It took me a while to go through the thousands of photos but I’m excited to finally share a glimpse into our time spent in Amalfi Coast and Rome! It was such a dreamy time. We were completely wonderstruck by all of the beauty and fully immersed ourselves in the laidback Italian lifestyle, which was our cup of tea.
We got incredibly lucky with the weather, too. When we checked weather apps leading up to our flight and in the first few days, it was saying showers/lightening/lots of clouds throughout our trip in each destination. We were slightly nervous, but what we learned is that you can’t rely on the weather forecast as it changes so quickly there. We had 1 rainy evening in Como and 1 misty morning in Positano, but other than that… blue skies and pure sunshine!
This was our plan: 3 days in Positano, 3 days in Praiano, back to Positano for 3 day, and Rome for 3 days. I will chat a bit about this at the bottom of the post as we would do things differently next time. We left booking hotels semi-last minute as wedding planning was quite a hefty load, so tip: book hotels in advance! Kind of an obvious, I know.
After Lake Como, we took a train to Naples and then hired a driver to take us to Hotel Poseidon in Positano. The drive once we reached the coast was simply breathtaking. I said this on Instagram upon arrival, but there’s absolutely no way a photo can ever do this place justice. You have to see it to believe it! It is completely and utterly surreal. Once we checked in, we grabbed a glass of wine on the pool terrace overlooking the most cheerful colorful coastline, and felt like the luckiest honeymooners! For dinner that evening, we walked right down the road to Da Vincenzo, which came highly recommended by many and turned out to be one of our favorite meals of the trip. We actually ended up going twice on the second leg of Positano!
On our first full day, we hopped on a boat to Arienzo beach club. It was an idyllic day. We got front row chairs on the shoreline, ordered spritzes (Hugo forev), had many dips in the ocean, and had the most delicious lunch. It was the perfect day. I fell in love with mussel linguine on our trip and crave it weekly now, by the way…
A lot of people and travel guides talk about Da Adolfo, but I felt like trying a spot I hadn’t seen/heard about everywhere. Arienzo was so cute and charming, had a rock you could climb up and jump off of, and the food was divine. We actually ended up doing a second day here, too on that second leg I mentioned. It was just that lovely!
On the third day, we hired a private boat to take us to Capri. Our driver showed us around all of the different Grottos and then we pulled up to a charming little restaurant/beach club along the shore of the island called Da Luigi Capri for lunch. The food here was delicious and it was such a stunning setting. I felt like we were in a movie set… highly recommend it!
That evening we went to Zass for dinner, the Michelin star restaurant at Il San Pietro hotel. It was fantastic… and the setting was giving me heart palpitations. They had a cellist and a pianist whos music was echoing through the dining room. The candles flickering and dim ambiance was as romantic as can be. The full moon was shining––making the ocean glimmer in the most beautiful way. And the food, as expected, was 10/10. They start you off with the fluffiest slice of pizza, too, so we knew we were in for a real treat. Definitely go here next time you’re in town. It’s special.
{ dinner at Zass }
The next day we took a car over to our next destination: Casa Privata in Praiano. Also known as, HEAVEN ON EARTH. I am sure you collected this from my feed and stories, but this was the highlight of our trip. It was just so serene, beautiful, relaxing, and private… our ideal vacation hideaway. We loved Positano, it was so new and exciting, but what we picked up by the third day when spending more time walking around, was it is just extremely touristy. I had no idea that the whole town shuts down in the winter! It was fun to see and experience for sure, but it was a little bit different than what I expected.
On the other hand, which backed my feelings further ––Casa Privata was magic. It just felt so special being there, like we never wanted to leave. Down to every last detail honestly and the funniest part? It was the cheapest hotel we stayed at the whole trip but by far the best! The food and drinks were top-notch, the views even better… and the rooms/property were insanely charming… a design-lovers dream. I’m not kidding, we were there for 20 minutes finishing our delicious welcome drinks and I asked them if we could extend our stay. They were unsurprisingly booked, though…
We spent all three days on the property and loved every second. We would wake up and have coffee and breakfast on their beautiful tree-covered patio, soak up the sun on our sunbeds along the rocky cliffside, and would order lunch down to enjoy seaside (mainly Caprese salad and clam linguine, our Italian diet). And then in the late afternoons, we would shower and freshen up, head down to the terrace for Hugo spritz’ and a game of Uno or Rummy. After the sun began to set, we’d walk into town for dinner (loved Kasai and Casa Angelina both so much)… it was the best, you guys. I will never forget this beautiful place. Ugh, I miss it already! We have already talked about when we can make our next trip to stay here… it was pure bliss.
{ dinner at Casa Angelina }
{ dinner at Kasai }
So here are my thoughts on planning an Amalfi Coast trip. If you haven’t been to Positano and really want to experience it, I would say you only need 2-3 nights. We won’t stay in Positano again ourselves, just because we did 6 nights and that was more than enough for us. We would much prefer staying in a town that feels less touristy, like Praiano or Ravello… and make day trips to other places we want to see. Casa Privata was a 15 min drive or water taxi to Positano, so in hindsight, we wish we would have stayed there for 6-8 nights. I’ll bounce around less next time, too. Having one home base in an area is just easier.
After our last breakfast in Praiano, we hired a water taxi to take us back to Positano. We stayed at Covo Dei Sercani, which we liked, but everything in our eyes had big shoes to fill after our last wonderful experience haha. We ended up trying Chez Black that evening which was pretty good (nothing to rave about to be honest). The next day we decided to go back to Arienzo because we loved it so much, the vibes are just so good. That night we went to La Tagliata for dinner, which is super well-known and loved. DEFINITELY come very hungry! Just know that there are like 5 big courses. They bring out little platters of different loaves of bread, appetizers, an assortment of pasta, meats, and then desserts. It was intense but certainly tasty and worth it! Everything was homecooked and delicious.
For our last day in Positano, we decided to hang at the pool and relax before our trip to Rome the next morning. This is the night we decided to do Da Vincenzo again because it was the best. We really wanted to go to Ravello for the day, but it was too hot and we felt like it was better to stay waterside. Next time for sure!
For our travel plans, we were either going to taxi and train to Rome or hire a driver for the whole route. We decided on the latter as the driving company mentioned that they could do a fun pitstop and sent us over a list of things we could do on the way. One in which appealed to us! A wine tasting at Tenuta San Francesco… majorly good reviews, and well… we will always say yes to a good wine tasting opportunity. It was fantastic. The owner himself showed us a tour of the property and their 500-year-old grapevines. The wines were all so good, in fact, we ordered a case and had it sent back to us in San Francisco. Highly recommend visiting! It’s close to Ravello, so if you stay there, it could be a fun day trip!
We arrived at our hotel in Rome, Palazzo Dama, which was lovely. The few days we spent there, we mainly walked around exploring historical monuments and eating our way through the city. A few favorites of note: Grazia & Graziella (so cute and delicious for lunch), Emma (went there the first night for pizza and it was so good!), Roscioli for pasta, Dar Poeta for pizza, Lela Casa (cute home shop), Sant’Eustachio for coffee (if you have a sweet tooth like me, order the Romeo & Juliet and the pistachio croissant), Gelateria del Viale for gelato (by far the best I tried! I didn’t love the popular spot Giolitti), Roma Sparita for dinner, Enotoca Trastevere for wine, and Taverna Trilussa for dinner. I’m hungry now…
It was such a great trip! If you have any questions at all, feel free to send them my way! xx
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So lovely, and thank you for sharing!! I’m planning a trip as well and going to use lots of these tips. Do you mind sharing who you used for the private boat tour from Positano to Capri, as well as the private driver from the coast back to Rome where you stopped for the wine tasting?? Thanks!
Everything sounds and looks amazing! I have Italy on my list for next year and I will def. use your posts as guides. Thank you!
Hi Ashley! Do you remember how you got a driver for your trip? I think we might try to go this summer and I’m taking notes on everywhere you went!
Hi, Ashley! Thank you so much for sharing your recommendations. My fiancé and I are planning our honeymoon to the Amalfi coast later in the summer and this is a huge help as it seems we have really similar travel styles! How did you find the private driver and was that a big hit to the wallet? Doing some research and want to make sure we use one reputable. Thanks so much!