Hi guys! I just came back from the most AMAZING trip and I can’t wait to share with you all these recommendations from my travels. If you follow me on Instagram, I’m sure you saw me blow up my Instagram stories with all the amazing sites and delicious food. If not, make sure you follow me and I also saved my stories to the highlights on my page.
About a month and a half ago, my cousin who is living in Madrid, told me to come visit her in September since she had a free week to explore. We wanted to fly to somewhere in Europe we both had never been to and Amalfi Coast was on the top of my list. Since it was a little last minute, EVERYTHING was booked up unless we wanted to pay $2,000 a night for a hotel room. I was a little bummed but determined to make it happen. A few days later, we booked our stay and travel and started planning everything out. A lot of you expressed interest on a travel guide, so I am going to do my best to share all the details of this amazing trip. Bare with me.
GETTING THERE
There are obviously many ways to get to Amalfi whether it’s renting a car, getting on a train, a bus or plane. Since I was in Madrid, my cousin and I booked a flight from there to Naples. We had a quick layover in Rome but it wasn’t bad at all. Naples is about an hour or so away from Sorrento and a little further away from Positano. We arranged for a private driver to pick us up from the airport and take us to our Airbnb. You can also take the ferry from the city center or a bus. We were really happy with the car service, it was about $80 to get to Sorrento and we had a large Mercedes SUV and our driver was so nice. He also stopped once we got close to the coast and bought us some waters and snapped some pics of us.
WHERE WE STAYED
We narrowed it down to Sorrento and Positano. Based on what was available, we chose Sorrento BUT if there was availability in both, I think I still would’ve chosen Sorrento. While I was OBSESSED with Positano, Sorrento seemed more accessible and convenient. I think if we were staying for a week, we would’ve split up our stay between Sorrento and Positano. We booked the most perfect Airbnb in Sorrento and I was obsessed. It was in the best location in the city center and tucked away in a little alley between all the shops. Cars aren’t able to drive through so we had about a five minute walk to our apartment. The apartment itself was SO CLEAN, updated and spacious. It had a living room, kitchen, large room with a king bed, a desk and a large bathroom. This was perfect for the both of us but could definitely fit more people.
SORRENTO
As I mentioned above, this is where we stayed but we did a lot of day trips during our five day stay. Sorrento is in a great location and super easy to travel to other cities on the coast. We did most of our travels from here via ferry or private driver. What I liked about Sorrento was that it was less busy, less touristy and more quite. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of tourists but not as much as Positano. We were also walking distance from the Marina and all the restaurants so it was the perfect location for us.
FOOD
Let’s be honest, the food is always the best part of a trip. I had SO MANY recommendations from friends, coworkers, Instagram followers, etc. and I felt like I had everything I needed to plan our trip. I was most looking forward to the fresh seafood and pasta so you’ll notice a theme in these restaurants. Below are the places we visited and that we enjoyed.
Bagni Delfino This restaurant was recommended to me by my co worker and it was probably our favorite in Sorrento. I recommend making a reservation by calling them once you’re there. It was booked the day we called and we had to wait about two days to go. This restaurant is more on the fancy side and it’s located right on the water, it’s gorgeous! The food was SO GOOD and fresh. The grilled squid was our favorite dish in Amalfi and we pretty much ordered it at every restaurant. The one here was obviously delicious. Amalfi is also known for spaghetti and clams, so you’ll see that we had that at other restaurants as well. The portions here were VERY generous but we ate EVERYTHING!
Da Emilia Okay this restaurant was so good! We ended up going here twice, once for lunch and the other time for dinner. This restaurant was also by the water and close to the previous one I mentioned. Our favorite thing here was the grilled squid, the first time we went we ordered it twice lol. I also tried the gnocchi with clams and spaghetti with clams. Both were delicious!
Cafe Latino We just stumbled upon this restaurant and it wasn’t recommended to us. We were drawn to it because of the beautiful decor and it was all outside in the middle of a lemon grove and was beautiful. It wasn’t my favorite meal but it wasn’t bad. Just wasn’t up to par compared to everything else.
