Amalfi Coast

Audrey Hepburn eat your heart out 🤩

Our yearly holiday to Italy… this year on the Amalfi Coast! Italy’s most famous coast.

It is definitely not a student backpackers holiday spot. Italy itself I always think is an expensive holiday although it is always worth it! The Amalfi Coast is a very wealthy part of the country,

We stayed in Maiori probably the best place to stay in my opinion on the Amalfi Coast as it is probably the cheapest.. for 5 of us we stayed at Angelina Apartments these were 1 min walk from the beach, it was perfect.

Quick tip about the beaches, most have beds which you need to pay for which can be quite expensive enough although there is always a free beach somewhere just look for the place with the least amount of umbrellas and more colours in a spot. Even ask around for the free beaches.

Maiori

Maiori is one of the very few places on the Amalfi coast that have sandy beaches. Although the sand was still roasting so i would recommend wearing your flip flops just right up to the sea point then jumping in. Means you dont have to stand the pain of burning the bottom of your foot (which is really not fun!).

Maiori is filled with small bars and cafes ( just search around for the cheaper ones). There is as you say ‘main strip’ in the middle of the town. Every evening this is filled with both locals and tourists. It has restaurants and shops, and then also a few bars. One bar in particular i liked was Coffee Rosy bar. Drink in Italy in general can be quite expensive although in this place i ordered a Gin and lemon soda, was roughly €5. This was no normal home measure.. It was a good triple and lordy it tasted it. lit off 2 drinks hard to beat.

Another Bar i would recommend is Tonys’s bar from what i was told this was the wedding after party which stayed open til 5am. Good drink and good vibes especially if you are up for a sesh.

The saying its a small world is really one i believe in. In that i can go anywhere around the world and always find one person that is from home. It is actually amazing, always so close to home. And with that it was a small world in that half of Donaghmore had inhabited the small town of Maiori. One of the guests in which was Eunan’s neighbour lol. All 130 of them over for a wedding. We soon realised most of our hotel was all from Tyrone. The wedding was going to to be up in Ravello, a small town up in the mountains, which you could actually see the buildings from the beach. It was on a wednesday and we decide as we were planning on going to Ravello anyway we might as well go up and have a peak of the wedding party.

First day we just chilled around the pool and then went to the beach and got an ice-cream. We went out for dinner to a restaurant called Ristorante Pizzeria Nettuno. It was situated at the left side of the town on the beach front. If you love fish food this is definitely a spot you need to try out! They did pizza and pasta as well so i was happy enough.

Amalfi town

The next day we decide to take a trip to Amalfi Town. There is a public bus available which was €1.30 single , although we decide to take the scenic route and take the boat, this was €3 single still very cheap i thought. The boat over was amazing, seeing the lil houses hanging off the cliffs and private beaches. The life of it.

Amalfi town itself was nice but not amazing i felt. It was far to over crowded and very little to do at it. We walked through the little streets and windowed shopped a bit. We explored the town and found the Amalfi cathedral. The Cathedral was situated in Piazza del Duomo, one of the main squares of Amalfi. The Cathedral’s steps were gorgeous, i thought they were very similar to the Spanish steps in Rome. We grabbed pizza slices and sat on the steps while watching the hundreds of tourists go by.

The town was beautiful with cute shops and streets but definitely over priced and far to over crowded for my liking. We hoped on the boat for the evening to go back to our apartment and chill.

Ravello

As i mentioned the wedding was going to be up in Ravello so we decide to go up that evening to explore Ravello and also have a sneak peak of the ceremony. To get to Ravello we needed to take two buses, first we took the bus to Amalfi Town then from Amalfi the bus up to Ravello. This means two single tickets needed so €2.60 single, not bad at all (P.s go to the info points in the towns if your confused about transport etc, they are usually the easiest way to find out information. Also you can buy bus tickets from shops and some bars do them as well)

We landed in Amalfi and the bus to Ravello was about to leave and was nearly full, we decided to run for it anyway. We ended up having to stand up on the hot packed bus. This wasn’t the best craic as it was going to be a dodgy bus journey already going up a mountain driving up windy small roads. The journey was roughly an hour all together. A LONG ASS HOUR..As i had some sweaty mans sweat dripping onto me on the bus :):):)

Anyway we landed at the top, this is where the bus stop ends and oh my the views were something else. It was beautiful, couldn’t believe how high up we were and the views from below. To get into Ravello town you go through a Tunnel which leads you to the square which the church is also here. We went in and had a sneak peak of the wedding going on, the bride looked beautiful!!

