La Dolce Vita! My Amalfi Coast Travel Review!
- elisamarinella
- Aug 20, 2019
- 9 min read
Our last leg of our Italian Adventure led us to the Amalfi coast! A place I have been dreaming of for quite some time and lets just say, it did not let me down!
How we got there?
When I started planning the trip, I quickly learned there were many ways access this coveted area of the country. The most popular being a train to Naples from Rome then bussing from Naples. Some sites even suggested flying from Rome to Naples, then bussing down to the coast (a family we met in our hotel did this and it seemed to be pretty rough!) Given the fact that we were 12 people, at least 20 suitcases and a wheelchair, I was trying to keep transport as quick, easy and CHEAP as possible! I luckily found a direct bus from Rome Bus station directly to Sorrento thru a company called Flix Bus! It was perfect, took 4.5 hours and only cost 17 euro each! We woke up early in Rome, caught an 8am bus and were there by 12:30 and our hotel was only 5 min from the Sorrento Bus station! Definitely the easiest transportation option!
Now onto the good stuff! Why Sorrento!?
As I've mentioned, I had been dreaming of this trip for years and of course Instagram stalking everything Amalfi Coast, including all the famous, beautiful hotels. Well my dreams were soon crushed when I realized how much these Instagram famous hotels actually costs! I'm talking upwards of 1500 a night! My original plan was to stay in Positano, but because of its huge popularity on social media and the fact that it is a small town, hotels with what we needed/wanted were way out of budget! Enter Sorrento! A bit off the beaten path, but still with absolutely gorgeous scenery, this was perfect for us, and close by to all the big hitters Amalfi has to offer, like Positano and Capri. A perfect Bouj-E on A Budget solution!
Where we stayed?
As I said above, I have been stalking gorgeous Italian, Instagram famous hotels for years now, so I knew what I wanted: amazing pool, rocky teal beaches and views straight out of heaven, and of course, accessible! Well you can imagine, that would come at a price but Hotels.com came thru for your girl again and I found Hotel Corallo Sant Agnello! Literally the most beautiful hotel I've ever stayed at and great for us! As far as the price, It was our splurge of the trip, but compared to similar hotels in other areas of Amalfi, this was steal! Especially for everything it had to offer! For 429 euro a night, it felt extremely luxurious and much more expensive, but in our price range! #boujeonabudget !! I also splurged for a balcony and sea view for Sath and I, so it would be even cheaper with a city view! PS- This was peak season in Amalfi, plus its a more expensive area of the country, hence the high prices. During the spring and fall, these prices are cheaper.
The staff at Hotel Corallo was extremely accommodating, the restaurant was delish and every view was breathtaking! Oh and did I mention FREE breakfast!! I cant say enough about this hotel and I cant wait to go back! The one slight problem on the accessibility front was the entrance to the bathroom. It was just a bit too tight that Stath didn't fit in the bathroom independently. But, we've encountered this problem before so I knew what to do! I wheeled him on his side, popped off a wheel, pushed him in sideways then popped the wheel back on once in the bathroom.Once inside, he was able to fit fine. Everything else was relativity accessible, we even were able to transfer him into the pool! Click the picture below to book Hotel Corallo thru Hotels.com (Don't forget, if you're a Capital One Venture Card Holder, you get 10x the points!!)
What we did!?
Our first afternoon there, we hit up the pool, with Sorrento Spritzes in hand, a delicious Limoncello drink, and relaxed in the Mediterranean sun! Later that night, we headed next door to Bar La Terrazza with another amazing view and great seafood! Leading up to the trip, we thought it would be fun to coordinate outfits and do a "Blue and White" Night to get some great pictures in the sunset. Our first night in Sorrento was our "Blue and White" and this spot did not disappoint for the sunset! Speaking of sunsets, Sorrento has the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen! The pictures came out great, and even though it seems V corny, its great idea to try on your next group trip with your family and friends! You'll thank me when you see your pics! My fam looked fierce in their blue and white ensembles! Check it out for yourselves below! We continued on with limoncello thru the night! Click the link below to make a rez at Bar La Terrazza
The next day, we woke up and hit the free breakfast #obvi (this group does not miss a free breakfast!) We then headed into the center of Sorrento to check out the town and do some shopping! Another great thing about our hotel, is that they offered free shuttles into the Sorrento City Center which was about 5-10 min away! We hit up Corso Italia, an awesome Shopping Street in the heart of Sorrento! We were in heaven! So many beautiful "made in Italy" clothes, shoes, ceramics and food! Souvenir Central! We even went back another day to buy more!
We came back to the Hotel after shopping and headed to Positano that afternoon and night!
There are few ways you can get from Positano from Sorrento. The first would be the ferry, which is about 37 euro per person one way, this would have been really cool to experience, however the times didn't work for us and it was actually cheaper with our amount of people to take two van taxis which cost about 24 dollars each and took about 30 -40 min.
