|Ravello

Ravello is a tiny cliff-top land of villas and tropical gardens, where many famous artists have been inspired to create their greatest works. Villa Rufalo, built by the Rufalo family dynasty in the 13th century, is the main attraction. Rightly so, with its Moorish architecture and jaw-dropping panoramic garden overlooking the famous towns of the Amalfi coast 1200 metres below. All of this for only €7.

Ravello is also known for being a music haven. Every summer, the Ravello Festival is held on an impressive balcony built over the cliff within the gardens of the villa.

|Hotel Borogo Santandrea

This is one of those places that is far more impressive from the outside in. The pricey hotel has 62 rooms, all with a sea view. The more I read about this hotel the stranger it seems. The decor is trapped in a bygone era, there is very little information about the history of the hotel and virtually no mention of the mammoth cave that eclipses the entire building as if waiting to engulf it. It’s feeling more and more like a sequel to The Shining, set in the Mediterranean.

*Update: Since writing this post the Hotel has been bought, updated and reopened. Now very stylish with rooms starting at £770 per night!

If you haven’t got extra cash to splash on a private boat (Yikes! Who has?!), then either rent some kayaks or pass this extravagant hotel in a tour boat on the way to the Grotta dello Smeraldo. It would also be worth checking out any hiking paths that lead up into the cave.

|Furore

Furore fjord is a 20-minute drive down the Amalfi coast from Positano, and boy is this little spot worth it! Hidden beneath the coast road is a small fjord running out to sea from a beach tucked against the edges of the cliffs. It would be easy to miss, even from your convertible. The thought of finding more little gems like this is enough to make me want to hike Italy’s entire coastline! The village itself, further up the cliff, has fewer than 800 residents. The only evidence of life is the tiny collection of fishermens’ huts seemingly glued to the cliff face above the beach! The rest of the village is so well hidden from view that is has been nicknamed ‘The village that doesn’t exist’! The mayor of the village wants this to change and the village has since decided to paint all their houses in bright colours so that people might start to notice them!

|Capri

I almost missed Capri off the list, for fear that it would be too inaccessible as a budget traveller. Luckily, I have found that Capri is not just to be enjoyed by the champagne-sipping glitterati but also us budget-friendly travellers! So here are the best spots in Capri, which amazingly don’t break the bank!

The Giardini di Augusto costs just €1! From the beautiful terraced garden, you can look out on to the famous sea stacks of Capri. You can also spy on the neverending switchback path racing down the cliff of Via Krupp! (The path was built for a wealthy German businessman who said he needed an easier route from his villa to his research ship. However, he was using the path to sneak into the caves at the cliff’s edge to spend time with gorgeous local youths! Since then, the path has been associated with the scandal.) Make sure to explore Capri’s best hikes as well, including intimate views of the Arco Naturale, along the Pizzolungo path and kayak out to the sea stacks before jumping on the lift to Monte Solaro terrace! The view from here encapsulates the very best of Capri!

|Amalfi’s Least Developed & Most Surreal Beaches

The baths of Regina Giovanna or Baths of Queen Joan (doesn’t sound as beautiful) are an area of natural beauty and the locals’ favourite place to swim. You can find them just 2km out of Sorrento. I highly recommend a day trip here to enjoy the undeveloped and wild beaches. Not to mention, a large sheltered swimming hole below Roman ruins! The area is crisscrossed with wooden walkways and stone steps to take you from one gem to the next. For a beautiful photo to capture this surreal place, try framing your shot from within the Roman ruins, where you can find an arched window that points directly out to the rock bridge and swimming hole below! You might even be able to get Mount Vesuvius in the background!

Ieranto Bay in the protected marine area of Punta Campanella has some of the most incredible and least developed beaches of the entire Sorrento peninsula! Only locals venture out to the heavenly rocky cove, which can only be reached via a 40-minute hike down the mountain from the village of Nerano. The bay grants beautiful views in every direction, whether that’s across the waters to the sea stacks of Capri, up to the Punta Campanella reserve or underwater to a bronze statue of the Virgin Mary, to protect divers and offer them a sanctuary. It is truly the pearl of the Sorrento Peninsula!

|Sorrento

After seeing the beautiful narrow streets of Via Degli Archi and the Villa Cimbrone Gardens there is one more fantastic attraction I must share with you! Many visitors don’t know the Valley of the Mills exists until they are walking over the bridge at the end of their day trip to Sorrento. Unfortunately, after much research, I have found out it isn’t possible to go in to the gorge shown in the photo below. However, don’t fear, there is a secret hike I must tell you about, that takes you in to the belly of the volcanic gorges and through Sorrento’s unburied past! The hike I’m talking about is called ‘Valle delle Ferriere e dei Mulini’, second only to the ‘Path of the Gods’ hike.

