Amalfi Coast: 5 Day Itinerary

August 19-24

Day 1: Florence: Duomo, Chianti wine tour

Day 2: Capri: Marina Grande, Boat Tour, Phoenician Steps, Dinner in Anacapri

Day 3: Positano: Explore the shops, Lunch, Latteria

Day 4: Amalfi: Spiaggia Grande, Amalfi Cathedral, Walk to Atrani

Day 5: Amalfi Coast: Cannaverde Coast Camp, Kayak along the coast

Day 6: Off to Corfu, Greece

My husband, Andrew, was relocated to Darmstadt, Germany for his PhD research. I was completely on board…except I had one condition. We must go on vacation once we get to Germany to celebrate!

This was Andrew’s first time to Europe (crazy, right?), so he picked generally want he wanted to do and I planned it. We also wanted to pick places that would be more difficult for us for a weekend trip, since he will be busy with his research.

We flew into Frankfurt and rode the Airliner to Darmstadt. Then walked to our apartment where a lock box was waiting for us with our keys! We dropped our stuff off, tried to figure out the street cars & public transportation in our new town, and of course went to a cafe for a shot of espresso.

We packed one backpack each for our first European backpacking trip together!

After spending some time on the Amalfi Coast, we flew over to Corfu for 4 more days! Check out my Corfu blog to see how we finished our vacation.

*We were on the go most of the time with this itinerary, so we only packed backpacks. It would be really difficult to have more luggage with this itinerary! You could always rent a luggage storage locker in the towns if you have more than a backpack*

Day 1: Florence

Well, Florence isn’t exactly the Amalfi Coast. Since we were coming from Frankfurt, the best flights we could find were into Florence. So of course we had to see the top sights for our first taste of Italy of the trip. It was easy to take the train from Florence to the Amalfi Coast, so I would recommend this itinerary if you are in the same type of pickle!

Fly FRA – FLR

Shuttle tram (T2) from airport to city center.
We went directly to our airbnb to check in, while admiring history and beautiful architecture on the way.
- Airbnb: Leonardo House 2 – hosted by Darko.

Explore Florence’s Duomo from the outside or the inside

…

At Piazza Signoria, you can explore several remarkable sights:

Palazzo Vecchio: This impressive fortress-like palace is the town hall of Florence.
Copy of Michelangelo’s David: Standing in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, you will find a replica of the famous Michelangelo’s David sculpture. While the original is housed in the Accademia Gallery, this faithful replica allows visitors to appreciate the beauty and grandeur of the iconic masterpiece.
Pictured below is Perseus with the head of Medusa:

…

Eat Lunch at I’Girone De’Ghiotti : very quick and freshly made sandwiches at 5 euros each. We scored 2 aperol spritz to go! (However, there are not many seats here, so there’s a chance you will stand on the sidewalk, drop a piece of tomato, and get yelled at by a different store owner to shoo. There just might be a chance of that)

…

The famous Ponte Vecchio: admire from a far, then walk across and admire all of the expensive jewelry you can only buy in your dreams.

…

Grab Gelato (and go!) at Don Nino: it was approx 40c in Florence, so Andrew and I were melting. This was a must. It has gorgeous views of the duomo and great for people watching. Their mint chocolate chip was a favorite of mine, except for the half that melted too quickly for me to eat.

…

RUN to meet the tour group for your Half Day Chianti Tour: We severely underestimated the time it would take us to go from Don Nino to Piazzale Montelungo where our bus would take off. We were the last ones on the bus, but we made it.

We went to 2 different wineries in Chianti region: Fattoria Poggio Capponi & Tenure La Gigliola. Booked on Viator: We had 3-4 tastings at each winery, which was just enough to get tipsy, but not enough to keep the buzz going once we left the tour. They were both nice, but I would do a full day tour the next time to go to better wineries. I didn’t feel as though the tour description accurately described the half day. We didn’t drive down the famous Chianti road, which was supposed to be a highlight, and the wineries seemed very random.

…

Dinner at Trattoria Za Za. This was quite the experience. In a good way. The restaurant was absolutely packed and we had a little bit of a wait. Once we were told to follow the host for a table, we were walking for what seemed to be 10 minutes to get there. This place is absolutely massive, with tons of separate rooms. Each room so unique. Food was amazing, wine was superb, service was great. It even came with the laughs from trying to leave the building and not knowing where to go. Or maybe we were wine drunk?

