Ciao!
Day 1: Travel Day
I am excited to share with you what we did in Positano & Ravello for our first week in Italy.
We flew from Charlotte into the Rome Fiumicino Airport. The flight was about ten hours long and we knew we had a full day of traveling ahead of us. From the Rome airport we took a cab to the Rome Termini (main Train Station) to catch a train to Salerno. You can book trains ahead of time here, however, because with traveling you never know of delays, we waited until we go to the Rome Train Station. They have kiosks that you can go to and select where you are headed and the time you wish to travel. They are super easy and very convenient. From Salerno (southern town on the Amalfi Coast) we had a car pick us up to drive us to our HomeAway apartment. We had planned to take a ferry from Salerno to Positano, however, we missed the last ferry and had to do a car service instead. This entire first day was mostly used for traveling. We arrived into Positano early evening and once we placed our things into our vacation rental, we wondered down a ton of stairs to find some shops and restaurants right on the beach! The photo of above was taken outside our front door. This vacation rental was insane. Our view was absolutely breathtaking!
Day 2-5: What To Do
We spent our week seeing Positano from almost every angle possible! With a view like this, how could you not? One of the best things about Positano is that you walk everywhere. There is no need for a car, the town is rather small, just climbs in height! You’ll notice very quickly that there is one main road (that cars drive on) that you walk along to find different shops, restaurants, cafes, etc. We made it a bit of a routine to walk down the road to get a delicious pastry and a coffee (cafe americano) and bring it back to our apartment. We would sit our on the balcony and soak in the amazing view.
These photos was taken on our porches balcony!
White Halter Dress // Rebecca Minkoff Handbag // Similar Coach Wedges // Similar Beaded Tassel Earrings // Bangle // Mac Lipstick “Little Budda“
We spent our first day walking around getting a feel for the town. Everywhere you look is an amazing view and the further up you climb brings more and more to look at! I would suggest for your first day to just walk and walk and walk! Take it all in, you are only here once! Positano is known for their custom sandals. We stopped at a shop and I saw they had the braided criss cross sandals in gold but I asked if I could choose a brown and possibly white color combination instead. Below you’ll see the shop owner had what I was envisioning and I love my new sandals!
On your trip, make sure you have a beach day or two! Spiaggia Grande is Positano’s famous beach with its bright orange striped umbrellas! You can see the umbrellas in the above photo, I took that photo at a lunch spot on the top of the hill! If you visit in the busy season (mid-may through August) then you will want to reserve a bed and umbrella. Right down at the beach you can go early and get yourself a spot. It costs 17 euro for the bed and umbrella and you can pay a bit more for a bath towel incase you can’t fit to pack one. Since we went the first week of May, we didn’t need to reserve a bed, however, we were too late on reserving a boat for the day. If you are planning on taking a boat out in the sea for a few hours (a lot of people do this so they can see Positano from a far) then you will want to make sure you get down to the beach early in the morning to schedule a boat for a few days out!
Outfit details: Stripe One Piece Swimsuit // Off Shoulder Cover up (Can be worn as dress ) // Fedora // Ray Bans // Espadrilles (similar here)
For one of your nights, I would suggest scheduling a nice dinner somewhere with a view. We ate at Hotel Poseidon and the food was absolutely insanely incredible. By far one of the best meals from the entire trip! They have a beautiful rooftop pool and bar and they serve you diner inside or outside on the terrace. We obviously chose to eat outside, watching the sun set behind the cliff. It was so so so magical! Caitlin, her mom and I joked if only it wasn’t the three of us, but rather if we were there with our men, it would be so romantic! Hahah! As the sun went down, it got chilly so it was sweet the staff members of Hotel Poseidon came out with blankets to wrap around us! The below photos are taken from their rooftop terrace! I shot an outfit post up there too!
Outfit details here: Lucca Maxi Dress // Rebecca Minkoff Crossbody // Gold Filigree Earrings // Espadrille Flats (similar here & here) // Bangles (similar here & here) // Mac Lipstick “Lustering“
One of my strengths that we discovered on this trip was my ability to always find our apartment! I have good eyesight and I have attention for detail. I spy our apartment from twenty flights down and across from where I am…
We also had a really cool experience of taking one of Hotel Poseidon’s vintage cars out for a drive along the Amalfi Coast. It was so cool to be in this little bug driving along the coast seeing Positano get smaller and smaller in the distance but seeing more of the Amalfi Coast get closer and closer as we drive! Along the road there are a ton of lemonade farms, fresh fruit stands and of course, places to park the car and take in the view! If you would take a ferry from Salerno to Positano instead of a car service, I would highly recommend you rent a car service who will drive you along the coast to have the experience. It is so fun and super cool!
