|
May 2018 4 weeks in Italy from Amalfi to Lake Orta
Will try again to post a live trip report on our travels in Italy. Always seem to run out of gas after about 2 weeks but determined to see it thru this time. Any suggestions for places to eat or sights to see as we go along always welcomed.
Basic plan. After 20 years of travel to Italy in the fall, we decided we wanted to see it in the spring. Set up a 4 week trip for May 2017 but had to cancel due to surgery for my wife. All hotels, airlines, car rentals were very kind with cancellations without fees. Rebooked the entire trip for this May. All with the same places to stay except Positano. We like to drive, so entire trip is by road. A few long drives, with lots of short day trips. Itinerary Hoping for warm weather to follow us we decided to start South and work our way North. The plan Fly Atlanta to Rome on Delta Positano—5 nights—Hotel Montemare Umbria—2 nights—Stay with friends at their home Podere Calzone Montalcino—4 nights—Hotel dei Capitani Greve—3 nights—B and B Le Centinelle Florence—2 nights—Hotel Villa Belvedere Piedmont—8 nights at B and Bs in Barolo and countryside between Asti and Acqua Terme Lake Orta—3 nights at B and B Al Dom Fly Milan to Atlanta on Delta After flying from Atlanta to Rome on Delta (thank you Delta for our frequent flier miles), we picked up our rental car from Hertz (unusual over one hour wait for car), and headed South to Positano. Bad news-Discovered we did not have the suction cup for mounting our GPS. Good news—our little brand new Renault Captur had GPS! Bad news—It was already programmed for another city in opposite direction so for 3 hours at every exit she told us in Italian to turn around. (2 days later, stuck in traffic, we finally figured out how to stop the navigation and she quit telling us to turn around!). |
ok, great - thanks for asking us along. So do i gather you are now in Positano? Apart from the hire car horrors how is the trip going? Any highs or lows so far?
Keep it coming! |
I'm on board, and hoping to hear more, sounds like a fabulous trip.
|
I am glad to see that you are gving the Piemonte eight days as there is so much beauty to see. Every day for us there was a delight, uncrowded, beautiful.
|
Thanks for the comments. annhig and Happy Trvlr I have enjoyed both your posts, advice and trip reports for many years!
|
ROME TO POSITANO
Aftrr an uneventful (the best kind) flight, we made thru a really long line at immigration and equally long line at Hertz. We were ticket number 95 and they were on number 70. Unfortunately booking my car thru rentalcars.com did not allow me to use my Hertz No 1 account. But the agent did give us the nicest car she said she had due to being Hertz No. 1 club and the long line. Over the years in driving in Europe, our rental car keeps getting smaller and smaller. No big intermediate cars that are too long to parallel park and too wide for the narrow country roads that we like drive on. So our Renault Captur seems like a good compromise. Amazing gas mileage, fits in small spaces. The trade off is not much trunk space. Rentalscars.com came thru again with a great price, about 23 bucks a day for 27 days. Plus they use first rate rental companies like Hertz. The drive to Positano is pretty easy and so well signed you don’t need GPS. Only about 5 turns and you are there. We had planned to eat at a little restaurant we found a few years ago near Cassino, but our delays made that impossible. So we stopped at first service area on the autostrada/GRA. it’s restaurant was a McDonalds so our first Italian meal in 4 years was a cheeseburger, fries, a beer and wine. Not the culinary experience we were hoping for! It was also crazy crowded on a warm beautiful Sunday afternoon. Our drive on the A1 was great. The arrival of spring was evident with flowers in bloom everywhere and lemons as we got closer to Sorrento. My wife’s father (34th infantry division) and mother (95th evac hospital) both served in this area and we have retraced their steps in previous trips, so this drive is special for us. When you see the series of tall mountains around Cassino it is amazing how the Allied troops succeeded against the Germans. The reality of a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon (and we later learned the middle of a 4 day national holiday) came to a dead stop in Meta near Sorrento. From there to Positano it was bumper to bumper stop and go traffic. Worst we had ever seen. Not only cars to deal with, but double parked cars on the side of the road and people walking down both sides of the road. This did not take away from the unbelievable beauty of the drive along the Amalfi Coast. Truly one of the most scenic car drives in the world. A quick turn into Positano centro and a slow ride down the one oneway street in Positano and we were at the Hotel Montemare. They were already outside assisting guests and our bags we quickly put in our room with a view and the rental car whisked away to a parking garage. We, and what appeared to be the rest of Italy, had arrived in Positano on a perfect Chamber of Commerce afternoon. |
Lucky you to be able to cope with such a journey with equanimity. It's not everyone who could keep their sang froid after their first meal on Italian soil was a McDonald's and they had spent half the day in a traffic jam.
