an aged person sits eating his midday meal, but is welcoming with a “Prego, prego!” as he gestures for intruders to look around. Hand made paper is made in this damp smelling hovel, but no finished products are on view. Leave the aged one to his lunch and return to the square.

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This is a time to sit, have tea and devise a plan of attack. As there doesn’t appear to be one, the usual default system comes into play. Just wander about. Suddenly a vista of a square opens out through an alleyway. The Piazza Flavio surrounded by a jumble of shops and apartments slants upwards into the narrow Via Genato. But breathtakingly on the right at the top of fifty six huge steps sits the Cathedral of Santa Monica with its beautiful Renaissance facade.

And if there is a wedding in the cathedral and an usher brings you in to sit at the back while the Mass is being celebrated, and all the other onlookers are being kept out, don’t question it. Take a photo of the little Italian bride gazing adoringly at her spouse and wish them luck. Avoid being near them on the steps outside where they are showered with sugared almonds. The bride may now spend the next ten minutes emptying her bodice of these missiles which end up being crushed underfoot providing the local pigeons with mega calories.

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