The square has a few restaurants and bars so we sat outside here and had a few drinks. I recommend only sitting her for one drink as it is was very expensive (like most town squares). I love exploring little towns as you never know what you will find. We walked through the little streets and peeped into the shops. Of course mum stopped into every pottery shop (to bring home anything that she could find which would be so irrelevant to the house)

We looked around for nice restaurants but couldn’t seem to find any that we liked, so we asked the locals. Always a good shout to ask the locals for their fav restaurants. They brought us back to the bus stop which there was a restaurant called Da Salvatore over looking the water. The perfect place for a restaurant. To make it even better they did amazing food which was a reasonable price to especially whenever you have a view like that.

The location of the restaurant was  fab as we were back to the bus stop so we just sat on til the next bus came. The bus home was  a rough journey, i think the driver just wanted home. Going down a mountain with bendy roads with a dodgy bus driver is not fun. Lets hope if you travel here you dont get the same experience as us lol. Overall Ravello was beautiful maybe not so much to do but still amazing. (definitely in consideration for future wedding venues!)

Positano

The real deal why most people go to the Amalfi coast!

Positano was on the top of my list to go to on the Amalfi Coast. Obviously due to being so pretty in photos and needing the pics for the gram lols. We got the boat to Positano which i thought was the best way to travel to see it from the sea/from the distance. We had to get two boats, Maoiri to Amalfi town then Amalfi to Positano. I think it was roughly €13 single which was quite expensive as the boat from Maoiri to Amalfi town was only €3 Single so that meant from Amalfi to Positano was €10. Still worth it though, but if you wanted you can get the bus to Amalfi then to positano which would be €2.60 a journey so if your tight for money maybe the best idea.

The views you seen from the boat were amazing straight off a post card. It really shows you how a bit of paint can make a place look amazing. Positano was very busy, alot of tourists there as it is a main spot. We got off the boat and decided to walk to the top so we could chill and walk around for the rest of the day. There isnt any signs to show you the way to the top but if you kindof follow the crowd you will get your way up to the top some how. Best way to get to the top is to get to the church and from there, their is a path full of people coming up and down. From here you just follow it til you can see Positano from a height.

The view from the top is beautiful, seeing the coloured buildings against the sea. I thought for positano i would try be a real blogger for the day, in that i brought two outfits lols. First one was my bikini and a pair of shorts but still looked vintagy. Once i got a few pics in this outfit i pulled my fav travel pic dress, my Red polka dot dress which i just pulled over the top and took off my shorts, yes i did this in public lol but sure bitta craic.

Positano is a very expensive spot so i would recommend maybe bring a packed lunch with you if your on a budget. We tried to find a cafe as far out of the centre as possible to feed 5 of us. Lunch still came to €50 which is nuts but what can you do.

We went to the beach after lunch, remember i was saying about the free beaches, yes positano has a free beach and it is right beside the port. There is no beach chairs or anything in the area so just look out for a load of locals bunched together. We found a spot on the free beach and settled for the day. *Pre-warning* Bring water shoes if you have them or maybe old trainers as flipflops will not be good enough for the hot black sand. I burnt my wee toe whenever i walked on the sand with flipflops the heat was insane! I couldn’t believe how hot the sand was. So I would really recommend bringing a old pair of shoes if your looking to move from your towel to the water.

Once again made my bros take a mini photo shoot of me on the beach. (If you have the money and want the real Insta pics i would rent a boat for the day and get the pics from the water.) Some pictures i’ve seen on Instagram are amazing.

Positano has lots of little cute shops about it with really nice clothes, I was lucky that the sales were on so i got a bargain. My favourite shop i went to was Antica Sartoria, It had such funky patterns and just really cute vibey clothes. I ended up buying a top and wedges from the shop.

I would definitely recommend Positano! It was definitely my favourite town on the Amalfi Coast.