Anyway Benvenuto a Positano! [and I'm longing to find out what "a perfect Chamber of Commerce afternoon" is]. |
Glad you made to Positano through all of that traffic. Following along on your Italy adventure.
|
POSITANO—5 Nights and 4+ days
Hard to describe how beautiful Positano is. Houses on a cliff cascading down into a cobalt blue sea has been a common description. With flowers in bloom everywhere, it was a great time to visit. Our hotel Montemare was our second choice. Alberto California was the plan, but a screwup (by me) left us scrambling for a place in early April. This place was a great find. It deserves its 4 star rating. Sitting on a curve halfway down the only road in town, its views were just what we wanted. Throw in a nice balcony with lounge chairs looking out at the sea and a massive Jacuzzi in an alcove with a direct sea view and we were happy. Staff, Gianluca, Donatella Rosella and others went above and beyond to fill our requests as they did with the other guests. An outdoor restaurant and an outdoor/indoor bar on the roof add to its appeal. Full American and Italian buffet breakfast with eggs and bacon included and the setting outdoors looking at the sea made for a good start each day. With 4 days to visit the area, we planned to explore Positano for a day and a half, then venture out driving for 2 days and perhaps a day boat trip to Capri. |
EXPLORING POSITANO
In our previous trips, we stayed about a mile east of town. This time we were in town, on the west side so we decided to walk down to the beach. The long, windy road seemed like a long walk for my wife. The map showed a short cut pedestrian walkway to the beach that started next to the hotel. This good idea turned bad quickly. Instead of a walkway it was a series on long stretches of vertical steps (353 steps). My wife, who has trouble with steps, was a real trouper and we made our wayslowly down to the beach. Crazy busy scene with lots of families with children on this 80+ degree sunny Sunday late afternoon. After exploring the shops and walking the beach, we stopped at a couple watering holes to people watch. There are about 5 restaurants in a line on the beach for dinner. All seem to offer the same tourist experience. The best is probably Chez Black. We opted for La Cambusa based on some good meals 12-15 years ago. Great seafood, busy place and charming waiters that my wife loved. Not the same today. Almost empty. So we got the best corner table, but disappointed by the experience (All the restaurants are reviewed at end of each section and hopefully followed up with reviews on TripAdvisor (username: guanacay) After dinner and a long day, we made it uphill thru the many sidewalks and shops to the center of town. Including an after dinner drink at the bar at Palazzo Murat. A beautiful hotel with outdoor restaurant and bar in a garden oasis. Definitely worth a stop for a drink and dinner. Took the long taxi ride from center of town, up the opposite side around and then back down to hotel. Great taxi driver, Franco. He explained that the town was besieged by Italians on a four day national holiday. Also advised us that La Cambusa had changed owners a few years ago and replaced all the staff which confirmed our feeling about the place. . |
Originally Posted by annhig
(Post 16723742)
Lucky you to be able to cope with such a journey with equanimity. It's not everyone who could keep their sang froid after their first meal on Italian soil was a McDonald's and they had spent half the day in a traffic jam.
