The Best of the Amalfi Coast - Tour Overview
The Amalfi Coast has been a prime destination for artists and writers, celebrities and royalty for more than a century. Its breathtaking landscapes and unique small towns and villages have made it one of the most desirable regions in the world to visit. If touring the Amalfi Coast has been on your bucket list, our 9-day The Best of Amalfi Coast Tour will be everything you've dreamed about—and more!
Upon your arrival at the Napoli (Naples) airport, you will be picked up by a private chauffeur and whisked off to our Napoli hotel on the water front. Then, it's drinks and hors d'oeuvres and off to dinner at our favorite restaurant!
…"to see an entire ancient city come to life, the only place on earth you can go is the magic time capsule left to us by the good graces of Mount Vesuvius…Walking down the old Roman high street, you can peek into the shops, read the graffiti on the walls, then wander off down the back streets to explore the homes…Almost everything we know for sure concerning the daily life of the ancients was learned here." - - Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls in the "Cadogan Guides' Bay of Naples and Southern Italy."
The next day we'll tour the archeological museum in Naples where many of Pompeii's fragile treasures have been preserved. We'll enjoy a Neapolitan lunch before departing Naples.
We'll hop the ferry to spend two days on the fabulous island where the goddess Venus first stepped out of the sea. We will spend two nights on the Island of Capri. Our time here will include an unforgettable trip on a private boat around the entire island. A visit to Ana-Capri where we’ll take the chair lift to the top of the Island. And you can ask Antonio Jr. to make a hand-made pair of leather sandals for you.
We’ll depart Capri on the ferry and travel to Naples where our private bus will take us to Pompeii to visit the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. From Pompeii we’ll travel up into the mountains to the hill town of Ravello where Richard Wagner was inspired to write his most famous opera. Even if you've traveled far and wide: there is nothing that compares with the views from Ravello!
In Ravello, we’ll visit the amazing gardens of Villa Cimbrone with their meandering paths and fabulous statuary offset against the sparkling blue of the ocean below. We'll enjoy lunch together at an award-winning organic winery in the nearby Monti Lattari nature reserve where the 100-year-old autochthonous vines grow along the arbors and the grapes hang down from overhead!
On our way to our hotel in Sorrento, we’ll stop for a cooking school; set in the middle of lush citrus groves and centuries-old olive groves. At this family run cooking class, you can admire enchanting views over the Bay of Sorrento. Our last two nights will be spent in Sorrento where the winding pedestrian only streets of the city center will call you to enjoy a cold limoncello. We’ll travel down the Amalfi Coastline to visit Positano for a day. The colorful houses of Positano spill down the cliffs of this jewel of a city on the Amalfi Coast.
As on all our tours, the Best of the Amalfi Coast Tour, balances structured activities with ample free time for you to explore local shopping venues, wander about, or just relax.
The hotels we've chosen for this tour are all first-rate properties with ambiance and style, along with cordial, helpful staff. Transportation will be on comfortable, air-conditioned buses.
"The Best of Amalfi Coast tour was an excellent experience. It was a well-run, small group tour with very attentive and knowledgeable guides who were instrumental in helping the group bond from the outset. The settings were beautiful, the group activities very interesting, the food beyond compare." - Hugo & Anna Marie Finarelli
"I just wanted to let you know once again how much we enjoyed our Amalfi Coast experience. Just as our trip with you to Tuscany 5 years ago, it was the perfect blend of structured time with wonderful guides, personal time, not to mention the charming hotels and of course, the magnificent food. In addition, this time, a bonus (at least for John and I) was the fellow group members who were a delight. The group dynamics was so special - not only did we get along well, but we developed special attachments so that saying good-bye was most definitely bittersweet." - John & Rita Hvirnyak