Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)
A separate post for my honeymoon review - Sorry it is so long!
We flew from JFK to Milan for a connection to Naples. At the Naples airport, a car picked us up and took us to Positano. One suggestion - if you are at all prone to motion sickness, take Dramamine. The roads there a windy and I almost thaw up! We used Autonegglio for the private car transfers while on the coast - They were great. The transfers are expensive but worth it - You really don't want to try to drive on the mountain roads -
In Positano, there are several wonderful hotels. The two most famous are Le Sirenuse which is right in town (it was actually featured in the movie 'Only You' w/Marissa Tomei) and the San Pietro which is just outside of town (they provide a free on-demand shuttle 24hrs a day to town). We stayed at the San Pietro and OMG it was absolutely amazing. They have a website - I believe it is www.ilsanpietro.it. The pictures on the website don't even do it justice. The hotel is built into the side of a mountain and there are gardens EVERYWHERE. There's a private beach, pool and lots of other amenities. The room was incredible as was the entire staff. We ended up upgrading rooms and it was worth the extra money. We even had a view of the coast/water from the bathroom! All rates included breakfast either at the hotel restaurant or in your room (on the patio overlooking the sea - amazing!). We stayed there for 4 nights. I saw the Sirenuse when I went into town. It looked very nice but not quite as nice as the San Pietro. If you are really concerned about being right in the middle of the action, it would be good. I definitely would recommend the San Pietro though, probably over the Sirenuse but, of course, I didn't stay there so I can't say for sure. Also - there is a restaurant way above town called Donna Rosa's. You have to take a taxi up but you must go - The food was awesome!
From Positano, we headed over to the isle of Capri. You can take a hydrofoil (fast ferry) from Sorrento (about 30-40min drive from Positano back towards Naples). It cost around $12pp. There are also boats from Positano and Amalfi but they don't run if the sea is rough. On Capri, we stayed at the Grand Quisisana. It was right in the middle of town and I mean right in the middle. Too noisy and crowded for my taste. There were always tours outside or just inside the lobby. The restaurant wasn't too good there (if there is such a thing as just okay food in Italy). Our room had a funny smell, leaking toilet and was overlooking the Piazetta (main street). At night, there was loud music coming from a club across the street. You really couldn't open the windows at all because it was too noisy. The Quisisana is one of two five-star hotels on Capri but there are some much, much nicer four-star hotels. I would recommend the La Scalinatela (only 30 rooms!) or the Punta Traga (this one overlooks the famous 'rocks' off the coast - I forget what they're called right now). I also heard that the Villa Brunella is nice. All of these hotels are slightly off the beaten path but only a 5min walk to the main square. They are also much more charming. If you decide to stay at the Quisisana, definitely request an upgraded room on the garden/pool side. We stayed here for three nights - plenty of time for Capri.
From Capri, we took a boat over to Amalfi. A taxi picked us up to take us to the Palazzo Sasso in Ravello. OMG - What a hotel! Only about 38 rooms or so and Ravello is a mountain town overlooking the coast. It was so beautiful! The staff at the Palazzo Sasso was absolutely amazing. They sent us champagne, muffins and apricots as soon as we got there and every night you got a bottled water with a little tag that said 'Buono Notte' (goodnight) attached, a box of chocolates and a little card with the weather forecast for the next day. On our last night they left us a little gift with a 'thank you for staying' card attached - a little bottle of Limoncelli liquor and two little ceramic cups all wrapped up in cellophane. They were so charming. The terraces and pools were gorgeous. There were even two rooftop hot tubs. Breakfast and lunch were served outside on one of their many balconies. They had a lounge with beautiful artwork where you could get drinks and every night they had a pianist that would come and play/sing for a few hours. The rooms were big and beautiful.They have a website too - I think it is www.palazzosasso.it. The town of Ravello is so charming but there really aren't too many great hotels there - This was definitely the nicest there. Ravello was very mellow so it was a good end to our stay on the coast. We stayed there for three nights but I loved the hotel so much that I could've stayed longer.
From Ravello, we took a car to the Naples train station and took a train up to Rome. Rome was awful. The car never showed up at the train station to pick us up. We had reservations at the Hotel De La Ville Intercontinental. It was not nice at all. The Hassler next door was much nicer. They tried to give me a room on the first floor - When you looked out the window, there was someone's office window literally right on top of you with just a big barrel of cement in-between. I went back to the desk and requested a room change. They were SO nasty! They ended up giving me a room on the third floor but it still was horrible. Tiny and dingy - yuck. The hotel was undergoing renovation so it smelled like paint/chemicals. Every time I rode in the elevator I'd get dizzy. I am really glad we only had two nights there - None at all would've been better. We then took a flight back to JFK from Rome.
I would definitely recommend booking the hotels about a year in advance. They are all tiny so they book up quick. We booked in early February for a late Sept. early Oct. trip and we had a bit of trouble. We could only get certain nights at the San Pietro, some hotels on Capri were already booked and we could only get a mountain view room at the Palazzo Sasso.
This honeymoon was just amazing! The Amalfi Coast is probably one of the most romantic places in the world! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask -![]()
We flew from JFK to Milan for a connection to Naples. At the Naples airport, a car picked us up and took us to Positano. One suggestion - if you are at all prone to motion sickness, take Dramamine. The roads there a windy and I almost thaw up! We used Autonegglio for the private car transfers while on the coast - They were great. The transfers are expensive but worth it - You really don't want to try to drive on the mountain roads -
In Positano, there are several wonderful hotels. The two most famous are Le Sirenuse which is right in town (it was actually featured in the movie 'Only You' w/Marissa Tomei) and the San Pietro which is just outside of town (they provide a free on-demand shuttle 24hrs a day to town). We stayed at the San Pietro and OMG it was absolutely amazing. They have a website - I believe it is www.ilsanpietro.it. The pictures on the website don't even do it justice. The hotel is built into the side of a mountain and there are gardens EVERYWHERE. There's a private beach, pool and lots of other amenities. The room was incredible as was the entire staff. We ended up upgrading rooms and it was worth the extra money. We even had a view of the coast/water from the bathroom! All rates included breakfast either at the hotel restaurant or in your room (on the patio overlooking the sea - amazing!). We stayed there for 4 nights. I saw the Sirenuse when I went into town. It looked very nice but not quite as nice as the San Pietro. If you are really concerned about being right in the middle of the action, it would be good. I definitely would recommend the San Pietro though, probably over the Sirenuse but, of course, I didn't stay there so I can't say for sure. Also - there is a restaurant way above town called Donna Rosa's. You have to take a taxi up but you must go - The food was awesome!
From Positano, we headed over to the isle of Capri. You can take a hydrofoil (fast ferry) from Sorrento (about 30-40min drive from Positano back towards Naples). It cost around $12pp. There are also boats from Positano and Amalfi but they don't run if the sea is rough. On Capri, we stayed at the Grand Quisisana. It was right in the middle of town and I mean right in the middle. Too noisy and crowded for my taste. There were always tours outside or just inside the lobby. The restaurant wasn't too good there (if there is such a thing as just okay food in Italy). Our room had a funny smell, leaking toilet and was overlooking the Piazetta (main street). At night, there was loud music coming from a club across the street. You really couldn't open the windows at all because it was too noisy. The Quisisana is one of two five-star hotels on Capri but there are some much, much nicer four-star hotels. I would recommend the La Scalinatela (only 30 rooms!) or the Punta Traga (this one overlooks the famous 'rocks' off the coast - I forget what they're called right now). I also heard that the Villa Brunella is nice. All of these hotels are slightly off the beaten path but only a 5min walk to the main square. They are also much more charming. If you decide to stay at the Quisisana, definitely request an upgraded room on the garden/pool side. We stayed here for three nights - plenty of time for Capri.
From Capri, we took a boat over to Amalfi. A taxi picked us up to take us to the Palazzo Sasso in Ravello. OMG - What a hotel! Only about 38 rooms or so and Ravello is a mountain town overlooking the coast. It was so beautiful! The staff at the Palazzo Sasso was absolutely amazing. They sent us champagne, muffins and apricots as soon as we got there and every night you got a bottled water with a little tag that said 'Buono Notte' (goodnight) attached, a box of chocolates and a little card with the weather forecast for the next day. On our last night they left us a little gift with a 'thank you for staying' card attached - a little bottle of Limoncelli liquor and two little ceramic cups all wrapped up in cellophane. They were so charming. The terraces and pools were gorgeous. There were even two rooftop hot tubs. Breakfast and lunch were served outside on one of their many balconies. They had a lounge with beautiful artwork where you could get drinks and every night they had a pianist that would come and play/sing for a few hours. The rooms were big and beautiful.They have a website too - I think it is www.palazzosasso.it. The town of Ravello is so charming but there really aren't too many great hotels there - This was definitely the nicest there. Ravello was very mellow so it was a good end to our stay on the coast. We stayed there for three nights but I loved the hotel so much that I could've stayed longer.
From Ravello, we took a car to the Naples train station and took a train up to Rome. Rome was awful. The car never showed up at the train station to pick us up. We had reservations at the Hotel De La Ville Intercontinental. It was not nice at all. The Hassler next door was much nicer. They tried to give me a room on the first floor - When you looked out the window, there was someone's office window literally right on top of you with just a big barrel of cement in-between. I went back to the desk and requested a room change. They were SO nasty! They ended up giving me a room on the third floor but it still was horrible. Tiny and dingy - yuck. The hotel was undergoing renovation so it smelled like paint/chemicals. Every time I rode in the elevator I'd get dizzy. I am really glad we only had two nights there - None at all would've been better. We then took a flight back to JFK from Rome.
I would definitely recommend booking the hotels about a year in advance. They are all tiny so they book up quick. We booked in early February for a late Sept. early Oct. trip and we had a bit of trouble. We could only get certain nights at the San Pietro, some hotels on Capri were already booked and we could only get a mountain view room at the Palazzo Sasso.
This honeymoon was just amazing! The Amalfi Coast is probably one of the most romantic places in the world! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask -
