Road Trippin’ – Amalfi Coast, Italy

By Ian Cobb

The Amalfi Coast is one of the most popular locations to visit in the world.

The 50 km stretch of narrow highway that winds along the coastal edge of the Sorrentine Peninsula in the Campania region south of Naples had been a bucket list place to visit for decades. My desire was to drive the famous road but after speaking with several people who had been there, we opted to skip the stress and hired a driver in a Mercedes van.

Decked out in a natty blue suit, our driver picked us up in Salerno, the most affordable place to stay in the region, and looped inland and around to Sorrento to begin our tour.

After too-brief-a-time in Sorrento we hit the road for the coast and meandered into Positano where we sauntered around and had lunch in a busy café with views uphill of the town that spills down to the nearby sea, with tourists everywhere you look and go.

Before departing Positano, Carrie purchased a lemon gelato that was served in a large frozen lemon (lemons are everywhere). Of all the incredible memories of our five weeks in Italy in 2024, perhaps my fondest is the time we shared this incredible frozen treat while being chauffeured along perhaps the most famous stretch of roadway on the planet.

We followed the road to Praiano and around to Amalfi, where we had a choice to make, seaside Amalfi or mountainside Ravello. We opted for the high road and Ravello did not disappoint, offering sweeping views, charming narrow streets and properties clinging to terraced hillsides carpeted with lemon trees.

Ravello is the kind of charming, beautiful place where poets go to die and painters lose their minds (photographers too).

After crawling downhill to the highway, we were soon in Minori, a gorgeous seaside town that didn’t seem to be as busy as the previous communities.

Noting our delight at the lemon gelato treat, the driver suggested a stop in Minori for what he said was the best cheesecake in the world. On his advice we stopped at Pasticceria Sal De Riso, widely considered one of the finest such enterprises in Italy.

Not a sweets fan, my mind was again blown at the delicate delectable. It was heavenly.

The drive from Minori, to nearby Maiori and through to Cetara was some of the hairiest, or it would have been if not for the traffic, often slowing so two buses could squeak past each other, while motorcycles whizzed past all sides and in and out of traffic.

Not far from Salerno, at Vietri sul Mare, traffic came to a grinding halt due to a crash and our tour was extended a further half hour.

We were not blessed with the finest of days during our eight-hour tour and to truly delve into the depth of the charm and beauty of the Amafli Coast, one should spend at least a week exploring the steep streets, stunning coves, hillside trails and bounty of sweet and savory treats.

The bonus of not driving was being able to see the endless views of the Tyrrhenian Sea, lined by soul-achingly picturesque villages and not having to deal with parking, which would be a huge pain in the bum and really the only drawback of having a rent-a-car. Parking is an art in most of Italy; it requires a master’s degree in physics in most of the towns along this coast.

I’d return in a heartbeat to the nondescript parking garage in Positano that housed a tiny gelato shop from which I enjoyed the finest frozen treat in my life and gazed with a full heart at my wife who beamed like a new day rising each time she took a nibble from a frozen, locally-grown lemon.

Lead image: A view of the Amalfi Coast looking toward Minori from Ravello. Ian Cobb and Carrie Schafer photos

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