POSITANO
My FAVORITE PLACE EVER!! I would say Positano is the most popular destination in the Amalfi Coast and definitely the busiest. But like I totally get it, it’s GORGEOUS. The moment we arrived we were just in awe staring at everything. All the colorful little houses and restaurants on top of the mountain are so pretty, especially when it’s all lit up at night. We visited Positano twice because we were so obsessed. The first time we got there in the morning and spent all day until 10pm. We took a ferry early in the morning and hired a driver on the way back. You can also get there via bus. I heard that it’s difficult getting out of Positano at night since the bus doesn’t run late so we wanted to make sure we had a driver scheduled to pick us up. The second time we took the ferry both ways so we were there from like 10am-5pm but wish we could’ve stayed longer!
When we stayed there for the full day, we reserved some time at a beach club and then had cocktails (mocktails for me!) and dinner plans. The other day we had lunch and drinks and walked around.
BEACH CLUB
Bagni D’Arienzo We emailed this beach club a week or so in advance to make a reservation and they were super quick to respond. It costs 15 euros, which you pay once you’re there. It includes a boat ride to and from the beach club (5 mins away from the marina) and a chair and umbrella. The “beaches” here are super rocky, so pack some water shoes so you can go in the water! The day we went was pretty quiet, which was nice. When you make your reservation, you also make a reservation for lunch- they have set times. We decided to go for the 1pm slot and wasn’t really expecting much in terms of food and boy was I blown away!!! The food was DELICIOUS!!! Probably one of my favorite meals of the trip. The spaghetti with clams was my absolute favorite out of the whole trip. Everything was so fresh and simple and the sauce was so light. We also had the caprese salad and the octopus salad. They also had cocktails AND mocktails here, which made me happy. I had the most delicious strawberry lemonade that was TO DIE FOR!
Lastly, if you saw my instagram stories you saw my cousin and I had a funny moment here. We were told they had a shower/showers here so we came really prepared with our makeup, body wash, curling wand, etc. so we could get ready for dinner and drinks. Well we couldn’t find the shower room and when we did we just started laughing. It ended up being one of those pool showers you use to rinse off after getting back from the ocean. I think our expectations were really high LOL. They did have a “changing room” which was a little shack with hanging towels where you could change. We made the best of it but lesson learned.
FOOD/SNACKS/DRINKS
Franco’s Bar If you follow bloggers on Instagram, you see that whenever they go to Positano they stay at Le Sirenuse or at least go take a photo at the balcony. It’s one of the most popular hotels in Positano and about $1,200 a night. We were able to check out the balcony and the views were incredible. We also heard great things about their bar so we went to check it out. We had no idea of their hours but I guess it worked out perfectly. They told us it opens at 5:30 and it was like 5:32 so perfect timing. Franco’s bar is right next door to the hotel. I recommend getting there a little bit before 5:30 because if not it fills up quickly and there’s a line. Luckily, when we got there we got the last two spots. The views were AMAZING and the vibe was so fun! They played great music and had delicious drinks. They don’t serve food here but they had olives and popcorn as snacks and we had three rounds of it oops! I wish this place opened up earlier because we would’ve loved to come the second day we were there. It’s honestly so much fun.
La Tagliata I received this recommendation multiple times from various people. If you go to Positano, you MUST go here! Make sure to make a reservation ahead of time to confirm your spot. It’s at the very top of the mountain and they have a shuttle from the city center and they let you know where to meet. Be there right when they tell you because if you’re late you’ll miss the shuttle. Conveniently, the pick up location for us was right by Franco’s bar so it worked out great. So this restaurant is family owned and people go here just for the experience. The mom of the family cooks ALL the food and the servers and everyone else are cousins, brothers, etc. They also have their own farm and grow everything to prepare the dishes. They are all so sweet and welcoming. I don’t recommend coming here if you’re a picky eater though. They have a set price of $40 euros, which honestly blew my mind. It was so cheap for what we were getting. It also includes unlimited wine, which I did not partake in 🙁 There’s no menu and they just bring out whatever the mom felt like cooking that day. There’s about 6 courses and everything is served family style to share. It was SO MUCH FOOD! So have an early lunch and don’t eat anything else until dinner time. It includes an appetizer, vegetables, 5 different types of homemade pastas, a meat platter, dessert and I think I’m missing something else.
(sorry these were super dark!)
