Exploring the amalfi coast

We love Italy and had a week free free to travel so we set about looking for a few days break along the Amalfi coast and it did not disappoint.

We flew out of London Stanstead on a 7am flight, its to 2 hour 45 minutes to reach Naples with Jet 2 and we booked a late flight back with Ryanair to fully get the most out of our trip.  On arrival we were picked up by our hotel and taken on a trip never to be forgotten along the stunning cliff top edge of the Amalfi coast down into Praiano which was our base for the week, a gorgeous fishing town, Praiano is a town in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southwest Italy. It is situated on the Amalfi Coast, between the towns of Amalfi and Positano, just 2000 people live here.

Hotel Bella Vista:
Is located in the picturesque village on the Amalfi Coast, Praiano: an ancient fishing village, a few minutes walk from the center, among lemon and olive groves, the hotel overlooks a picturesque bay, facing the Faraglioni and the island of Capri, creating a breathtaking spectacle at sunset.

The hotel has 18 sunny rooms with private bathroom, terrace / balcony and sea view looking out to the Island of Capri. Each room, painted like a watercolor, recalls the colors of the flowers that embrace the terraces: bougainvillea, hibiscus and geraniums, In the restaurant you can enjoy local dishes of Campania cuisine, flavors and delicacies served on the beautiful terrace-garden overlooking the cobalt blue bay.

From the terrace you can admire, in the bay below, Torre di Grado: a Saracen tower to defend the country during the era of the Republic of Amalfi. Here guests can dive into the crystal clear waters and snorkel.

In addition to relaxing and sunbathing in the warm sun when it did come out it is possible to discover and visit the many villages of the Coast, such as Amalfi, an ancient maritime republic, with its limoncello shops, Ravello with its flower gardens and the famous concerts at Villa Rufolo, Positano with its colorful houses arranged one above the other, like bunches of grapes, Sorrento, a town full of craft shops, Pompeii with its excavations......

Trekking lovers can, instead, walk through narrow and long paths that climb through vineyards overlooking the sea in search of suggestive views and sunsets: one of them is the Path of the Gods, which begins right in Praiano, near the hotel.

Before we travelled I did a bit of research and actually did not know much about Pompei so we watched the film to get an understanding of what happened to this amazing historical place and took a trip to the city from our hotel, Pompei is a in southern Italy’s Campania region overlooked by the active volcano at Vesuvius. It’s known for its ancient city, Pompeii, which was buried by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Ruins here include the frescoed Villa of the Mysteries and the city's amphitheater. In town, the Catholic pilgrimage site of the Sanctuary of the Madonna of the Rosary has mosaics and a grand cupola, after watching the film it was quite strange standing in the grounds, especially the theatre where those gladiators went to battle.

The Amalfi coast is a stunning place to visit if you do not mind heights with some hair raising cliff top views, we were going to hire a car before we left for Italy but the roads are so narrow and busy and parking is a nightmare so we used the public bus and did a lot of walking, however on the last day we did something impulsive and well out of our comfort zone and hired a Vesper, oh my god I loved it but Lisa hated it, taking on the bending roads and cliff top edges as well as 50 seat busses with crazy Italian drivers was an experience I will never forget.  well worth the 55 euro to hire one for the day!

There is so much to see in this part of Italy and it is a bucket list adventure we really enjoyed. As football fans it was great to experience the city who's home town team is Napoli, they have just won the Italian league, Napoli fans are one of the most hostile in the world to visiting fans but there passion for the team is unrivalled, the local authorities have decked the city out in flags, banners and are having a 4 week party that will end in a huge firework display and street party when they parade the trophy through the streets of Naples in a few weeks time.