Sorrento & the Amalfi Coast

After Tuscany, the next must-see place was the southern coast – we stayed in Sorrento, a good base for the daytrips to Pompei (gets its own blog post) and the Amalfi Coast.

Sorrento is a cute seaside town that is a little tricky to get to – after long train rides to Naples through Rome & Orvieto, there is another hour-long train ride on a commuter train system to Sorrento – and then a bus ride to the hill with hotels. The views and the town are worth the effort.

Sorrento
Sorrento is a cute seaside town with great views and great food. View from our room:

Views on the walk from our hotel to town:

In town:

Amalfi
We took an hour-long bus ride to get to the town of Amalfi – the views on the ride were unbelievable, although it was a bit of a harrowing ride.

The Amalfi Cathedral (Saint Andrew’s Cathedral)

A series of narrow, winding roads,

With more breathtaking views:

Amalfi, later that day on our way back to Sorrento:

Ravello

Ravello is another 30-minute bus ride past Amalfi. It’s a small, very picturesque village with a main square, villas, vineyards, and ocean views. We took a gorgeous, relaxing stroll through the town – we definitely want to come back some day.

We went to Villa Cimbrone, an absolutely indulgent residence and grounds – It has been in existence and lived in since the 11th century, but many of the structures are more recent. The following 5 pictures are of the villa, gardens, and pavilions:

Blog foible: This one is sideways. I tried all manner of solutions to turn it the right way, but Blogger wants to keep it sideways, so sideways it will stay.

Indulgent villa indeed.

Overall, the Amalfi Coast reminded us in a few ways of Cinque Terre – though they had their differences. Cinque Terre is a protected national park, so there are big areas of undeveloped forests. Also, there is no new construction, so only the original old towns are there. There are also very few streets between the 5 towns, so you have to hike in town, and between the towns - there is a train that has a stop in each town if the trails are rained out or if you want to save yourself some hiking. In general, the feel is more about nature and hiking. The Amalfi Coast, on the other hand, seems bigger and grander in most ways – the mountains are higher, there are bigger/newer buildings, and roads, cars, & mopeds. There is more of a glitzy, glamorous (and expensive) feel around town.
Both have unbelievable coastal & mountain views. Take your pick.