Almalfi Coast

This year we have been drawn to more to the off the beaten path style of travel. We have ventured towards small towns, authentic experiences, and less of the big cities with tourist itineraries. However, the Almalfi Coast has been a destination we have wanted to visit for a long time! Yes, it is a popular tourist destination, but the tourist season is actually May-September, and we were traveling in April, so we didn't think it would feel too bad.

The process of choosing to go in April was kind of humorous. This Spring when we were looking at the calendar, we realized that Rachel had one ¨personal day¨ that she is allowed to use at school. All of our weekends for the Spring were already filling up, so we needed to decide when and how to use it! We tossed around a few different ideas, but used Google Flights to see where we could fly to for cheap the following weekend. Lo and behold, Naples, Italy was one of the few places that the price was still low! So we booked our flights for one week later, quickly booked an airbnb, and a few days later, were on our way!

To say that we were happy with our choice would be an understatement. Our airbnb was a family home owned by an Italian mother and daughter, and their adorable little dog named Chico. The women were very hospitable, and even shared a typical Italian dish and the family wine with us when we arrived late Thursday night. When we woke up Friday morning to see the view from the terrace in the daylight for the first time, WOW! We had breakfast on the terrace and had trouble pulling ourselves away from the view of Positano.





Our first day, we hiked the famous Path of the Gods. This trail was incredible! We took the bus from Positano to the nearby village of Nocelle, and caught the trail from there. The views ranged from picturesque coasts to farm homes, abandoned stone buildings to shaded forest. We loved every second of the four hour hike!

The second day we took a boat from Positano to the town of Almalfi. Here, we met a sweet old man on the street who spoke no English, but somehow convinced us to go off of the main street to a little pizzeria up the stairs. We devoured some wood-fired pizzas, and after an obligatory afternoon gelato, took a bus up to the village of Ravello. Rovello is set up higher in the mountains, so although it is not on the coast, it has many famous Villas with views of the water and coastline. We loved walking around the small streets. Every street in the village looked like it could be a postcard view. All the trees were blooming, providing a colorful palette for the eyes! After returning to Positano in the evening, a huge rain storm rolled in. Although disappointed that it was raining, it was still so beautiful! We planted ourselves at the cafe on the beach with a glass of local red wine and watched the rain fall. We decided that any weather would look beautiful in Positano, it's impossible not to!

The view from our boat ride to Almalfi

Beautiful Rovello bursting

Almalfi

Positano's iconic dome.

Our last day, we tore ourselves away from the Positano we love in order to see Pompeii on the way back to the airport in Naples. We hadn't originally planned on visiting, but when we realized it was on the same train line that we would take to go to the airport, how could we not? We spent a couple of hours walking around the ruins. It was of course interesting, although for us, it did start to blend together after a while. However, with knowledge of the history of it, we remained intrigued by the peak into ancient Roman life.

Our Italian getaway came to an end too quickly, but we were so glad for the stolen weekend away!