Chez Black This place is also super popular and it’s located right off the marina. Normally, all the restaurants by a marina are the most touristy and not that good but this was different! We did not have a reservation but we got here early at like noon so we were able to be seated right away. I recommend making a reservation just to be safe because I think we got lucky. I was really craving some good Italian pizza and this was the perfect place! They also do a heart shaped pizza here (which I did not get) but so cute! My cousin ordered the grilled squid (LOL, can you notice a theme) and a salad. I also ordered the tomato salad and fries, it’s all about balance right?
Brasserie del Covo I’ve always seen pictures of people with a large lemon filled with lemon sorbet inside and I was determined to find it. Well this place had it and it was so delicious! They have other gelato and snacks and drinks. This is super close to Chez Black and by the marina as well.
La Zagara When in Italy, it’s okay to have gelato twice a day right? This place was right in between all the shops and we stopped here to freshen up and just sit down and relax. They had a lot of drinks and desserts and again, I got the lemon sorbet inside the lemon and it was delicious. The desserts looked so yummy as well!
CAPRI
Ohhhh Capri. Saving the best for last, or am I? Again, if you follow me on IG you know I am being sarcastic and I am referring to the boat ride from hell. I’ll explain.
So Capri is super easy to get to from Sorrento, it’s only 30 mins away. You can get here by boat/ferry only. I really wanted to spend the whole day here and be out in the ocean so I wanted to find a small private boat tour for the whole day and not just a few hours. We booked our trip through Gianni’s boats since it was recommended to us. We paid $95 euros per person for the round trip boat ride that fits up to ten people. It was a seven hour tour which toured the whole island, included some time in the water and 2-3 hours to explore Capri. They can also take you to the blue grotto, based on the weather and traffic and it’s an additional 14 euros per person. It was about an hour and a half wait to see the blue grotto so we decided to skip it.
So this is where it gets rough. I mean I sometimes get sea sickness but I guess I should’ve thought about the fact that I’m pregnant as well so probably not the best mix for me. Once we got to Capri, we had to wait for a tiny speed boat to take us from the boat to the island. There was only ONE speed boat for all the boats coming in so we waited about 40 mins and it was ROUGH!!! The boat was moving so much and I was getting so nauseous. I moved to the back of the boat and noticed other people were back there and getting sick, I too decided to join them. It was awful! And you can see more on my highlights on Instagram 🙂
Once we made it off the boat (#blessed), you can get to the city center by bus or taxi. Obviously, we went with the taxi because I just needed food ASAP. The taxi ride is 20 euros to get to the top. We ate at Al Capri, since I had seen it on the Bravo show Below Deck lol. The views were beautiful! So when it comes to my meal, I think we got a little lost in translation… I wanted a pizza but instead I got some sort of deconstructed pizza.. oh well. At this point, I just wanted ANY food!
POMPEII
We knew there was lots of history in Pompeii so we had it on our list to check out in case we had time. Since it was close to the Naples airport and we were flying out at 4 pm. We made arrangements with our driver to take us here before the airport. We stopped at Pompeii for 2 hours and it was more than enough for us because it was super hot. It’s a lot of walking and the place is huge, so if you’re super interested and into history, I recommend staying longer. They also have guided tours if you are into that. There aren’t any shops or restaurants once you are in, so bring a large bottle of water and snacks! You can buy it before you get your ticket.
As you can see, I had the time of my life on this trip! We got to do SO MUCH and eat the most wonderful food. It was quite depressing flying back and being served “pasta” on the plane. I truly hope I get to come back and visit this beautiful place. I would love to share this experience with my husband and get some time away after the baby comes. I would love to check out Ravello and other places around the coast. I also want to do a cooking class and check out the lemon groves and where they make olive oil. Also anything that involves wine and cocktails since I’ll be able to drink by then hehe.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out. I love sharing travel tips with you guys. And if you sent me recommendations for this trip, THANK YOU! Y’all are the best and I am extremely grateful, I definitely couldn’t have found all these places on my own. You saved me so much time! If you need a private driver for your trip, we ended up finding someone we really liked and used him for most of the trip. I have his contact info and I’m happy to share! He speaks both English and Spanish- we love you Claudio 🙂 hehe
I also linked all the outfits from my trip here.
Ciao!
Wow ! Beautiful places!!!