On the Valley of the Mills hike you will pass derelict paper mills now overun with new life and secret waterfalls obscuring your path. The best route to take is the one leading from Ravello to Amalfi town, this includes the little-visited hillside village of Scala (photo below), the oldest town on the Amalfi coast! Once in Ravello, be sure to end your hike at the Infinity Terrace for an unforgettable balcony view floating in the sea air above the cliffs.

|Positano

The most well known of Amalfi’s glamorous towns is without a doubt Positano, ‘the Vertical City’! It’s said that Poseiden himself created Positano! Like all other Medieval villages nearby you will want to spend a good amount of your time getting lost in the backstreets of these gravity-defying towns. There is no better place to start than with a cocktail at Franco’s Bar at Le Sirenuse Hotel or the garden terrace of the Poseidon Hotel. Both guarantee a night of sumptuous cocktails and a dazzling view of Positano, looking down from the tiled roof of Santa Maria Assunta! Once you’re refreshed, continue wandering the streets and see if you come across the Insta famous delicatessen trapped between a staircase. This spot makes for a beautiful shot of busy street life in Positano, as do the streets shaded by crumbling lattices of vines.

|Positano Hikes

I’m not so bothered about that ‘classic Spiaggia Grande shot’ because of the hundreds of lido chairs! Instead, choose from the hikes around the cliffs of Positano for incredible shots without the crowds! The Montepertuso hike, in particular, is incredible as it allows you to walk above Positano and look down on the town below from an aerial viewpoint as well as pass-through some breathtaking natural rock arches!

The best hike on the other side of town is the one that will either break you or make you as you climb up to the Iron Cross in the clifftop village of Nocelle! Have breaks along the way, even if it’s just to take in the views or get a few memorable photos! The name of this trail is The Path of the Gods. It takes you from Positano to the pocket-sized coastal villages of Bomerano and Nocelle. This incredible coast path guides you past so many stunning ocean vistas that you’ll struggle to keep your eyes on the vertigo-inducing path and not trip over! Take in the views as you emerge from cliffside vineyards, cavernous grottoes and find yourself standing on the roof of abandoned houses precariously built into the cliffs!

When you get to Nocelle you will reach Il Chiosco del Sentiero Degli Del Bar, which entices hikers in with lemon cocktails and mojitos! This place is one of a kind! It feels like a beach hut attached to the cliffs. The ramshackle balcony is covered in wildflowers and dried flowers and herbs that hang from the roof and buckets of fresh tomatoes and lemons tucked into every open space. The best way to end the hike! Unless, after your refreshments, you walk down the 1500 steps just next to the bar for your last incredible viewpoint! You won’t regret it!

|Procida & Ischia

Procida is to Naples, what Burano is to Venice, an island with a vivid lick of paint to send the tourists off to! Maybe that is a little unkind, but as someone who is attracted towards dramatic landscape, my Neopolitan island of choice, like the locals, is Ischia! Ischia is a volcanic island peppered with thermal springs and dramatic cliffside castles! Whilst Ischia is more developed than Procida, there are pockets of the island that remain untouched, these are the real gems!

|Naples

I will probably write an entire post on what to do in Naples at some point, but for now, let’s focus on the best bits! Naples will always be one of the main tourism spots in Italy, if not for Pompei or pizza, then for its dramatic coastline! I don’t know how I have gone to Italy so many times and not visited Naples yet! Naples is the epitome of what I love about Italy, the chaos, the colour, the crumbling buildings, the passion!

Not only is Naples a UNESCO site but it has the largest historic city centre in all of Europe! It is also the birthplace of pizza! The very first Pizzaria was opened here in 1830 and is still open today! Make sure you visit Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba! As the saying goes, ‘See Naples and die!’