The Amalfi Coast was my last real blast of summer. After my time there, I made my way North (I’m now in beautiful Wales), my tan faded and I started wearing long pants. But even after a summer as long and as beautiful as the one I’ve had, I was still so appreciative of the (mostly) great weather on the coast.
I spent three nights each in Sorrento and Positano, and I made daytrips to Pompeii (totally amazing!), Mount Vesuvius (slightly less exciting) and the town of Amalfi. I also hiked the totally gorgeous Path of the Gods which winds through the mountains looking down on the coast.
For Sorrento I was staying in a big hostel in a small town that was one stop away from Sorrento on the little old train they have running all the way between Naples and Sorrento. Sant Agnello, where I stayed, was the second to last stop on the line, and there wasn’t really much in the town besides a restaurant, a bar, a supermarket, a couple hotels, and the nicest hostel (in terms of facilities) I stayed in on my trip. It was huge, spacious, had fierce air conditioning and ample storage, and very modern facilities…it was like staying in a shared hotel room. After a really bad experience in hostels in Rome, I was very relieved to have a clean room.
Not that I was there much. I spent most of my time in the town of Sorrento (which is very picturesque), exploring the small streets packed with stores and restaurants and enjoying the view from the lookout points. I’d met a nice German couple in Rome and we ended up hanging out in Sorrento as well! They were also vegetarians and we had a delicious meal at a vegetarian restaurant and enjoyed one of the several great ice cream places in Sorrento.
Then I was off to Positano, which I liked a bit better. Sorrento is beautiful, but it’s very touristy. Positano is touristy too, but the way it’s built into the cliff face means you have stunning views from wherever you are (Sorrento is built up on top of the cliff so you kind of have to seek the views out a bit) and it’s such a magical place with its twisty windy roads and adorable little in-town shuttle bus and all the hundreds of steps up and down to get from one road to another or to get to the beach. My hostel didn’t have as great facilities, but it had a huge balcony with stunning views and a great big wooden table where all the guests would gather so it was so easy to make friends.
By sheer coincidence, some friends from home were in Positano on my first day! It was lovely to see friendly faces and we spent a nice day at the beach and having food and wine on the balcony at their great bed and breakfast room. One of the other days, I took the bus (which whips around corners beeping its horn – such a fun experience) up to the start of the Path of the Gods and had such a nice morning hiking through the mountains enjoying the gorgeous views. We saw a herd of mountain goats with an adorable sheepdog herding them around, as well as a big beautiful horse whose owner was a hilarious shirtless old man who spoke very little English. After tackling the 1700 (yes, 1700) steps down (walking downstairs is harder than it seems!!!) we were exhausted and sweaty, but it was such a good walk.
All in all, I had a great few days relaxing on the coast. It was a great break in between my time in Rome and Venice.
Favourites: not many to name for the Amalfi coast! It’s mostly just small restaurants and to be honest I didn’t pay much attention to their names. And there was only one hostel in each city: Seven Hostel in Sant Agnello and Hostel Brikette in Positano. And I loved the vegetarian restaurant Mondo Bio in Sorrento.
