The Amalfi Coast Road, the SS163 is a 50km specular road, hugging the cliffs and coves of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The gravity-defying road with twists and winds from the Sorrento peninsula to Salerno and has the most incredible views of pastel painted villages and cliffs.

As we were in the middle of a house renovation, this was another trip highly influenced by my sister who bought mine and Khaled’s plane tickets as a birthday gift. We went in the middle of April, which was the perfect weather for a road trip to the Amalfi Coast and we still enjoyed off-peak prices. It was also not as crowded as it is in the middle of summer! We had to do the Amalfi Coast on a budget – an extremely challenging task as its known to be the most expensive place in Europe.

Read on to see how we spent our 5 days during the Easter Break exploring the most beautiful cities in Italy.

Day 1 – Road Tripping to Ravello and Amalfi Town

We arrived in Naples Airport at 9.30pm. With just a small backpack, we quickly went through customs and as soon as we stepped out of the airport, we got a call from the company we hired our car from and they told us that they are ready to pick us up and take us to our car/their office. It was all a very quick process, which was good and so we picked our little cute smart car and drove 45 minutes to Sorrento, which was where our hotel was based.

We stayed at Johanna Park Hotel which is located on a beautiful hill side overlooking the Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius, 4km from the centre of Sorrento. We stayed on the highest floor which had the most beautiful view. We stayed here mostly because it was reasonably priced, good location and it had free parking. The customer service was really good, especially as there was a free shuttle bus that could take us to the centre of Sorrento or its port at any time to save us the hassle of parking!

We woke up next morning and went down for breakfast where we were greeted with the most charming Italian waiter who sparked up a conversation with us and offered us the BEST cappuccino! The breakfast buffet had everything you need – eggs, sausages, pastries and breaks and different spreads. We then made our way to our first stop – Fiordo di Furore. 

Fiordo di furore

We read about this place before we came and we desperate to check it out on our way to Ravello. The Fjordo Di Furore is located near the small town of Furore, between Positano and Amalfi. Contrary to the name of this place, the beach is not a fjord as it was actually formed on the dried valley of a river, being located between two massive rock walls that just looks like a fjord! In the past, this was the place where pirates used to hide.

There is not much information about the best way to get there by car, but we ended up leaving the car in a parking lot of a restaurant and paid around €10 which was then deducted from the bill (we just ordered a pastry and 2 cappuccinos). The only thing is, and my fellow Brits would agree, we felt REALLY hesitant with leaving our car keys with the shop worker – something that we later realised is quite common in Italy. As we walked away from the car, we were mentally preparing ourselves to not see our car when we return). We continued and walked down the steep steps and then eventually reached the pebble beach. It was the most beautiful and calming place to chill in for half an hour. I think what also made it so nice was the fact that we pretty much had it ourselves!

After a while, we went back to the car (thank goodness it was still there!) and carried on our journey. We drove 15 minutes to Amalfi but it was just so busy and the policemen ushered us onto the next city – so it looked like we were going to go to Ravello first!

Ravello

We chose Ravello as a place to stop off in because its unique compared to the other coastal villages. Unlike the others, it is situated in the Lattari Mountains and because it’s so high up, it offers some of the most stunning views of the whole Amalfi Coast. Despite its beauty, tis less famous and thus less crowded – which makes it perfect for a day trip.

When we arrived in Ravello, we spent some time trying to sweet talk the policewoman to let us into the city (mad that we even have to try!) and after some time, she let us through and we parked the car for 3 hours in the parking lot and then made our way. The first place we went to is Villa Rufolo.

This beautiful mansion dates back to the 13^th century and belong to the Rufolo family, a very powerful family in Italy.  It is a combination of Arab and Byzantine architecture and its lavish and noble interior reflected their social rank. We read that the Rufolo family had fallen out of favour because they sided with the forces battling the English during the Sicilian Vespers period and as result, they had to divide the property. The villa was then passed down through various Italian families through the laws of succession before it was completely destroyed by 1850. It was only when Sir Francis Neville Reid purchased the property that a full renovation took place and he reconfigured the terraces into gardens. It was purchased by the Board of Tourism in 1974 and then transferred to the Ravello Foundation in 2007.