Ischia

We stayed on the Island of Ischia for a week. It is an island of the coast of naples, a Italian holiday hot spot. We always seem to go to island of the coast of Italy which is more of a Local hotspot than a tourist, which i prefer as you really get a taste of the culture.

We rented a Airbnb, it was amazing! Such a big villa, with so many outdoor areas to sit and relax about. The owners were amazing brought us fresh fruit and veg every day from the garden below us. There was lemon and lime trees just outside our door which we picked ourselves in the morning. This was my favourite part of the villa getting to pick your own food. Our villa was based in Citara, near Forio. Forio was the nearest big town with a port so it was easy access getting from naples to the island. (the price of the ferry changed with how busy it was.)

We planned on visiting Capri for the day when in Ischia although it was far to expensive for the ferry and didnt seem worth it. Locals said its to expensive for what is it worth and there is more prettier places than visiting an overpopulated tourist attraction.

The area we were staying at was perfect, the transport services were amazing and the locals were so helpful. Citara was one of the most popular areas of the island, especially as the largest thermal park of the island was here. Giardini Poseidon Terme had different types of thermal baths. It was definitely an experience, due to my really sensitive skin most of the baths were far to warm for me so had to just go into the colder ones. I still did really enjoy the park as it was something different and very relaxing. I got a whole body mud peel which relaxed me soo much.

Ischia was definitely the most chill part of the holiday, relaxing by the beach each day and being very lazy. As i said the public transport was amazing, there was a bus which brought us from the beach to the top of the hill where our house was. The buses were very regular although quite packed.

We got the bus into Forio for the evening a few times, the place was buzzing. Full of people and music throughout the streets. There was buses right up til 12pm so was very handy instead of paying for a taxi.

We went to Sant’Angelo for the day, this is a more touristy area of Ischia. It is a village with a few colourful buildings with a beautiful beach. Unfortunately it rained whenever we landed so we didn’t get to see the full beauty of the place. We sat in the cafes in the village til the rain stopped and tried to explore the village. We got about half an hour on the beach and then it rained again so we just got the bus home.

Procida

We decided to take the ferry from Ischia to an island called Procida. It is a secret gem off the coast of Naples. Not many tourists go to it but i dont understand why as it is such a cute colourful town. We first went to the beach which was just after the port, onto a small private beach with not many people on it so it was very quiet and relaxing.

I decided to go and explore the island by myself. I ended up finding the other side of the island and wow. It was beautiful. I was at the top of the hill with all the buildings and could see all the coloured buildings lined up together. I walked down to the port to see them from below. It was fab. Especially how quiet of a town it was, just the local fishermen were about. It was paradise walking around and exploring the island. The island was quite cheap as well, due to it not being popular with tourism although it definitely will pick up soon as it is such a beautiful place. I would definitely go back here to even stay. It was such a chill place.

Naples

Naples isn’t on the Amalfi coast but it was the closest airport/main city to the coast. We stayed her for our last night. Mum turned 50 the next day so she booked us in to a fancy hotel called Royal Continental hotel. Our room looked out on to Castel Dell’Ovo. It was such a beautiful view to wake up to in the morning.

I didn’t enjoy Naples that much, as there wasnt much to do and i felt was quite a dirty area. We spent most of our day shopping (running around the shops for a pair of Gazelles because one of the boys demanded having a pair). Naples was quite good for shopping in that there is two main streets for shops which are at least a mile long each. One has your normal brands like Zara, Victoria Secret, Footlocker etc. The other one was the rich street.. I went into one shop as i seen a nice dress on the window it was €3000.. no biggie.. Obviously came home with no dress, sad.

We tried to find the more touristy spots of the city although they were all very further away from each other, i would recommend doing a Hop-on Hop-off type of bus, there was a few driving about. Ask your hotel for there recommendation of which bus to get.

We visited the Royal palace of Naples on the way to the shops. Not that exciting. I googled to try find things to do in Naples and most answers were to go on day trips to the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento or Pompeii. Naples would be more of a stop over spot if anything.
Our hotel recommended a restaurant La Casa Di Ninetta, although we didn’t get a chance to try it out as everyone was far to hungry. The restaurant is not a typical tourist restaurant, it is more traditional Naples food and for a decent price our hotel told us.

I hope you enjoyed my journey of the Amalfi coast and an island or two. Where to next is the question…

Love Frans Travels x