Three Nights on Amalfi Coast: What we did – and wish we did
Quick look:
👍 Private transfer – Rome to Positano with a stop at Pompeii for private tour
👍 Afternoon at free beach in Positano, then dinner
👍 One night at Hotel Royal Prisco
👍 Day at beach club and afternoon ferry to Capri
👎Two nights at Airbnb in Capri
👎Dinner in first restaurant we saw with an open table
👍People watching at a cafe on the Piazetta
👍Boat tour of Capri, day at beach club followed by souvenir shopping and drink in Marina Grande
What I wish we did:
💭One or two nights in Positano
💭Two nights Sorrento
💭Day trips to Capri and Ischia, explore Sorrento at night.
Gleaming gold, pink and peach buildings stacked atop each other, both tumultuous and ordered – an example of logic-defying engineering and architecture.
Cobblestone streets lined with boutiques, every wall and shelf filled with dishtowels and dresses, aprons and cups, totes and t-shirts – all covered with lemons.
A tide of tourists cascading down to Spiaggia Grande, with its sharp stones, delightful amount of sea glass (we can look for sea glass all day), rows of the iconic striped umbrellas and the impossibly aqua Tyrrhenian Sea.
Long before there was Instagram, and a feed full of Positano that made me shake my head in wonder (It’s so beautiful! How did they build the homes on those cliffs?) there was my sister, Paula, who dreamt of going there.
The way my sister talked about Positano made me think it was a place only royalty could reach – on a super yacht or private jet.
Originally planned as a day trip from Sorrento, we chose to do a splurge night in Positano as a surprise for my daughter. The only options for five that weren’t 22K a night were the Royal Suite (with a terrace and stunning view of the sea)…and the economy room (complete with shutters covering trompe l’oeil windows) at the Hotel Royal Prisco, an easy walk to the beach and shops – and the breakfast…perfection.
Positano was touristy, overcrowded and expensive. But it was also our favorite…
The shops, the Aperol Spritz(es), Lido L’Incanto, the cupfuls of sea glass we collected as we sat at the edge of the water and sifted through the pebbles, the warm waves washing over our legs.
And it was over too soon. We spent the day at the beach club, rinsed and then met a porter with our bags before getting on the afternoon ferry to Capri. (Arrange for the luggage porter through your hotel so you can spend as much time enjoying the shops and the sea, unencumbered.)
Capri: day trip or overnight?
Day trip all the way. Everything we enjoyed the most could’ve been done in 8 hours, which left me with two nights to stare off in the direction of Positano and wonder what they were all doing over there.
Our original plan was a day trip, but then I got caught up in the history, the stories of the movie stars and poets who visited and, of course, the Blue Grotto…
On our first afternoon we watched two women sweep through the streets in floor-length gowns that leapt and swung behind them, a photographer ran in front of them, backwards (hopefully filming in slow motion – it was pretty dramatic); hair and makeup ran alongside.
That night, a group of 20 or so American kids overran one of the cafes, drinking and smoking – until their parents stopped by to check on them and the cigarettes vanished, clouds of smoke still in the air. It was so This Side of Paradise, but not in the way that made me wish I was in the midst of it all.
There were spectacles at every turn, but Capri didn't feel real, more like it was trading on its lore, instead of being an authentic beauty.
At the end of the stay – and with my own armload of adorable totes and tees bearing the ubiquitous lemon – my impression was that the island just had really good branding. And that we could’ve found places more stunning, but less affected…
That being said, I have friends who said it was their favorite place on earth. You just never know how you’re going to vibe with a place. Which is why it’s good to visit new places on each trip.
What I didn’t understand about Capri
First, it’s CAP-ri, not Ca-PRI. I thought my friend, who pronounced it the first way, was being pretentious. Turns out she was right.
And second, there are two towns – Marina Grande, the busy port filled with restaurants and shops, where you can get your citrus-themed souvenirs. And a few hundred feet above that is Capri town, where you’ll find luxury boutiques and cafes surrounding the heart of the town, the Piazetta.
And above that? The homes – and our Airbnb. Described as a “few hundred steps from Capri town,” I naively took that to mean heel-to-toe steps, not stair steps.
My youngest chose to fling her tiny fox-themed suitcase up 3-4 stairs at a time and then walk up to meet it. Not sure if this exerted the same amount of energy as if she just carried it, but I was envious she didn’t have a suitcase hitting her in the achilles each step.
All this to say that, once you finally reach your accommodations, you’re not popping out for a bottle of wine or a coffee, so plan ahead.
Beach club, boat tour and the Blue Grotto…
Our favorite experience was the boat tour/beach club. We chose the family-run and family-friendly Bagni Tiberio. (Enthralled by the lurid tales of Emperor Tiberius? This beach club sits in the same cove where he built his personal home, Palazzo a Mare, nearly 2,000 years ago.)
Bagni Tiberio was available to book the day ahead and the entrance fee included a tour around Capri in a traditional wooden gozzo boat (the vibe!) – with a visit to the Blue Grotto for a few euro more.
Get the photo of the iconic arch, the tour around the island, the day at the beach club and the visit to the Blue Grotto in one fell swoop.
Next Time
Going to Capri might be like going to Santorini: you have to. But I would argue only once.
So while I’m happy we sang “O Solo Mio” with our captain as we ducked our heads and entered the Blue Grotto, rode the funicular from Capri town to Marina Grande and watched the well-heeled visitors in the Piazetta, I have no need to return.
If we did head back to the Amalfi Coast – now easier with the new Salerno-area airport – we’d stay in Sorrento and do a day trip to Ischia.