Positano was an absolute dream! The most beautiful place I have actually been in my life and quite possibly, one of my new favorite places in the world! This cliff side colorful town is heaven! We wandered the streets, took pictures and shopped in the many beautiful stores. I even got to check out Le Sirenuse, one of the famous hotels I have been stalking and voted one Travel and Leisure's "Worlds Best Hotels"- In another life, I'll stay there one day hahah! Speaking of Le Sirenuse, later that day we checked out Franco's Bar, a chic Panoramic Terrace Bar, part of Le Sirenuse. I also found this stylish spot on Instagram and it was everything I hoped it would be. Because this place has gained a lot of attention and does not take reservations, I knew we had to get there early to get in line. The website says it opens at 5 but it actually opens at 5:30. We got in line around 4:45 and there were already a few groups ahead of us, however when they did open, they let us cut the line with the wheelchair! We ran to choose the best spot, which for us, was in the shade given that hot Italian sun. The vibes were amazing, the drinks were even better and the views looked fake! It was perfect for an Italian Apertif! Be aware, this is a little bit of a splurge, with drinks running to be 20 euro ish, but again, if you only go for a bit, and have a reasonably priced dinner after (which is what we did) its not too bad, and its so worth it!
After our dreamy cocktail hour, we headed next door to The Restaurant at L'ancora Hotel. A much more affordable option compared to the restaurant at Le'Sirenuse and with the same amazing views! It's here where we decided to really live like the Italians do and get two main courses each (a pasta dish and a meat dish)! Best decision ever! And don't forget the desert!! Can we walk about lemon Sorbet in an actual lemon! AMAZING! See the pictures below to see the view and food! And click the picture below to make a reservation for your trip!
After dinner, we wandered the street a bit more and found the best little Ceramic shop! On the Amalfi Coast there are beautiful Ceramic Shops everywhere but here we met Lorenzo! He was awesome! His shop was great and he even gave us free champagne! Go say Hi to Lorenzo at Emporio Della Ceramica in Positano if you're in the area!
The next day, we hit the high sea on our private boat to Capri! I booked this thru Sorrento Sea Tours 6 months prior to our trip and even though I had been communicating with the owner regularly leading up to our excursion, when we got there, the day was full of miscommunications and issues on their end. First, the boat was an hour late. Then, there was an added fee to access the appropriate port on Capri, then we had to go to specific restaurant on Capri and could only order one thing, and in order to get there, you had to get off of our boat, onto another tiny tug boat to be brought into shore (obvi not going to work for Sath or my 84 year old Papa) None of this was mentioned in all of our conversations leading up to our boat day! All that being said, we still had a great day! We got to jump off the boat and swim in the clear teal waters, we went to multiple swimming spots and saw the gorgeous views of Capri. Once back on land, we talked with owner, Antonio, and he was very apologetic and offered us some money back for our experience. Later that day, I spoke with another group at our hotel who booked thru a different company, but had a similar experience, so I think part of it might be a language barrier issue with many of these companies. I've booked private boats like this before and haven't had an issue. I researched for a long time to find this company and they were a great deal, which may have been part of the reason we had issues, however I think there still could have been problems even with a more expensive boat services given the nature of the experience. The price was about 75 euro each, which isn't bad for the amount of time we were on the boat! Its not that I wouldn't recommend Sorrento Sea tours again, because the owner was great and very helpful and understanding.Like I said, I think you could potentially have had an issue with any of these companies given the language barrier, But Sorrento Sea Tours was the best price I found by far! Check out the pictures below and click the top picture to book a private boat thru Sorrento Sea Tours.
That afternoon, we came back to hit the pool then had dinner at the restaurant at our hotel. It was beautiful and delicious. If you're staying at Hotel Corallo, or even if you're not, I definitely suggest this restaurant for dinner! And the sunset that night was incredible! Click the picture below to make a rez at the restaurant.
Our last day, we hit up the beach club associated with out hotel, which happened to be called La Marinella! It was accessible by elevator, although there were some stairs to access the elevator (lolz) but it was awesome! Because we were staying at Corallo, we had vouchers to get in, we then payed 14 euro for a chair and umbrella. There were steps down to the sea and a small rock beach to swim. I'm a big fan of these European Beach clubs, I wish we had them here!
That afternoon we headed back into Sorrento Center for Lunch and hit up Ristorante Tasso, which has been voted one of the 70 best Pizzerias in the World! It was delicious and the best bread of the trip, which is quite the win as we had A LOT of good bread! For one of the best restaurants in the world, it was surprisingly reasonably priced! It was great! Click the picture below to make a rez! On our walk there, we also past an adorable lemon grove called I Giardini Di Cataldo with a women selling many lemon products from the grove! It was so cute! Check out the link to the website at the picture below!
For our last night, we returned to La Marinella for dinner. I thought it would be fitting to say "Ciao" to our amazing trip at our namesake! The view and the sunset were perfect. The food was great and it was a beautiful way to toast our trip! The owners were even so kind and gave us a "La Marinella" cutting board as a souvenir! It was time to say goodbye to another adventure and time to start planning the next! Click the link below to book your dinner at La Marinella!
Thanks for following along! Now go book your trip to Italy!! Happy Travels!!
-xoxo
Elisa
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