Anyway Benvenuto a Positano! [and I'm longing to find out what "a perfect Chamber of Commerce afternoon" is]. |
Skip - I am reliving our trip to Positano a few years ago. One of the best trips ever and we love the views there. I love to revisit Le Sirenuse in my mind and that view. I look forward to the rest of your report. We are trying to plan future trips and looking for ideas! Enjoy.
|
funny, denisea, I have never heard that phrase before. I can see that it makes sense though.
|
C of C day=
Perfect weather. Makes everyone want to move and live there, ie, good for business. Just about what happened during that 4 day national Holiday in Italy last weekend! |
After sleeping about 12 hours to help overcome our jet lag, we headed out the next day to explore more of Positano. Started with lunch at da Vincenzo. Ristorante that was on our list to visit, only about 100 feet from hotel and also recommended by Franco, our taxi guy the night before. Great food and service and they reserved their outside table with the best view of the water.for us. (Which we were to occasionally glimpse between the nonstop cars, buses and steady stream of tourists walking by.
Then down the winding road into Positano with stops at most of the stores. My wife found plenty to buy, especially clothes for kids and grandkids. Amazingly most of it was “on sale”, two words not usually associated with Positano. Having earning a well deserved break, we stopped in late afternoon to Le Sirenuse for a drink and a perfect view of the water from their bar/restaurant on the pool level. Sirenuse is definitely first class and we enjoyed our stop. (First class perhaps being defined in this instance as having a bidet in each of the men’s bathrooms!) |
Dining in Positano is a challenge, mostly because you have way too many choices for whatever the limited time of your visit. One place our hotel recommended almost 20 years ago was Montepertuso. A small town directly above Positano that has three things for the perfect meal in this area—1, a number of good restaurants in a variety of price ranges, 2, a better view of the water because it is twice high up and most especially, 3, a free pickup and return shuttle for each restaurant (please tip your driver). The efficient staff at the hotel set up the pickup for us and at 730 we were at da Constantino with a table at the window and its the awesome view. (We choose to eat each night starting around 730 only at restaurants with a view. That way, we got to see the sun set over the sea and the town light up for each night. A side benefit of reserving and eating at that “early” time in Italy was always getting a table with the best view.) The food here is simple and good. The real attraction is the view and the wonderful owner who wanders around the tables conversing with guests, helping the waiters and generally dispensing good will. He introduced us to limoncello after dinner 18 years ago and we thank him for it.
|
DAY TRIPS FROM POSITANO
In addition to its natural beauty, Positano has a central location on the Amalfi coast for day trips in either direction. With two more perfect weather days forecast, we planned to go east one day toward Amalfi and Ravello, and west the other day to explore the “lightly” visited tip of the Sorrento peninsula. Driving east thru Praiano, Conca dei Marini to Amalfi is my favorite part of the coast road. Eventually you lose your “flinch factor” and can relax and drive no longer worried about whether you are going to hit the scooter coming out one side of the road, or the pedestrian on the other of the side road as you swerve to avoid the scooter, or simply hit BOTH. With the holiday weekend at its peak for May Day/Workers Day celebration, the scooters were everywhere, the Italian holiday frolickers were walking on both sides of an already narrow road so the trip was slow. Which just meant more time to see the beauty of Amalfi, and for the first time for us, the explosion of color everywhere from the wildflowers to tropical blooming oleanders, hibiscus and bougainvilleas. Plus throw in a few thousand lemon trees with their huge lemons and any speed was fine. |
After creeping thru a tourist jammed Amalfi we made it up the scenic road to Ravello. A favorite hill town for us. The road into the “centro” lead us straight to a parking lot and a short walk up the hill put us in the piazza of the Duomo. Another great people watching place. We explored the few streets in the town, visited the simple Duomo and it was time for lunch. While Rick Steve’s suggestions for places to eat have let me down in the past, his restaurant with a view—Ristorante da Salvatore—was spot on. A dramatic view down the rest of the Amalfi coast and then to the 30 mile stretch of beach running south of Salerno (The landing site of the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943 where my father and mother in law first came ashore in Italy). Hard to image what the town folks of Ravello must of thought that day when they saw hundreds of warships of the Allied navy and tens of thousands of sailors going ashore. Cannot say enough go things about this restaurant. Eaten at 3 other places in Ravello in the past, but this was the best—service, food presentation and quality, and the view. Even cheaper wine prices than expected for an upscale restaurant. (And a much more upscale restaurant than Rick normally recommends)
Our nice 45 minute drive to Ravello turned into a 2 and 1/2 hour crawl back to Positano. Everyone apparently decided to head back to the cities of Italy from their holiday at the same time. Never out of second gear the entire trip. But did witness another of the great “giant tour bus meets giant tour bus on the curve” adventures. Having seen these in the past, they are like a well choreographed Italian opera. Act One, each driver angry points at the other insisting that the other backup. (After all, each driver’s Italian manhood is at stake). Act Two, the drivers exit the buses and meet in the middle on the road to continue the argument with much hand gesturing. Act Three, varies, in this case “our” driver, you get the feeling it is a team sport after awhile, walks behind the other bus and makes all his cars back up. Act Four, “our” driver now returns to the middle space and politely informs the other driver he can now back up. We watch the other bus back up, and then cheer as we triumphantly inch forward at 2 miles an hour past the defeated bus driver and his “losing” team! How can one not love Italy ���� |
Oops. My Italian flag emoji at the end of the last post came out as 4 question marks. If I could edit, it would be 4 exclamation points instead.
|
The best way to recover from “the crawl from Ravello” was to stop short of Positano for a cocktail hour on the Terrace bar at I’ll San Pietro. Our favorite place in Positano where we were lucky to stay 3 times. Their outdoor Terrace bar is a beautiful setting overlooking Positano and it main beach at world class resort. Service and attention to detail as always. Even had a nice conversation with a one of the managers about why we weren’t staying here as we had in the past. When we to.d him we were retired and on a different budget, he gave us his card, smiled and said “ call me before you come next time”.Turns out he is the reservation manager and we are keeping his card in a safe place. Perhaps he will ale us an offer we can’t refuse.
Worn out by the day’s events, and having had a big lunch in Ravello, we decided a small simple dinner and early turnin would be perfect for the night. Close to our hotel is Fornillo’s, a simpler restaurant suggested, unsolicited, by 2 of our taxi drivers as the place to go if ”we just wanted a pizza”. We went early. Got a nice table with another postcard view and once again watched Positano turn from day to night as we ate pretty crappy pizza. Mark this place off the list. |
Author’s mea culpa. As I reread some posts, I can’t seem to avoid some misspellings, misconjugations, etc. Sorry for those. Hope no English teachers are grading my poor typing and
proofreading skills. |
DAY TRIP 2 FROM POSITANO
12 years ago we discovered the less traveled tip ofthe Sorrento peninsula and its quaint small beach town Marina del Cantone. (We live on the beach on a small out island in the Bahamas, so anytime we can find small towns, beaches and boating activity, we are happy). The road to here goes along the coast, then goes up thru St Agata on the spine on the peninsula and then back thru Nerano down a very winding road into Marina. Small beach, dock, a few boats and couple hotels with restaurants. Last time we ate a great seafood meal at Il Canticcio. It was under repair so we ate at TA well reviewed La Sirene. Great choice. Another table by the window to watch the quiet beach action and coming and going on the water. Wonderful seafood and staff. Owner told us that in off season there are only something like 27 people in the town. Small and simple is what we like and this was just what we were looking for. Our plan for the trip back was to continue to follow the coast road back north around the peninsula until we got to Sorrento. We wentthru a number of small towns including Termini, Marciano, Massa Lubrense (where a wrong turn down a one way street going the wrong way caused all the old men on the town square bench to jump up in unison and inform us of our mistake), then Villazano and to the outskirts of Sorrento. Mostly dead reckoning while watching the road on the GPS map. ( By the time our American language Garmin was up and functioning as we had finally found the suction cup in the deep recess of one of our suitcases). So glad we did this trip.. The towns were not very interesting but the large houses and well landscaped properties along the water were great. All with views of Capri which seemed close enough to touch. Coupled with the continuing perfusion of wildflowers, it made our decision to come to Italy in the spring the right choice for us. Turned up the mountain before Sorrento and retraced our route back to Positano with another nice ride along a very “unbusy” Amalfi coast to finish the road trip. |
Short hiatus in trip report. Left iPad with our friends in Umbria.
Being returned tomorrow. Stuck with tiny iPhone keyboard and hotel with Crazy slow internet. So starting back tomorrow Brief preview— Umbria great Montalcino wonderful as ever Tourists pretty much disappeared |
Enjoying your report! Thanks for your dedication to sharing your experiences.
|
Loving this and looking forward to more!
|
On to Greve!
|
Thanks Happy T. We just got to Greve. But need to bring the report forward which is in process now that iPad has arrived.
|
Too much fun in Tuscany so no reporting. We are taking it slower in Piemonte, so finally so trip reporting.
|
POISTANO LAST DAY
After our day trip to the tip of the Sorrento peninsula, we decided on Ristorante Mirage for dinner. Rated in top ten for Positano. It was another dinner with a view, located at the top of Hotel Posa Posa. Just a short walk from our hotel. Good not great food, but we enjoyed it very much. A sudden wind and brief rainstorm sent our servers expertly and quickly into action moving our tables from the edge of the terrace to a more covered place. Our last morning started at 4am with a light and sound show from a thunderstorm. Horizontal rain came pouring into the room from the open doors to the sea. Our 4 days of perfect weather was over. So was our trip to Capri. So we decided to turn lemons into lemonade, or more accurately in Positano into limoncello, and spend more time exploring the city. Went to the 3 stores we hadn’t been to. Found a few things to help stimulate the Italian economy and then sat down for a great lunch at Max’s. Food may have been best of the trip. Definitely more economy stimulating here—Max is not shy about his prices. We visited Church of S. Maria Assunta at the beach. Main church in town and worth a visit. Another stop at our favorite watering hole Palazzo Murat and we were ready to go back up the hill for dinner. La Terra sits near the very top of mountain above Positano and may have the best view of all. Food was great. Weather cooperated enough so we could see the sea. Once the van service worked to perfection. Can’t say enough about this service provided by all the restaurants high on the hill. |
POSITANO—HIGHS AND LOWS
Loved our stay here. As I said at the start, hard to describe the beauty of this place. Unfortunately a common drawback of such a place is that it is overrun with tourists. Not just those on Italian holiday weekend, but during the week also. The day trippers on buses, the cruise ship passengers, etc. More than one of our taxicab drivers, who all seem to assume the role of tour director, commented on the change in Positano Hotel—Montemare was great, especially as a last minute fill in. I think we would have preferred the HotelCalifornia for its location, better, view, a little better and price (half) and will probably try it next time. Many of the best restaurants are nearby Restaurants (Reviewed or to be review on TripAdvisor under guanacay) Seafood is the star here. 9out of 9seafood meals. Quick rating system of the restaurants GO HERE Da Vincenzo—Very good food and service. Spaghetti vongole very good. My wife’s pasta with zucchini was even better. Max—-best food we had at almost twice the price. Restaurant/art gallery. Exceptional service. My wife’s lasagna was perfect and perfect portion, not a giant clop of pasta overfilling a plate. My seafood risotto was cooked and seasoned perfectly. Amazing amount of seafood. Grilled prawns to start and chocolate soufflé to finish. Great wine, but wine listed a bit overpriced. La Terra—up the mountain with super view, Again great service and food. Waiter suggested the fresh red snapper and we had it prepared two ways. Salad, fresh peas/the pods and their special chocolate dessert made for a great evening. Their local wine was very reasonably priced. |
Sorry to interrupt but annhig - though of you during the Royal Wedding over the weekend....One of the reporters called it a "Chamber of Commerce Day in Windsor" because of the spectacular weather!
We loved Positano but visited in September - it could be busy but it wasn't awful. We stayed way up top which also kept us out of the crowds. Looking forward to more about Tuscany. |
Sorry to interrupt but annhig - though of you during the Royal Wedding over the weekend....One of the reporters called it a "Chamber of Commerce Day in Windsor" because of the spectacular weather!>>
that's funny denisea - of course for the bits we watched [at the request of visitors for whom we had recorded it, else we wouldn't have bothered] we got the BBC commentary, augmented by my DD's sardonic comments. No mention of "Chamber of Commerce Days" there. |
I’m thinking about staying at Palazzo Murat, any ideas on how that would compare to the other 2 accommodations you have mentioned?
|
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:18 PM. |