Visiting the Amalfi Coast has held a spot at the top of my bucket list for a long time. The first time I discovered the existence of Positano was during a Pinterest session, trying to kill time during a boring nursing school class, where I saw a picture of one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I HAVE to go here, I thought to myself as I pinned it to the Wanderlust section of my Pinterest, longing for the day that I might be lucky enough to visit the cliff side beauty.
Little did I know that it would be just a few short years before the perfect Positano picture would move from my Wanderlust page to my Places I’ve Been page. I did it. I visited one of the most beautiful places in the world and I fell hard. I’m in love. Positano lived up to all of the built-up beauty that I had envisioned in my mind and is one of my favorite places that I’ve ever been to.
Visiting the Amalfi Coast has held a spot at the top of my bucket list for a long time. The first time I discovered the existence of Positano was during a Pinterest session, trying to kill time during a boring nursing school class, where I saw a picture of one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I HAVE to go here, I thought to myself as I pinned it to the Wanderlust section of my Pinterest, longing for the day that I might be lucky enough to visit the cliff side beauty.
Little did I know that it would be just a few short years before the perfect Positano picture would move from my Wanderlust page to my Places I’ve Been page. I did it. I visited one of the most beautiful places in the world and I fell hard. I’m in love. Positano lived up to all of the built-up beauty that I had envisioned in my mind and is one of my favorite places that I’ve ever been to.
Sadly, my Positano visit was short-lived as I had only planned one day in this perfect little paradise. Not knowing when or if I would ever have the opportunity to return to the Amalfi Coast, I planned to see as much as possible. I wanted to get a taste for as many towns and villages as I could. I don’t regret this at all because I was able to see SO much but I do wish I had some extra time for my new-found love.
Knowing that I only had one day to experience Positano, planning was a necessity. We had to get there early and leave late and do as much as possible. I studied the bus routes and times, scoured through blogs and Trip Advisor for things to see and places to eat and came up with a plan.
Step 1: Take the early Sita bus.
Staying in Sant’Agata (a short distance from Sorrento) made for easy transportation to both Sorrento/ Naples and the Amalfi Coast. I lucked out when I arrived at my hotel and found out that the Sita bus stop was literally right outside my hotel. Nailed it. It was on the direct route to Positano and other seaside gems. Figuring out the bus times was a different story. Trying to figure out which days and times the bus would come (if it actually showed up) was kind of stressful but doable. The earliest Monday bus left at 0850, so off I went on a less than comfy bus ride.
Step 2: Hike down to the beach and take in the beauty
I never really nailed the bus stops on the winding Amalfi Coast highway and had no clue where the bus was set to stop/pick up. As Positano grew closer and closer I made a guess and got off with a few other people in a seemingly quiet area of town. Seeing that most people had stayed on the bus I figured out that I had gotten off one stop earlier than I originally planned. As I wandered through the more residential seeming part of town I made my way to the beach, stopping to pet cats and snap pictures and take in the morning.
Step 3: Snag a boat to a beach-side restaurant
After trekking down to the beach and taking my fill of pictures I got on a boat to take me to Da Adolfo, a rustic little beach-side restaurant a 10 minute boat ride from the Positano’s main dock. I could not have asked for a better way to spend an afternoon than at this little beach. I snagged a beach chair, swam, ate, and lounged all afternoon. The food there is AMAZING and I recommend it to everyone, whether you have one day or one week, it is a must.
Step 4: Wander
After spending a few hours at Da Adolfo I made my way back on the boat and back to Positano to wander the shops and grab some gelato. The paths are packed with ceramic shops, sandal makers, and linen clothes. I followed one of the main roads and hiked up the cliff a ways to try to find a good view. Pouring sweat, I found it near Le Sirenuse Hotel.
Step 5: Take it on up to the top for a sunset dinner
During my research I had found a great sounding restaurant, La Tagliata, WAYYY at the top of the town for a sunset dinner. Luckily the restaurant provided free shuttles to and from the center of Positano. We picked up a few others along the way before ending up at cute little restaurant nestled up high in the cliffs. The restaurant is a family run operation and only provides a 35 Euro prix fixe menu with unlimited wine. The menu consists of whatever is in season and included two rounds of appetizers, a pasta course, a meat course, salads, and desserts. SO MANY THINGS. I was stuffed. The food was great, not the best I’ve ever eaten, but still delicious. What was unexpected was that dinner included entertainment of a woman singing well-known Italian songs who later busted out tambourines and other instruments and passed them out to the restaurant goers. Four hours later, dinner concluded and the shuttle took us back to the bus stop in time for the very last bus back to the hotel. While dinner was somewhat cheesy and very touristy, it was a lot of fun.
Although my time was short in Positano, it was one of my favorite days in an entire month in Europe. Already daydreaming about my return!