We walked around the villa and its spectacular garden which are open to the public. It was beautiful just walking hand-in-hand with my husband through the lovely terraces that offer spectacular views of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Minora and Maiori and the infamous Annunziata Historic Building’s domes.

We then continued to wander around this cute little medieval town which made me feel as if I was teleported to another time. It was so tempting to stop every few minutes to take photos of every single thing since every little corner had something new to discover and was picturesque.  We walked through Piazza Duomo, which is the beating heart of Ravello and where the locals gather together on the benches and terraces. There were plenty of restaurants, bars and shops with fantastic views here. It would have been a great place to people watch but we went back to the car so that we could continue on our road trip.

Amalfi

We then drove around 15 minutes back to Amalfi where we were actually able to get in this time. We parked the car for a few hours right in the centre of Amalfi – he wasn’t quite used to miniature size of a smart car and so struggled to park before getting out and seeing how much space he had, it was funny.  The tourist town of Amalfi is a jewel of the Mediterranean coast, famous for its white-washed buildings, historical churches and paper-making industry.

We wanted to see as much as we can before the sunset so we first went to see the beautiful Amalfi Cathedral and then ate dinner in a restaurant overlooking the sea. We sat right by the window and just had the nicest view of the sea. We had caprese salad and of course pizza. We then wanted to sweeten our mouths so what better way then to have a lemon sorbet in a lemon! It had a very bitter sweet taste but as I love lemons, I really like the taste.

Atrani

We then walked 15 minutes to get to the neighbouring town of Atrani. It was a maze walking up and down the steps to Atrani and what felt like we were going through peoples yards. We definitely got lost a few times but as always, we saw the funny side of it.

After a long day of driving and sight-seeing, we called it a day.

Day 2: Day trip to the Island of Capri

On the second day, we decided to take a day trip to the island of Capri. Our lovely hotel staff gave us a lift to the port so we didn’t have to drive there and faff with the parking. I wrote about this day trip in this blog post.

Sorrento

We got back from the island just in time for sunset. We joined the locals by watching sunset at the top of the cliff, a few minutes’ walk from the port. As this was our only chance to explore Sorrento, we thought it would nice to walk through the old centre of Sorrento and admire its historic building, such as the Cathedral of Sorrento dating back to the 15^th century.

We walked through small alleyways and went in a quirky various shops. We then went to  a restaurant called ‘Restorante O’Parruchiano Sorrento’ – this is the largest restaurant in all of Sorrento and has several terraces that stretch upwards on a slope and at the top is an open air terrace filled with orange an lemon trees (which is where we say). It was the perfect end to the perfect day as we ate our pasta dishes with the enhancing scent of the citrus blossoms filled the air.

Our hotel driver kindly picked us up after we text him and we slept like a baby!

Day 3: Path of the Gods and Positano

Khaled and I made a spontaneous decision to do what is considered one of the most spectacular hiking trails in the world – the aptly named Sentiero dgli Dei or “Path of the Gods”. This is named after a mythological legend which overlooks the path where Ulysses in Homer’s The Odyssey encountered the singing sirens that were on the island of Li Galli. This path starts in Bomerano and leads to Positano. If you drive up to Bomerano, you can find plenty of free car parking spaces near the trailhead.

The first 5-mile hike feels very residential as you pass through terraced farmland with homes growing wine grapes, tomatoes etc. As you move along the trail you are greeted with the Gulf or Salerno and of Naples. You will pass through abandoned centuries-old stone houses which sits on the cliff.

Every corner you take, you would have no idea how often the landscape and view would change either slightly or dramatically.

