Campania: Amalfi coast, Capri, Naples

The Amalfi Coast, or Costiera Amalfitana in Italian, is a stretch of coastline on the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula of Italy (Province of Salerno), extending from Positano in the west to Vietri sul Mare in the east. The towns lying on the Amalfi Coast are Vietri sul Mare, Cetara, Maiori, Minori, Ravello, Scala, Atrani, Amalfi, Conca dei Marini, Furore,Praiano and Positano.

The Amalfi Drive is perhaps the most beautiful drive in the world - forty miles of narrow, two lane highway cut into the steep cliffs overlooking the Gulf of Salerno, south of Naples.

The region has been populated since Paleolithic times. The Etruscans were there and there was a Greek presence when the Greeks dominated European civilization. Then in ancient Roman times, resort towns flourished. With the Byzantine ascendancy in the 6th Century, the coast was of great maritime importance. Today it is one of the prime tourist attractions in the south of Italy.

“I didn’t know what to expect of the Amalfi coast, but it beats the Jersey Shore hands down. Nothing prepared me for that first heart-stopping vista of cliff, sky and the unbelievably deep blue of the bays and the Mediterranean beyond. The Amalfi Drive, a seventy kilometre succession of hairpin bends carved out of the cliff face, revealed a new panorama at every turn, each one more spectacular than the last. Sparkling white houses, hotels and rich villas seemed to hang in clusters from the cliffs which rose to dizzying heights above us and dropped away perilously to the sea hundreds of metres below.”

Coastline Near Positano

Street Level Gatehouse To Private Villa Below Amalfi Drive

Positano

Amalfi Cliffs

Maiori

Stumble it!