Positano + Capri, Italy

In my most recent post (you can read it here) I talked about part one of our 2 week trip to Europe this past October. We spent a week in Greece and then a week in Italy. I felt like it was going to be the world’s lengthiest post if I tried to recap both places in one blog, so I broke them up in two parts. Today, I’m recapping our week in the paradise that is southern Italy!

We had been to Italy once before, about 2 years ago (you can read about that trip here). We did Florence, Cinque Terre (where we got engaged!) & Rome. Ever since then, I have been itching to go back. Italy has such a magical spirit to it and I just want to experience it over and over again. I also feel like you could go to Italy 10 times and have a completely different experience each time you go. There are beaches, islands, the country side, vineyards, ancient cities with so much history… it offers everything. I picture it being really similar to someone traveling here and having completely different tastes of America depending on if they went to California, NYC, Hawaii, Alaska, or Colorado. Each one has such different characteristics than the next and thats what makes Italy so fun to travel. Wow, that was a tangent. Can you tell I’m obsessed with this place? ANYWAYS.

POSITANO

We flew from Santorini to Naples, Italy. We then got a taxi from Naples to Positano, which was our personal choice. We heard there were busses that were cheaper, but getting into Positano is not done via wide open roads. Once you get into the region of the Amalfi coast, the roads are tight, narrow, and hugging the edge of the mountain. We figured we’d be much more comfortable with a taxi and our B&B host recommend it too, so long as we agreed on a fixed rate for the ride (otherwise they can charge you an arm and a leg). Once we got to Positano, I was as giddy as a kid in Disneyland. In fact, that’s exactly what I would compare it to! A magical place, full of people from all over the world (not annoyingly crowded though), fun restaurant environments with singers/drummers/accordion players walking through the restaurants taking song requests, marching bands walking down the street, and more gelato places than necessary. We actually were visiting both Italy & Greece at the end of their peak season. We purely lucked out with perfect weather in Greece, but Positano wasn’t as warm. The 3 days we were there, it was on & off raining. Usually, we’d maybe be bummed about the rain on vacation, but it actually was so nice. We relaxed, walked around in the rain, explored many little shops + restaurants, and got down to the beach when the sun would come out for a few hours. I definitely think Positano is best experienced in warmer weather, but we still loved our time there.

STAY

Venus Inn B & B

EAT

Lunch/Dinner: II Fornillo – cannot recommend this place enough! We ate here every single day for either lunch or dinner. Such a fun environment, great service, and theee best food.
Chez Black
Breakfast: Caffe Positano
Gelato & coffee… anywhere!

DO

Rent a spot/chair @ the Positano beach
Take a boat ride down the Amalfi coast
Spend a day at Spiaggia de Fornillo (smaller beach)
Take a cooking class
RELAX!

CAPRI

Capri was our final stop on our trip. This island is known for being very high end and very expensive. I don’t think we were quite aware of just how expensive the shopping and restaurants were until we got there. The downtown area is like a Beverly Hills on water- allllll the high end stores you could ever imagine. Personally, we aren’t that into any of that, so we weren’t interested in that aspect of Capri. What we were interested in was the beaches & water! We stayed in the Capri Wine Hotel and would definitely recommend it. The rooms are beautiful, the service is amazing, and they have an extensive breakfast served every morning on their vineyard. It was perfect for us. It took us a bit to get well-oriented with the island and once we did so, we realized we were staying on the opposite side of where we wanted to be. Capri is divided up in two regions, and we were on the side farthest from the things we wanted to do. Wbasically had 1 full day there, and were soo glad we spent it at La Fontelina — aka heaven on earth!

La Fontelina is a restaurant & beach club on the rocks in Capri. You can rent a bed or a beach chair for the day and have a cocktail server assigned to your area. The views are absolutely incredible! The water was literally kool-aid blue and so warm. We laid out the entire day with spritz’s & pizza in hand. We could spend a week straight in Capri doing exactly this! It was the last full day of our trip and the best way to spend it!