It took us around 3.5 hours in total as the hike is 7.8km in total (4.9 miles). The trickiest part of the trail was walking down around 1500 steps, right at the end of the trail to reach Positano. We had to jog down a few hundred steps in order to make it go quicker! Our legs were so shaky, to say the least.

Even though this hike is not for the faint-hearted (or those scared of heights), I would definitely recommend doing this.

Positano

We eventually walked down the thousand steps and reached Positano. It was exactly how I imagined it to be. First thing first, we bought a well-deserved gelato and had it on the beach to get our energy back. We did a little photo shoot in Positano’s beach and then walked through the streets that were selling souvenirs, linen clothes etc. As we were on a budget, we didn’t actually buy anything – but its really lovely just to wander through the streets. 

At this point, we were getting hangry and Khaled knows that for the sake of both of us, we have to find a restaurant real quick! We eventually settled in this pizzeria overlooking Positano. The pizza tasted delicious. It was only in the last 15 minutes that we went on Google Maps to see what time the next bus is back to Bomerano. Our heart skipped a beat when it says that the next available bus is the next morning at 8am due it being Easter bank holiday!! At this point, we were both just freaking out and trying to think of all our options which were i) stay the night in Positano, ii) grab a taxi from Positano to where our car is parked, iii) walk 4 hours back in the dark or iv) hitchhike.

We checked the accommodation option and everything was sold out. We asked how much a taxi would be and it was £120 – which was just so expensive but would have to be our last option. Walking back would have been a nightmare and I think I’d rather have slept on the beach – so hitchhike was really our only option. We settled the bill and started walking to the main street. We asked a few drivers if we could hitchhike but they were going the wrong way or didn’t have enough space in the car. We then saw where the bus stop is and saw a long queue of people waiting – there was hope! We ran there but then this lovely, young British couple told us that we need to buy the bus ticket which is at the bottom of the hill that we just ran up. I think they could see the anguish on my face when they told us because when we started walking down the hill, the guy ran up to us and said we can have 2 of his bus tickets. He explained that they have been waiting for 2 hours for the last bus which still hasn’t arrived yet and so he wouldn’t want us to miss it. We got chatting to them and then after half an hour the bus came! As soon as we could see it, everyone in the queue cheered and celebrated but then the bus drove a bit further down so those who were at the front, were now at the back. We all SWARMED the bus and when the bus driver opened the door, he asked how many were in each group so all I could hear was “one here”, “there are three of us here”, “please there are only two of us – take us!”. We also joined in the desperate plea to get onto the bus. It was a hilarious sight to be honest and the couple behind us joked around and we were just all crying with laughter at our situation. Neither us or the couple got onto the bus but the driver said there was another one 2 minutes behind. An hour passed and still no sign of the bus so the couple decided to walk it (it would have been a half an hour walk from them). As soon as they went round the corner, the bus came. We shouted for them to come back but they didn’t hear so we just jumped on and informed the bus driver. When we passed them in the street, we could see that they spotted the bus and were sprinting to the next stop, which they eventually got on (just!).

It was all pretty manic and I still can’t believe our luck. We eventually got to Amalfi and then got on the last bus to Bomerano. Here is our celebratory picture.

Day 4: Pompeii

After what was a really enjoyable but eventful three days, we checked out of the hotel and was about to make our way to Pompeii. As we started driving, Khaled and I said we didn’t feel ready to leave the Amalfi Coast as we didn’t say goodbye to Positano properly. So we turned the car and headed back up to Positano before making our way to Pompeii.

It was so hard not to stop the car every 5 minutes to soak in the views! We did have a few pit stops before hitting the motorway to Pompeii.

We got to Pompeii around 4pm. You can read about our time in Pompeii here.

Day 5: Naples

We spent two nights and one full day in Naples. You can read about our time in Naples here.

So there we have it folks, we didn’t actually spend too much money in the Amalfi Coast as we had breakfast included in the hotel and we rented a car, which didn’t end up being too much. I would suggest going during the months of Mar-May, before it starts getting too busy.

Enjoy!