At Trattoria Za Za, we ordered a pasta dish first, followed by our main course. This is very typical in Italy and other parts of Europe, to have pasta (gnocchi, ravioli, etc) as a first course. Then a meat or something not pasta as your main food. We indulged in this tradition, starting with Creamy Walnut sauce Ravioli & Gorgonzola cheese Gnocchi. Then we ate Melanzane alla Parmigiana (eggplant with sauce and cheese) & Florentine style Ossobuco with mushrooms and a side of white beans “All’Uccelletto.”

…

Walk around the city before returning to the Airbnb to sleep.

…

Day 2: Capri

Train Santa Maria Novella to Napoli Centrale

Check out Naples before ferry to Capri. I personally did not feel like Naples was clean or a place I wanted to spend time, but there is a lot of history and sights to see near the ferry port.

Arrive in Capri, after a pretty rough (hot, crowded) ferry, which feels like Heaven. Andrew and I immediately knew we were going to like it here.

…

Our plan was to go to the beach while waiting for our boat tour, so we already had our bathing suits on, which ended up being perfect.

Swim at Marina Grande Public Beach: it was a great free beach with beautiful views of Capri. We got our microfiber towels out, set down our backpacks, and jumped in the water.

…

Indulge in Lemon Sorbet in a Lemon: it was what Italian dreams are made of.

…

Filled up our reusable water bottles at public water fountains. Don’t pay for more water!

Relax on the Capri Coast to Coast Boat Tour from TripAdvisor: It left from the ferry port, so we hopped on. We saw the Green and White grottos, but opted not to pay extra for the blue grotto. We kissed while going under the Faraglioni arch, as you must for a lifetime together! This boat ride took us the whole way around the island of Capri.

…

Climb the Phoenician Stairs (Scala Fenicia) to Anacapri. We could have taken the Capri Incline instead, but due to time and out of curiosity, we opted to climb the 921 stone steps. We were told it would take us an hour, but we did it in 30 minutes. Definitely bring water for the hike! Beautiful views, and it ends at luxurious stores lined with white streets.

Arrive at the Airbnb in Anacapri. Our host, Enzo, was very friendly and greeted us with lemon water. This place had a view of the sunset over the water.

…

Dinner at Sciue’ Sciue’ in Anacapri: Homemade ravioli and Limoncello spritz? Say less. This was the best meal I had on the entire trip.

Grab Gelato (and go!) at Capri Crema Cafe: Chocolate with cherries? Best gelato of the trip. We had a great food day.

We only stayed in Anacapri and would absolutely go back. We didn’t get a chance to go over to Capri town, but have heard that it is more “high end” and is more expensive. Anacapri had so much character that I wasn’t even feeling FOMO about not going to Capri town.

…

Day 3: Positano/Amalfi

Our day started by trying to check out of the airbnb, but Enzo insisted we at least have breakfast. He made us delicious coffee and put out bread with jams, as we looked at over the water. Upon saying goodbye, Enzo gave me freshly picked lavender from his garden. So sweet!

…

We picked up freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice and made the trek down the Phoenician steps to the ferry port. Off to Positano!

…

There were about 6 people on this ferry and we could actually go outside, so it was so much better than the ferry to Capri. Breathtaking views were in front of us as we approached the town.

We went up the stairs, straight to Latteria – The Wine and Cheese Shop. Here, we bought Peroni beer and green grapes, while alone on their balcony with a view of all of Positano. It was so crowded, so this was a needed time away from others.

…

Walk around the shops, taking in all of the views.

Lunch at La Zagara for pizza.

…

Check out the famous Grande Beach: Blue umbrellas, stunning cliffs.

…

Ferry from Positano to Amalfi: We actually had ferry tickets for later in the day, but they fell out of Andrew’s pocket. It worked out for us because it was so hot and crowded, and we felt like we had enough since we didn’t have a place to stay in Positano.

Amalfi was way less crowded and had a charm to it that I thought Positano was missing. We found our new airbnb, hosted by Enza, dropped off our backpacks and started exploring.

It was SO hot outside, so we went down to Spiaggia Grande, where the water was inviting. We ran back to the airbnb to change into our swim suits and immediately jumped in.

Me, when I realized I needed to change into my swim suit and swim immediately.

