Amalfi Coast as a day trip from Rome is a very popular question on travel forums, because so many visitors to Italy are tight on time and still want to see everything. Is it doable? Yes. Would I recommend it? Hell no, and nobody should. Is it reckless? Definitely!
Sights visited: Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello (sort of but not really)
As I wrote in my last trip report about my soccer fangirl plans, my itinerary was not very flexible. Sparing two days for Cinque Terre already used up all my flexible time outside of Rome. However, I would hate it to have visited Italy twice and still not made it to Amalfi Coast.
Amalfi Coast didn't seem like the type of place I would like. It's posh, expensive, and crowded. For some reason, it is listed in "50 places to visit before you die" and "the most beautiful drives in the world". It was simply the vain mentality that I want to see it just to say I've seen it, but didn't want to spend the recommended 3+ days to do so. As I was struggling to find a solution, I found a new tour on Viator, which seemed to fit my needs perfectly and not too expensive. It is provided by Naples's local travel provider Project Napoli Services. I wrote to them directly so I was able to skip the middle man and pay in cash.
The only risk associated with joining this tour was getting to Naples by train from Rome. I took the exact same high-speed Frecciarossa train two years ago for a day trip to Pompeii, and it arrives in Naples 15 minutes before the tour starts. It was more than enough time to get to the pick up point, but that was assuming the train was on time.
My gamble paid off, and I got to Naples two minutes earlier than expected. I was picked up on time by a SUV with a full group of 12 people.
The tour was supposed to be independent, but our driver knew the area so well that he was kind of a tour guide. He was also hilarious and made many jokes about driving in Naples and the hand gestures associated with it. Lucky for me, I got the best seat at the frontmost of the van because I was traveling solo!
I couldn't believe I returned to Naples and looking at Vesuvius yet again.
To visit all four towns on the Amalfi Coast in one day, we were on a tight schedule. We only have 20 minutes to 1 hour at each place. The first stop was Sorrento, the closest one to Naples.
Sorrento is the transportation hub linking Naples to the rest of the Amalfi Coast, so it is more of a small city rather than a town. Many celebrities choose Sorrento as their designated vacation spot.
An abandoned flour mill that had been used since the 900's sits quietly in this "valley of the mills".
Summer is the season of famous lemons of Amalfi Coast, so I only found a few not so pretty ones at the grocers.
In contrary to the lack of lemons, limoncello vendors were everywhere. Some stores provided free tastings
I randomly chose a gelateria and stumbled across Primavera Gelateria, with walls plastered in photos of famous soccer players. Their gelato was pretty good, and I only found out later that this gelateria is one of the more well-known ones in Sorrento.
From a cliffside viewing platform, I saw Capri Island covered in an isolated downpour.
After we left Sorrento, we entered the so called "Amalfi Drive". The sceneries along the way was spectacular, with changing cliffs on one side and the ocean on the other, but I would hate to be the one driving. Originally carved into the cliffs by the Romans, the lanes were hardly wide enough for two cars to pass through. Because of frequent traffic jams, the driver often had to reduce our time in the towns to stay on schedule.
The rain clouds that was over Capri soon shifted towards our direction and we were caught in heavy rain when arriving in Positano.
Tourists on scooters were waiting for the rain to pass. Behind them were little roadside sculptures of miniature villages and nativity scene.
Positano is the prettiest town in Amalfi Coast by popular opinion. It has everything celebrities and honeymooners wants, such as luxury hotels, boutique shops, a nice beach and panoramic views of mountains and sea.
The churches in Amalfi Coast had these distinct tiled dome.
Lunch was at the remotely located Euroconca Restaurant, on the roadside halfway between Positano and Amalfi.
I ordered Parmigiana, a Campania specialty dish. What's not to like about a dish of eggplant, cheese and tomato sauce?
The third town we visited was Amalfi. It is not as pretty as Positano, but larger and provided more transportation links. It was hard to imagine this resort town used to be a maritime power and Kingdom in Medieval times.
In the centre of town is the Duomo di Amalfi that all travel guides suggested to see, but seemed small compared to the many mind-blowing cathedrals in Italy.
Our driver suggest tasting gelato in Amalfi as gelato here is "something special". There were indeed many gelaterias around and maybe the competition made them give out generous portions. I couldn't tell if it was very different from other gelato I had in italy though.
Due to the many traffic jams we encountered on the way, we didn't have time to really enter the town Ravello and only stopped at a viewing point outside of it. Too bad I didn't get to see the two famed villas of Ravello, but the view from there would be similar.
Having only one day for the Amalfi Coast was in no way sufficient time to properly see it. It did however reconfirmed that this place was not my cup of tea. The photos didn't show it, but there were a mad crowd of people in every town we stopped at, and I didn't have the desire to go back for a proper visit.
What I did desire to return to, was the 5 EUR margherita pizza from L' Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Naples. I had such a memorable experience on my last visit, so I grabbed one before I head back to Rome. I almost missed my train, and the locals were laughing at me, but it was worth it.
