Italian Love Affair

For as long as I can remember, I have dreamt of visiting Italy. Something about the prospect of soaking up the sun in a Tuscan vineyard really called out to me; even at the age of 9… (the makings of an alcoholic, perhaps). Actually, truth be told, I had always envisioned Italy to be a cross between Letters to Juliet and The Lizzie McGuire Movie.

Fortunately for me I was afforded the opportunity to visit Italy twice this year; once to Venice and more recently, Sorrento and along the Amalfi Coast. A few people raised an eyebrow at the idea of me going to the same country twice in one year but, as with most countries, every region is so wildly different from the other that no matter how many times you go it’s like the first time all over again.

Naturally, before flying to Venice I asked peoples’ opinions about the city and where best to visit. Bizarrely enough, the most common comment I heard was “it’s so pretty, but it stinks” which as you can imagine put me a little on edge. However, Venice in April is still really pleasant weather but as it isn’t too humid, there’s no pong…genius! I shan’t go into details about Venice because I vlogged our trip there earlier in the year and what I really want to tell you about, is Sorrento.

You’ll probably want to fly to Naples if you’re visiting Sorrento but it’s has it’s pros and cons. Pros are that depending on your flight times and itinerary, Naples is a lovely city to visit and it’s right beside Herculaneum, Vesuvius and Pompeii so you can indulge in some tourist activity en route to Sorrento. Cons are that it’s around an hour drive from Naples which in the grand scheme of things isn’t horrendous but of course journey time varies depending on traffic and if you have littlens, suffer from car sickness or, in my case, motion triggered migraines, then it’s a little bit of a pullarva.

I stayed in the Tramontano Hotel which is in the heart of Sorrento with easy access to street stalls, markets, restaurants, beaches and the nearby port. The hotel has very typical Italian decor; dark tiled floors and yellow walls which I’ve grown to appreciate the more time I’ve spent in Italy, but if you’re not accustomed to it then you may find yourself questioning the colour choices. That aside, the hotel is beautiful. If you are someone who has problems with vertigo then I might suggest you choose your accommodation carefully as a number of the hotels (Tramontano included) are built into the cliff face, so as gorgeous as your ocean view at breakfast is, you could find yourself developing temporary tourettes if you think about it too much.

Being a Brit and a millennial I couldn’t help but indulge in some tourist activities as recommended by Pinterest. First on my hit list was Capri. At only 30 minutes away by ferry, it made for the perfect day out. Upon arrival, my family and I split up with the intent to reconvene at lunch for something light to eat overlooking the marina. My grandparents (being the keen hikers that they are) walked all the way to the top of the island for a look around an historic church and a mooch around a few designer outlets, while the rest of us boarded a little boat to the Blue Grotto.

Now, it’s only with the beauty of hindsight that I’m able to share these words of wisdom with you… Think carefully before you visit the Blue Grotto. Our boat from the Capri Marina to the grotto was 18EUR, that excluded the additional 13EUR fee to then board a rowing boat low enough to get you inside the caves themselves; so you’re looking at about 30EUR per person. Fortunately for us this included a thorough tour around the island en route so it helped to justify the spend a bit.

You’ll also have to take the tide into account as boats only travel to and from the caves during low tide times so there’s no use heading to Capri at a leisurely pace only to find that it’s high tide for the remainder of the day! If you do manage to catch a boat in time then allow plenty of time for the excursion at to get to the grotto via the White, Red and Green Grottos and Anacapri will take you about an hour.. and that’s before the 90 minute wait to get into the caves!! In the end we opted out of going inside the Blue Grotto as bobbing around in the open ocean in the blistering sun got the better of us so we boarded a boat back to the marina pretty sharpish. (NB this trip is perhaps best avoided by those with motion sickness).

It was a beautiful boat ride around the island and lovely to see a little bit more of Capri, but such a pity that the wait time and nausea got the better of us (me).

LUCKILY, I did have an incredibly successful trip along the Amalfi Coast with the family a little later on in the week. We started off in Positano which kicked off with my iPhone nearly being nabbed by a beady-eyed parrot, but things only went uphill from there. We headed towards the beach through a maze of little market stalls and quaint little Italian shops selling everything from the most beautiful dresses and jewellery to every kind of meal you could wish for. The beach itself was everything I’d imagined. Mayfair filter aside, it looked exactly how Instagram makes it out… glamorous boats and all!

We then moved on to Ravello which was, again, a series of delightful little shops and market stalls that overlooked a plethora of lush mountain views. It was honestly the most beautiful place I think I have ever visited in my life. If I spoke Italian then I’d absolutely have emigrated by now. We pit-stopped for lunch somewhere our driver recommended; Albergo Z’Intonio. From the outside, it looked like a bit of a pokey roadside B&B but we were swiftly led to an al fresco area that overlooked the whole of Ravello and the surrounding mountains. Their menu was a set list of about 10 options, all of which we tried between our party and everything we ate was delicious and having such a spectacular view just made it that much more perfect.

It's so easy to fall in love with Italy and of the places I've been so far, I'd recommend all of them. But if you're looking for a way to cram in a lot of Italy in a short time frame, then Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast is a fantastic option. Next stop on my Italian checklist... Rome.