Outfit details: Topshop Cami (I wear nonstop!) // JCrew Skirt // Rebecca Minkoff Bag // Coach Wedges (similar here & here) // Love Always Monogram Necklace // Bracelet (similar here) // Hinge Hat
I would take a day to hike “the Path of Gods”. It’s said to be one of the most beautiful hikes one could ever endure. It’s a trail that leads you along the Amalfi Coast but the views and the wild flowers are to be out of this world! We thought we were able to walk to it from Positano, however, it was way more of a challenge than we allocated our time for. As soon as you arrive in Positano, have your hotel coordinate a pick up for you to be taken to Agerola. That seems to be a good starting point if you wish to hike through the Amalfi, passing through way high above Positano. TripAdvisor could help too. We just thought it was easier than it was. It will be on my list for when I go back one day! Hopefully with Pat 🙂 So we decided to make the most of our time and continue hiking upward in Positano to get a good work out in, but to also see it from a different angle! Tennis shoes are a must for this activity- can’t forget to pack those!
Other things to do in Positano would be to attend a cooking class, head to the exclusive beach club of Fornillo (you have to take a boat to get there), go shopping, boat tours, etc. There is a lot of things to do, but I feel strongly that four or five days would allow you to see the most of Positano! There is so many amazing places in Italy, I am sure you would want to see a few places on your trip!
Tiered Chiffon Maxi Dress // Wedges // Turquoise Earrings (similar here) // Mac Lipstick “Pink Pigeon” // Bangle
White Halter Dress // Rebecca Minkoff Handbag // Similar Coach Wedges // Similar Beaded Tassel Earrings // Bangle // Mac Lipstick “Little Budda”
On day six we said our good byes to Positano and headed to the quiet little town of Ravello. We had Lupo (he was our car service guy whom we became friends with) pick us up and take us to Ravello. It was about an hour drive along the beautiful coast. We passed Altrani (tiny little town after Amalfi) and one little glance at it and it’s on my bucket list. Supposedly the town only has 500 residents and 80% of them work in Sorrento, Positano or Amalfi! This town is super small, very authentic italian, it’s biggest feature is its beautiful church. I just think it would be a cool place to walk around and look at its architecture!
Ravello sits all the way up at the top of the cliff and has an amazing sea view. You drive so many meters into Ravello and then you have to park your car. It’s a walking town! LOVED IT! We stayed at Palazzo Avino which was absolutely beautiful. It neighbors Belmond Hotel Caruso which is another luxury hotel and is famous for its beautiful gardens and infinity pool! If both of these hotels are out of your budget, there are a ton of Airbnbs and Homeaways. Ravello is not big so if you’re close to the center of town, know you’ll be able to walk everywhere from your apartment!
Day 5-7
Ravello is certainly a place where you can allocate two days and see it all. It’s know for its cliffside gardens: Villa Rufolo & Villa Cimbrone. We spent our time walking around looking at local hand painted shops, art galleries, exploring gardens and tasting limoncello! We tasted three different flavors of limoncello: orig. lemon, pistachio and orange mango. They were so delicious we actually shipped bottles home! We should be getting them anyday. I can’t wait to make a limoncello mojito and sit by the pool sipping on it! Ravello is really a great quiet and quaint town. It was good to recharge and relax before we headed into week two of our trip!
Off Shoulder Gingham Dress // Espadrille (similar here & here) // Boater Hat // MAC Lipstick “Relentlessly Red“
Pleated Midi Skirt // Pleated Lace Cami Top // Rebecca Minkoff Bag // Similar Gold Earrings // Bangle (similar here & here ) // Mac Lipstick “Pink Pigeon” // Marc Fisher Wedges
Splendid Crochet Lace Dress // Marc Fisher Wedges // Rebecca Minkoff Crossbody // Gold Filigree Earrings // Bangle // Clinique Lipstick “Bare Pop“
I hope my guide was insightful and could be a start for you in planning your own trip to the Amalfi Coast! I just love traveling and think it does wonders for your body, soul and mind! There isn’t a stronger education than traveling and I firmly believe when you see the world you understand how you can make it a better place.
It’s Pat’s birthday today! His parents are coming in town for the long weekend and I am excited to relax and just enjoy time with our family celebrating! Follow along on instagram stories (@brittanyanncourtney) to see what we get into and of course, cute Ruby snaps!
Have a safe and relaxing weekend!
Thanks for stopping by!
xx, Brittany Ann
Shop my favorite pieces from my trip:
