Solo Travel Destination: Amalfi Coast, Italy
We are pleased to present a new Solo Travel Destination Post from Emily, a member of the Solo Travel Society. Emily is from the United States and submitted the following report about the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Do you have a solo travel destination that you would like to recommend? Submit your description here, along with a few photos, and share it with fellow travelers!
Solo travel rating: 1.5 (1 is easiest, 4 is most difficult. Please see chart below)
Languages spoken: Italian, English
In Positano.
Reasons to go: Think Diane Lane in the film “Under the Tuscan Sun”. This area is drooled-after-gorgeous! In fact, it’s so beautiful that the Amalfi Coast was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site as a cultural landscape in 1997. The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of very steep coastline on the southern coast of the Sorrentine Peninsula of Southern Italy. It boasts a Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and mild winters. The Amalfi Coast is known for its production of limoncello liqueur as the area is a cultivator of lemons – you will drink lots of it while there, too! From the jet-setting island of Capri to the colorful buildings constructed on the steep Amalfi cliff to the ancient Pompeii ruins, this is Italy’s coast with the most. Naples holds the best (birthplace of pizza) and worst (organized crime) of Italy, but is still worth seeing!
I would give yourself 3 days in this area to really get a good feel for it. Sorrento is a good home base for seeing the area (Naples, island of Capri, Positano, Pompeii, Amalfi Town). Positano, located about halfway between Sorrento and Amalfi Town, was my favorite. There’s not a lot to “do” in Positano, but it was tops for being so picturesque.
Getting There: You can take a 2 hour express train from Rome to Naples and then get on another train to hit Sorrento.
Getting Around: You will most likely take buses and it’s an understatement when I tell you to be prepared for the bus ride of your life! This trip will leave your mouth open like never before! You’ll wonder how in the world a road such as this could ever have been built. The Mediterranean Sea is a sheer 500-foot drop below you a few inches to the right of where you are sitting on that bus! To get to the island of Capri (pronounced KAH-pree by locals), you will need to ferry over.
So much color!
Piazza del Duomo.
Amalfi Coastline.
Solo Travel Destination Rating System
Safety - 1 (1 very safe, 2 safe in most areas, 3 be cautious at all times.)
Language - 2 (1 English is first language, 2 English speakers easy to find, 3 English speakers rare)
Navigation – 1 (1 easy to navigate by transit or car, 2 poor transit, car necessary, 3 not easy to get around)
Culture – 2 (1 Similar to North America or Western Europe, 2 Different from above but relaxed and easy, 3 Challenging)
Average Rating – 1.5 (1 is easiest, 4 is most difficult)
