AMALFI: our second stop down of the honeymoon down the Amalfi coast

• Length of Stay: 3 nights, 4 days
• Where We Stayed: NH Collection Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi
• Top 2 Favorite Meals: Sensi & Marina Riveria

I still can’t believe it’s been almost an entire year since our Italy and Greece honeymoon (time has flown by!) Jared and I dedicated so much time planning prior to our arrival to Amalfi coast and I can honestly say: we crushed it. For starters, we flew from Orlando to Paris, Paris to Naples – took a cab drive to Positano and then a ferry to Amalfi (after our stay in Positano)

OUR ITALY + GREECE ITINERARY AT A GLANCE:
Fly into Naples, take private cab to Positano
– Positano 2 days, 2 nights
Take ferry to Amalfi 
– Amalfi 4 days, 4 night
Take ferry to Capri
– Capri 5 days, 4 nights
Take ferry back to Naples fly out to Mykonos
– Mykonos, Greece: 4 days, 4 nights
Fly from Greece to France 
– Paris, France 1/2 day, 1 night
Fly home to US out of Paris 

The two days in Positano was such a serotonin rush, we were honestly so shocked at the amount of activities we crammed in the short time we were there (if you didn’t see pt.1 of our honeymoon head there first for everything Positano) and left the picturesque town ready to unwind!
Amalfi was more of our dedicated ‘splurge’ location and the stop that we had planned for relaxation- so needless to say, I was PUMPED. We searched hotels, VRBO, AirBnbs high and low and decided that booking at the NH Grand Hotel di Amalfi suited us best. 
Obviously there’s so many great options while staying in Amalfi, but a few perks we loved about this location in particular: 
The view from the hotel is epic as it literally sits up cliffside overlooking both the mediterranean, the harbor, and the town, the terrace (basically their common area for dining outside) where you can grab a bottomless breakfast also has not only THE best continental breakfast i’ve ever had…but (again) the best breakfast view hands down with tons of lemon trees providing lush canopy overhead, an epic infinity pool, and probably the most attentive and friendly guest services we’ve experienced in our lives, Lol. 

When we checked in, the guest services / front desk personnel asked us what our plans were while we were staying on property– as we briefly reviewed our itinerary, she asked us specifically about dinner reservations for our first night… which just so happened to be the only evening we we’re planning on “winging it”. She insisted on helping us make a reservation locally at the Marina Riveria and wow, we were soooo thankful she did. This location was never a dinner location on our radar and was SUCH a gem of a find – this is us reveling in the beautiful sunset view and our meal from appetizer to dessert was *incredible*– a sweet, unexpected highlight of our stay.

Things to do Amalfi:

• Beach: Marina Grande or Santa Croce 
• Rent Vespa and travel to neighboring towns (we drove our vespa to visit Ravello and Villa Rufulo)
• Fiordo di Furore bridge— an iconic stop to make while you’re on the coast. We made a late morning of it & glad we did because the beach can get busy if traveling during the busy season. Likely one of the cheapest activities we made that trip as it’s free to visit & only a $5 for bus ride there and back to Amalfi. We went into the town to buy food/drinks and brought it along with us so we could have a snack on the pebbled beach. Def rec bringing a towel if you plan on staying a while! 
  **Pro tip: from the road to the beach area it’s quite a few steps down, so we wore sneakers and packed sandals in our backpack to make things easier**
• Explore the town both during the day and at night! We enjoyed doing this after over-indulging in food and shopped around a bit. 

Restaurants/Bars in Amalfi
highly recc making reservations for anything you want to be sure you get in at ahead of time. Basically everything is booked 

• Marina Grande (several Michelin stars) books out quite a bit so will need a resi for any dining experience
• Pizzeria Donna Stella ** lemon grove inside and had the BEST pizza 🍕 
• Pasticceria Savoia – Bakery (local place for gelato) ** no exaggeration, we had this each night after dinner, sooo good!
• Al Cancelletto
• Saint andrea pizzeria 
• Trattoria da Gemma: we initially had reservations here but stumbled upon Pizzeria Donna Stella and just had to try that out. Regardless, we’ve heard amazing reviews!
• Ristorante “Le Arcate” 
• Ristorante Il Teatro 
• Santa Caterina Restaurant 
• L’Abide

OUR DAY BY DAY ITINERARY:

Day 1

• Checked in to our hotel / unpacked 
• Dinner at hotel Marina Riviera , highly recommend especially if you can time it for sunset! Not only incredible food options, but also romantic views and great service– we opted for the seabass, linguine with clams, and their “crispy egg” appetizer
• Snagged Gelato from Savoia
• Explored more of our hotel grounds which included a lemon grove and a ton of fun historical artifacts (the hotel was once an abbey back in the 1200’s)

Day 2

• Rented vespa scooter and drove to Ravello to sight see and shop, then drove to a few other nearby towns for a joy ride– the views were unbelievable and so peaceful!
  • Jared had bought an international license (costs about $20) prior to the trip in case this was needed, but no one ever asked for it when we rented Vespas in Amalfi and ATV’s in Mykonos.

