How to cruise the Amalfi Coast

We finally took the plunge to see the Amalfi Coast in Italy, even though the trip would present itself with a hefty price tag. I remembered the wood inlaid decorative wall hang, it was the first souvenir purchase for my family. The lovely peach colored coral cameo pendant for my mum and the iconic wind-up musical box with a pop up ballerina to the tune of "Isle of Capri". Hence, this trip was very much anticipated with excitement.

In Sorrento, I came across an atelier selling inlaid wood wall hangs and gingerly pointed to a muted colored wall hang and asked the price. The shop proprietor exclaimed that I had good taste as that piece was a heritage piece from her grandfather and is now worth around 800 euros! She showed me other colorful modern inlaid wood wall hangs, retailing around 100 euros, but i was not interested. The plainer one closely resembled the piece I bought 40 years ago when i visited Sorrento as a 17 year old on a school trip. And I am very certain that i didn't have so much money then. Similarly, the cameo pendants cost as much as 200 euros upwards. Prices have inflated so much since I last visited.

We travelled from Brussels to Naples, spending two nights to enjoy pizzas and the Naples Archeological Museum. Pizza was, afterall, first invented in Naples as a fast, affordable, tasty meal for working-class Neapolitans on the go. The museum houses some of the finest collections of works from Greek, Roman and Renaissance times, and especially Roman artifacts from the nearby Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum sites. Most interesting especially for those into the Classics.

We stayed at a bespoke 2 star hotel, Relais Della Porta, which occupied the third floor of a historic building dating back to the sixteenth century, in the heart of Naples. This entire building was once the residence of a certain Gianbattista Della Porta, an Italian philosopher and scientist. Today this building has been converted into private appartments and a hotel now occupies the entire third floor. Not born yet when "La Dolce Vita" a 1960 film was made, this iconic term remains to describe the Italian way of life, emphasizing its emphasis on pleasure, social interaction, and a slower pace of living. No stress, no burn-out, "the sweet life" or "the good life". No surprises that Italians start the day with sweet pastries, cakes, tarts for breakfast. And again at any time of the day with its many pasticcerias. The best one is located just next to our hotel, Luciano Mazzone Bar Pasticceria, with cream filled Pistachios encrusted canoli.

From Napoli, we took the Campania Express train to Sorrento. Despite some horror stories of this train being run-down and compared to a ghetto-like train, I think that the reviewer was harsh. When we took it, the train was clean, had reserved seating and aircon. The only thing was limited luggage space. So with huge luggages, you gotta pile them on. The other option was the Circumvesuviana train, a local train used by locals connecting Naples to Sorrento and other towns along the coast. Or via Ferry. Of course there is overland transfer by buses or private cars, but traffic could be tricky.

We stayed at Sant' Agnello, tucked away in a leafy district, about 10 minutes by courtesy bus from the hotel to the town center. Distance from Hotel Caravel to Marinella Beach is about 200m, from there, it is a quite some stairs going down the hillside to reach the beach. Apart from many lemon trees, Sorrento offers some breathtaking views of the Tyrrhenian Sea and Gulf of Naples. The old town is buzzing with tourists, souvenir shops and cafes. I enjoyed browsing the shops and came away with a lemon print umbrella, aprons and shopper bags. I was so tempted to buy a lemon print sun dress but decided it might just be too sharp.

From Sorrento, we checked for dry weather before proceeding to buy the ferry tickets at the Marina Piccolo Port on the day itself to go to Capri. There was no problem getting tickets as many ferry companies ply this lucrative route. Option two was to go on a 7 hour boat excursion but we decided to forgo that. Capri, C'est Fini ( Capri, It's finished ) goes a French song, indeed, it is finished, marred and over-run by hordes of tourists. There were open top taxis a là Italian riveria by-gone era style or the furnicular to get to Capri town. But the queue was terribly long.. I am sure the views at the top are to die-for as seen on many instagram posts. However, we could not be bothered with the long queues. I have been to the Blue Grotto and I wasn't too keen on jostling with tourists to snap that instagrammable picture. After two nights in Sorrento, we moved to Amalfi town, cruising pass Positano with its colourful houses studded into the hillsides. We bypassed Positano and opted to stay in Amalfi town because of its namesake. :-) In Amalfi, we had to climb 60 steps to get to our Bed & Breakfast. The B & B advertised free porter service which we used and tipped the porter anyway.

We were in luck, because the 70th Historical Regatta of the Ancient Maritime Republics in Amalfi took place between May 15-18, 2025. We could watch fire works from our balcony! And the next day, we could climb further uphill for a full view of the sea to watch the regatta. The timing of our visit was certainly fortuitous. We strolled through the old town and stopped at Taverna del Ducca, Amalfi for lunch. This was recommended to us by Enza, the lady at our B & B. It was a very expensive lunch. I think we got our necks on the chopping board, approximately the same time as my market-price "Amalfi fish" got gutted. The grilled starters of Octopus on green bean sauce was excellent, but again we were over-charged for what it is.

The regatta celebrations ended on Sunday and Amalfi took second place while Genoa was the champion. We then took a ferry to Salerno, a quiet port-town with train connections and a small airport, Salerno Costa d'Amalfi Airport. We had booked a night at Hotel Plaza, close to the train station from where we would catch the Salerno Airlink coach to the airport. We also paid a quick visit to the Salerno Cathedral where it is said to house the relics of St. Matthew among other saints. In Salerno, food was considerably less expensive than anywhere we've been. It is actually a good alternative to base oneself in Salerno and see the Amalfi coast on day trips!