…

Sit on the steps of the Amalfi Cathedral with Gelato. There are many restaurants, cafes, and gelatorias that have views of the Cathedral. You can pay to go inside, but we opted not to. I recommend walking to the top of the stairs!

Dinner in Amalfi.

…

Day 4: Amalfi/Atrani/Maiori

Since we left Positano earlier than expected, we had more time in Amalfi the previous night. So, on day 4, after an amazing breakfast with Enza and her homemade jams and coffee, she recommended we walk to Atrani.

…

The path to Atrani was pretty clearly marked, as it went through a tunnel and basically opened into the town.

Atrani was quite small, so it won’t take long to explore the center. There are beautiful buildings, clocks, and paintings/art all over the town.

…

Rent a beach chair and sunbathe at Spiaggia di Atrani, or bring your own towel/chair to sit on their free beach section. We opted to not swim due to time, but the beach has gorgeous views of nearby cliffs and the iconic arches.

…

Enjoy a lemon spritz at La Risacca cocktail & wine bar. This bar is in the center, with direct views of the clock tower, and signs of everyday life-drying clothes, locals.

…

Ferry Amalfi – Maiori: I would not have gone to Maiori if it weren’t for 1 reason…Camping on a LEMON FARM!

Maiori was quite large, with many beach clubs, restaurants, shops, grocery stores, but it did not have the charm of the nearby towns.

Eat baguette sandwiches at Divin Baguette. I cannot recommend this restaurant enough. Andrew was chatting with the owner, and he said all of the ingredients are locally sourced. The owner made all of the sandwich combinations up himself. They are combos like no other. We actually went here twice!

…

Catch a bus from Maiori to Cannaverde Amalfi Coast Camp (lemon farm!). We took a SITA bus in the direction of Salerno from town and it dropped of us just a few steps away from the entrance, since we asked the bus driver to take us to the “cannaverde” stop. You can take one of these buses from Naples airport or Salerno, too.

Cannaverde was a highlight of the trip. We had a private bathroom, a yurt tent, a shared infinity pool with a view overlooking the sea, and other relaxation stops. Our tent was next to the eggplant famr, and of course under lemon trees. The owners use this camp as a lemon farm in the winter and rent it out for tents in the summer. It was so hot during the day, but the tents cooled down enough at night that it was quite comfortable. They know what they are doing when it comes to food…each night there are group dinners you can pay extra to participate in. We decided to give it a try because we felt like we traveled enough that day and didn’t want to go back to the town of Maiori.

Dinner at Cannaverde night 1: TEN pieces of homemade pizza, of all different kinds. one of the workers was a chef, and made the pizza in their wood fired oven right next to us. These pizzas included vegetables grown from their onsite garden. Not to forget, this dinner included a “jug” of wine each, for 22 euros/pp.

1. Parmigiano & tomato.

2. Margarita with mozzarella

3. White pizza with zucchini & black pepper

4. Margarita with eggplant & smoked mozzarella

5. White pizza with sausage, potato, & rosemary

6. White pizza with lemon zest & prosciutto

7. White pizza with prosciutto and fig

8. Traditional pizza with mozzarella & Italian pepper

9. Traditional pizza with crispy bacon and basil

10. Cannaverde white pizza with lemon zest, prosciutto, mozzarella/provolone

…

Day 5: Maiori/Cannaverde

One of the workers at Cannaverde recommended we rent a kayak and ride down the Amalfi coast in it.

Walk along the windy road to Maiori. We started the 25 minute walk to Maiori when we came across a staircase to the beach about 10 minutes in!

Swim at Salicerchie beach. Who wouldn’t want fish nibbling at their feet?

…

Rent a kayak from the public beach in Maiori. The worker gave us a dry bag (life saver) for the kayak ride. We wanted to swim at the beach that we had a view of from the tent, which was only accessible by boat or kayak. The waves were bigger than they looked from the shore. But it was an amazing experience. After about 2 hours of kayaking and beach time, we returned the kayak and only owed 20 euros for 2 hours total.

…

Back to the camp, where we swam in the pool, had drinks made by the bartender at the camp, and relaxed. And of course, had a visitor.

…

Dinner night 2: Pasta al forno alla Nerano (oven baked pasta with zucchini and provolone smoked cheese from tramonti, basil, and pepper. Followed by Tocchetti di pollo saltati (diced chicken breast, grilled with onion, carrot, and parsley. A Carafe of wine, and house limoncello.