• Relaxed at the hotel pool and enjoyed the pool service till a bit after sunset 
• 7pm Dinner at Sensi (chef’s table/Michelin star) This was hands down our favorite meal of the trip, not only was the service insanely informative & welcoming, but every item we were served had suchhhh unique flavor! If you’re a foodie, def don’t hesitate on this Amalfi gem. We opted for a wine pairing and 6 course dinner & had zero regrets. It was well worth the money spent. At the end of our meal, the manager even took us down to the kitchen to meet the chef & staff— needless to say, they completely executed giving us a memorable experience 🤌🏼

Day 3

• Breakfast at Hotel – my favorite time of the day… I mean you can’t beat the views + vibes here
• Took a quick bus ride to explore Fiordo di Furore beach (beautiful bridge w/ pebble rock beach) a bit of a ride from Amalfi and need to buy your bus tickets down in the square beforehand. We recommend having a back up plan to get home as the buses coming back can be full once they get to the stop at the bridge and they won’t let anyone else get on. We got lucky with a cab stopping to get back to amalfi and make sure to bring lunch/drinks!

• Went to Pizzeria Donna Stella and had the BEST pizza (see photo above)
• Walked and shopped around the Amalfi town plaza
• Enjoyed some after dinner gelato from Savoia

 Day 4

• Travel to Capri via Water Taxi/Ferry, recc’d buying online for 1/2 the price than buying at the stand ahead of time**

Once arriving in Capri to the island’s port depending on where your hotel is located at, find a porta to grab your luggage and take the public gondola (aka the Funicolare, you’ll need to also buy a ticket once arriving here) which will also give an aerial view over the island en route! This is def the most cost effective option but can be a bit chaotic given all of the services asking to assist you coming off the ferry if unexpected (like it was for us, Lol) 

** you WILL need a mask for any public transport in Italy as of 2022**

CAPRI

Capri was personally my most anticipated location to visit because for so many years I had been dying to visit! Honestly, when I think back on capri I think it’s definitely a change of pace compared to the other areas of italy – Capri is lush with gardens and florals everywhere, a fantastic option if looking for luxury/designer shopping, beach clubs, and an overall chill oceanic vibe. 

While a lot of Italy had packed dining options that needed reservations – Capri was probably the most difficult (in our experience) to find dining availability for the nights we left open without resi’s, so definitely be sure to book your dinners in advance!

Things to do Capri: 

• Lookout point Belvedere Cannone – best views
• Beach clubs- we booked at La Fontelina months in advance & def recommend doing the same if you plan on going
• Rent a private boat *** best decision we made (details below)
• Travel to Ana Capri
• Capri Rooftop Lounge for beautiful outdoor views light snacks / drinks
• Explore the Gardens Augustus and its stunning lookout points

Recc Restaurants 

• Il San Pietro- early dinner or lunch (stunning views)
• Caesar August- lunch in Capri
• Da Paolino (lemon grove restaurant)
• Drinks at JK place
• Punta Tragara Hotel
• Lo Sfizio
• La Compannina Ristorante

Day 1 

• Check in to our hotel; we booked at Hotel Sina Flora which was very convenient in it’s location to most things we wanted to do while we were there, but truthfully we weren’t entirely impressed with the hotel itself, but on the same note we didn’t have any major issues either (except they did lose wifi for the majority of our stay, so while it was a small inconvenience, it was nothing major!)
• We arrived that afternoon so we took some time to unpack, find some local wine, and relax. 
• Stumbled upon Capri rooftop lounge for afternoon drinks which ended up being a great area to relax and enjoy the views of the Faraglioni rocks
• Explored the island a bit more and ended up at Punta Tragara Hotel (a 5 star hotel that also overlooks the faraglioni rocks with a super vibey feel on the rooftop. It was great for light snacks and drinks

Day 2

• Relaxed at La Fontelina beach club
  •  arrived early before our lunch resi and checked in around 9:30-10am (had a 3pm resi)
    Beach club hours: 9:30 am – 7:00 pm, but must check in to beach club by 1pm 

Some prices from the beach club:
€36: Entrance with changing rooms, shower, sun mattress or deck chair
€18: Sun umbrella
€18: Sun mattress or deck chair
€10: Beach towel

• Sunset drinks at JK palace, a charming and luxurious hotel to explore through and definitely the most elegant location we ventured to on the island with views of the coastline from their lounge deck.
• Dinner at La Compannina Ristorante – this was our favorite dinner in Capri for sure.

Day 3

• Rented a private boat to finally venture out to the grotto’s and faraglioni rocks with a 7 hour boat ride. We rented through Misal Sorrento Boat charter and cannot recommend this company enough. It’s owned by brothers and our skipper let us navigate the entire day from start to finish that day. The boat was already stalked with drinks, champagne, and snacks to have throughout the day. 

We decided to stop at the blue grotto, we cruised around the entire island and then for lunch we took the boat to Nerano at Ristorante II Cantuccio Nerano- very lively place right on the water that was tons of fun with fresh food!
Total price for this was about 1,100.00 € with a 110 € deposit prior to and a tip as well.

Day 4

• Traveled to Ana Capri (can get there via bus or private taxi): this was recommended to us by quite a few people & turned out to be a low key shopping type of stroll, but in all honesty I probably wouldn’t recc unless you have a surplus of time in Capri. 
• Dinner at Lo Sfizio (great local restaurant with amazing specials and service)

Day 5

• A travel day from Capri to catch out flight out of Naples to Mykonos

The Amalfi coast now holds a near and dear place in our heart and while there’s so many places to visit in the world– we will 100% be returning to relive this trip again!
The remainder of our trip to Greece then Paris will be coming soon. If you have any questions, comments, or places I may have left out– please leave them below