WEST TO AMALFI
As you leave Salerno, its mountains show their true scale. Near the
peak of Monte San Liberatore stands an old convent with a
prominent cross. Heading west you can cruise close inshore, peering
through the glasses at incredible hillside villas, some high above
the shore with vertigo views, others barely beyond wave height.
Rounding Capo d’Orso you pass Maiori and Minori, seaside
settlements casually littered with Roman remains. Hanging above
Minori is the amazing village of Ravello, one of the most visited
stops on Italy’s tourist trail. Clustered 350m above the sea, Ravello
feels very old and serene. Visitors are drawn here by two famous
villas on the cliff edge.
The medieval terrace of Villa Rufolo is the centrepiece for Ravello’s
summer music festival, when the audience can gaze past the
orchestra to the bay below. The 18th century Villa Cimbrone was
landscaped by Lord Grimthorpe, one of countless English aristocrats
captivated by Italy’s charms, climate and people. His tranquil gardens
have a breathtaking belvedere walk.
Beyond Ravello, Amalfi looks enticing from
the sea, piled up like a house of cards. The
lower town centres around a Moorish
cathedral, peeping above homely red pantiles.
The east side of the harbour curves out to a
headland guarded by a Saracen fort. Behind
the town, a winding road climbs through a
gap in the hills into wild terrain.
AMALFI
One of the charms of Amalfi Harbour is its
amazing mix of boats. Superyachts grace the
outer breakwater and further along are all
kinds of visitors, power and sail, fast and
sedate. Inside lie sleek rows of motor boats.
Ferries arrive and leave almost continuously
- fast jets to Salerno or Capri, launches to
Positano and the traditional ‘slow’ ferry to
Capri, a fi ne old ship whose two slow-revving
diesels have been in service since the 1950s.
Popular with Italian holiday-makers, Amalfi is alive with
family chatter, terrace cafés and buzzing scooters. You enter the
lower town through an arched tunnel, emerging into a bustling
piazza where a wide sweep of steps leads to the cathedral.
Then a narrow main street climbs to the upper town, with steps
and alleys leading off to secret corners. Trattorias are plentiful
and you’ll eat well almost anywhere. Campania is renowned
for its fi ne produce and cheerful wines, while the Amalfi Coast
lands excellent fi sh.POSITANO
Cruising west you pass the most mountainous stretch of this coast
around Capo Sottile, where the scars of Monte San Angelo seem
vertical as you approach Positano. This fashionable resort has no real
harbour except the ferry jetty, but the anchorage east of the town is
one of the most spectacular in the Med. Superyachts look like model
boats below the 1,500 metres of San Angelo.ITALY
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Secret spots to
soak up the sun line
the Amalfi Coast
The new Marina
d’Arechi, three miles
SE of Salerno
JANUARY201 6 37
CAMPAGNIA COASTLINE