This is Part I of my two-part series on a trip to the Amalfi Coast in Italy with my family and Victor in June 2022.
As one reaches an age when retirement is on the horizon, perhaps one thinks about their dream trip. My dad is one of those people who has been dreaming about several trips for decades. One such trip was to Italy, a place my family hadn’t visited before. They elected to go with a tour company on a month-long adventure around Northern Italy. Victor and I were asked if we wanted to join, but actually, we had been to a few places in Italy already and so decided to plan a week in Italy with just my parents, somewhere none of us had been. We chose the Amalfi Coast.
Day 1
After a lovely pizza lunch in Napoli, Victor and I hopped on the train to Salerno. We met up with my family who had flown into Rome and taken the train to Salerno too. We took a ferry from Salerno to the town of Amalfi.
After checking into our accommodation, we ventured out to look for some dinner. We randomly picked Da Maria, but it was really good! This rustic restaurant serves Italian pizza, pasta and seafood dishes. We shared a simple caprese salad, and I had the scialatielli with clams, mussels and cherry tomatoes. Scialatielli is a pasta typical of Campania, particularly the Amalfi region. It’s a short, thick pasta with a rectangular cross-section and an almost straight but slightly irregular, slightly curvy shape. This type of pasta is normally served with light fish/seafood sauces, hence this iteration from Da Maria.
And so our first day in Amalfi ended! We spent the rest of the week alternating between day trips to other nearby towns and meals or evenings in Amalfi. The town of Amalfi is a lovely place. Like most towns along the coast, Amalfi lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto, surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. The town was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200.
Nowadays, Amalfi is famous as a vacation spot for the rich and famous. The town became a popular seaside resort beginning in the Edwardian era, with members of the British upper class spending their winters in Amalfi. As the world has become more globalised and accessible, many more people can enjoy the people of the town (and the rest of the coast).
Day 2
On our second (but first) full day in Amalfi we visited a lemon farm. The Amalfi coast is famed for its production of Limoncello liqueur and the area is a known cultivator of lemons. The correct name is “sfusato amalfitano”, and they are typically long and at least double the size of other lemons, with thick and wrinkled skin and sweet and juicy flesh without many pips.
The lemon farm was an amazing experience. It is common to see lemons growing in the terraced gardens along the entire Amalfi coast between February and October. And so, because we were visiting in June, there were literally hundreds of lemons! During the tour we learned a lot about the Amalfi lemon, where and how it’s grown, and its many uses.
At the end of the tour, we had a lovely break in their outdoor area where we sampled lemon cake, fresh lemonade and limoncello of course!
After the lemon farm tour, we walked around town to find some proper lunch. We didn’t feel like a restaurant, but rather something snack-y and we stumbled upon Cuoppo d’Amalfi. This place is a tiny nook serving deep-fried calamari, anchovies, shrimp and potatoes in paper cones. It was fun and simple to try and I loved the seaside, and kitch feel of the place.
To be honest, many Amalfi Coast towns can look quite similar. However, Amalfi is particularly recognisable because of its large Duomo and piazza, the heart of the town. The cathedral dates back to the 11th century. The front facade was rebuilt in the late 19th century in striped marble and stone, with a tall pediment decorated with mosaics, and a deep porch with windows of delicate Arab-Moorish tracery.
The square is very busy, filled with terraces and lots of people crossing left and right all day, and night, long. We sat out on the terrace a few evenings, enjoying an Aperol or limoncello spritz.
The town of Amalfi is a little larger than its neighbours, and so there are quite a few restaurants to choose from. This is one of the main reasons why we picked Amalfi as our base. After hanging out in the piazza, we went to a lovely restaurant along the beach called Marina Grande. The setting was absolutely stunning and we were seated at the edge of the restaurant so we had a direct view of the sea.
For food, Victor and I shared a salad and two pasta dishes. One was spaghetti with local clams, garlic and parsley, and the other was some sort of long pasta with tuna crudo. All the dishes were light and refreshing.
