Featured Excursions in Italy

Positano

Set into the mountain, surrounded by rich mediterranean vegetation, Positano is so picturesque as to seem a spontaneous stage setting. Seen from the sea it looks like a huge nativity scene, a waterfall of little multicoloured houses clinging onto its sides.
The town develops vertically. The homes, one on top of the other, are characterised by arched porticos that give onto the sea, and are painted in pastel colours, giving it the look of a multifaceted precious stone. It is not for nothing that Positano is called “the gem of the divine coast”. The narrow streets, lined with boutiques, run downhill between the houses flowing onto the Spiaggia Grande, a wide beach. From here there is a beautiful view of the sea, as well as of the town as it clambers up the mountainside.
On the main square of Positano is the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta, there since the year 1,000. The great coloured majolica cupola is visible from all over town. The little beaches of Positano are charming, and easy to get to on foot or by boat: Fornillo, Fiumicello and Arienzo.
Positano is a holiday destination appreciated for VIP vacations. Around 1940 Irene Kowaliska, a painter who lived here in Villa Sette Santi, used Positano as inspiration for her paintings on cloth. The Villa Stella Romana has been host to, among other Popes, Pope John Paul II. Illustrious artists, fashion moguls and screen stars love to come here to relax. A few miles from the coast are Li Galli, or “Sirenuse”, a tiny archipelago made up of three islets: the Gallo Lungo, the Rotonda and the Castelluccio, considered the ancient dwellings of the enchanting Sirens. Positano is not just about the sea: pleasant walks take one to visit the evocative areas around Lattari Mountains, like Montepertuso, so-called because it is said that the Madonna appeared here in a hole in the cliff (“pertuso” stands for hole) . A stairway of 1,700 steps takes you to Nocelle. It is from here that the famous Trail of the Gods (Sentiero degli Dei) begins, with beautiful views over the entire coast. Or you can reach the beautiful coastal Punta San Pietro, where there is a little church on a precipice over the sea.

On a slope cultivated with vines and olive trees one finds Furore. The ancient name for the entire area was once Terra Furoris, for the deafening noise made by the sea and the wind during tempestuous nights as they echoed among the high walls of the sheer fjords that come straight down from the plateau of Agerola. A steep set of steps takes you to the bottom. The attraction of this piece of coast is irresistable, with the fjords wedged between vines and cliffs, tiny houses and the sea.

Praiano, halfway up the promontory of Capo Sottile, was the summer residence of the Doge of Amalfi, a precocious sign of the future of the village toward becoming a relaxing holiday resort. The lower part of town goes towards Marina di Praia, a beach carved between two high rock walls. Guarding over this marina is one of the many watch-towers that dot the coast.

The nearby Conca dei Marini is a fishing village hemmed in by a marine loop that offers a stunning slice of panorama. The two extremes of this marvellous bay are Capo di Conca, dominated by the Torre di Conca (erected in the 1500’s) testimony to the terrifying incursions of pirates, and the Emerald Grotto. The waters breaking into the grotto take on an intense green hue, caused by light filtration. This grotto is full of stalactites and stalagmites, often fused together to form limestone columns of up to 10 meters. From Conca you can get to the plateau of Agerola (650 mt), passing through woods and fields. The area, blessed with flowering fields renown since antiquity, is famous for its dairy products and for the exceptional views of the coast from above.


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