Days 3 & 4
On our third day Victor, Mom and I went on a day trip to Ravello, and we got back to Amalfi around 3pm. We met up with my dad and went to go visit the Duomo. When you first enter you’re greeted by its beautiful cloisters. They’re called Chiostro del Paradiso (Cloisters of Paradise) and were used as a burial place for noble families of Amalfi in medieval times. The Arab influence is apparent in the architecture, which I adore.
The interior is adorned in the late Baroque style with a nave and two aisles divided by 20 columns. The cathedral is dedicated to the Apostle Saint Andrew whose relics are kept here. Supposedly his remains were brought to Amalfi from Constantinople in 1206 during the Fourth Crusade by Cardinal Peter of Capua. The cathedral contains a lot of other important artefacts too. For example, The high altar in the central nave is formed from the sarcophagus of Peter of Capua (who died in 1214).
There are a few main traditional events that draw numerous visitors to Amalfi. One of the main events is the feast days of Saint Andrew (25–27 June, and 30 November), celebrating the town’s patron saint. We were in Amalfi just before the June feast days and so the cathedral and piazza were getting ready to celebrate.
For dinner, we went to a pizza place called Pizzeria Donna Stella. The pizza was nice but the real highlight of the restaurant is the setting. You’re seated outdoors, below a canopy of lemon tree branches. It truly feels magical so I can see why this place is so popular.
The next day we went to Positano for the day, again arriving back to Amalfi for dinnertime. We went to a restaurant that’s pretty much under the Duomo.
Days 5 & 6
On our fifth day, we took it easy as I actually had been quite ill with some sort of chest/throat infection. Just as the sun was starting to set we went on a little walk to the nearby village, Atrani. On our sixth day, we went back to Atrani for the beach. In the evening we took the ferry to Positano to go to a very special, fancy dinner. More on that in a future blog post!
Day 7
Now onto our seventh day, we started with breakfast at a wonderful bakery we had been going to in Amalfi almost every day, Pasticceria Pansa Amalfi. Seriously, it’s the best spot! My favourite treat was the doughnut as it was so deliciously puffy and delicately sweetened.
We then went on a day trip again, this time to the towns of Minori and Cetara. Back in Amalfi, we decided to take a break from going out to a restaurant for dinner and instead have a pizza and wine night at our accommodation. We got takeaway pizza from La Rua Pizze e Delizie, a very local joint. Our pizza night was lots of fun, and I actually preferred the pizza to the one we had a few nights before!
Day 8
Earlier on in the trip we had planned to do a private boat tour one day. We went ahead and booked one but it ended up being cancelled because the driver tested positive for COVID-19. Because the weather had been so hot, we decided that actually this was fine and so did not rebook. This meant we quickly changed plans and decided on a much shorter boat excursion to the Grotta dello Smeraldo.
Italian for Emerald Cave, the cave is located in Conca dei Marini, just a 15-minute boat ride from Amalfi. During daylight hours, refracted sunlight entering the cavern through the opening gives the water its characteristic emerald glow. It was a fun little trip and a good way to include a boat ride!
Once we were back on land we went for lunch to a lovely place with a gorgeous terrace called Sensi. The restaurant is located in Hotel Residence, a gorgeous noble building from the 18th century. We were seated on the terrace which overlooks the seafront promenade.
Having since looked up the restaurant, they were actually awarded a Michelin star in 2023 (the year after we visited). It is so well-deserved because the cooking here is of the highest quality. All the flavours and ingredients harmonised beautifully.
For our last dinner, we went to Da Gemma. We actually had been trying to go here for a few days but it had always been fully booked. We finally got our act together and booked a table for our last evening. We had a delicious set of seafood dishes, from lightly fried octopus to risotto with carpaccio.
We sat on the terrace and it was a great way to end a splendid week in the Amalfi Coast.
The next morning we packed up our bags and took the ferry back to Salerno, and the train to Rome to meet up with my brother, Connor. And so ended our excellent adventure in Amalfi and the entire coast. My next blog post will be on all those day trips I mentioned, but Amalfi will always have a special place in my heart. It’s truly the life of the coast and I’m so happy that we spent a good amount of time here to really enjoy the kind of life on offer here.
Have you been to this romantic and famous part of the world? Were you living the la dolce vita?
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