Discovering the Amalfi Coast

When we decided we were going to visit the Amalfi coast, I tried to find out as much as possible about our future destination. All those "things to do in X" helped me, but I wasn't able to find all the necessary information in one place. Also, people's opinions were very different about the same objective so it was pretty hard to choose whether you would be visiting that certain place or not.
Our journey lasted 7 days and we chose to spend our nights in Agerola, at La Casa Dei Nonni. The owners lend the whole house (4 bedrooms, kitchen and 2 bathrooms). The house is situated on a pretty high level above the see so the view is stunning; all the bedrooms have balconies and they face the sea.
                         

The view from the balcony of Casa dei nonni

The access road is kinda difficult. The villa is situated almost 1 km away from the center of Agerola, but the road is very narrow and the inclination of the road is very big.
We didn't spend much time in Agerola, we only took a short walk during the evening of our arrival. There is a belvedere place set up and we got to see Salerno at night from there.

Salerno at night seen from Agerola

We traveled to Italy by airplane and we landed on the Capodichino Airport in Napoli. Agerola is situated 50 km away from Napoli and we decided to rent a car. There are many bus stations in front of the airport and there are little slates with the destination and the price on them. 200 m in front of the airport there is another bus station and there comes a bus every 15 minutes that will take you to the place where you can rent a car. There are 6-7 companies in the same building which makes things easier for you. The prices vary depending on the number of people, the number of days and the type of car you want. The first thing you need to know is that the roads, either on the coast or into the cities, are very narrow. You could use the littlest car you can get. Next, you need a gps. There is no way you can get through without one. Then you need a credit card for the rental. Most of the companies don't accept a debit card or even if they do, you will have to pay the assurance and that amount of money it is not refundable, no matter if you damage the car or not. Firefly is the cheapest company, but you have to make a reservation because, otherwise, they may not have cars available when you get there. The lowest prices in the others companies vary from 350€ to 450€ for 6 days. You receive the car with a full tank and you also have to return it full.

The traffic in Napoli looks like this:

And the road on the coast looks like this (the video is on fast forward, we weren't driving that fast):

Let's go to the visiting part now.

Amalfi - the town is nice, but not very impressive. There is a harbor with lots of boats from the cheapest to the expensive ones. There is no sand on the beach, just little rocks. The temperature was not high, we didn't get to swim so I can't tell you anything about the quality of the water. There is a nice square called Piazza del Duomo and there you can visit the Saint Andrew Cathedral for the moderate fee of 3€.

The town of Amalfi

Piazza del Duomo

Museo Diocesano Amalfi - Saint Andrew Cathedral

The stairs from the parking to the square

Ravello - If you head Salerno, after leaving Amalfi, you will see signs leading you to Ravello - the town of music. Our GPS didn't find it so we had to take the traditional way. Once we got there, we visited Villa Rufolo, created in 13th century. The entrance fee is 5€. The construction is impressive, the gardens and the view are stunning. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but this is a place you must write down on your list if you plan to visit the Amalfi Coast. We didn't get to visit Villa Cimbrone, but I heard it is also a nice thing to see.

Piazza del Duomo  

Villa Rufolo

Positano - clearly the most beautiful town on the coast. This is exactly how you expect the whole country to be. The streets are narrow, the buildings are very well taken care of, the slates with the name of the streets and the number of the houses are handmade and the houses are painted in warm colors. We didn't visit anything specifically, we just walked on the streets and the experience was unforgettable. The parking is pretty expensive: 5€ per hour. If you're interested in shopping, there are lots of shops who sell flax clothes and leather shoes. As far as the beach is concerned, there is little sand and lots of tiny rocks. The water is clear and there are small waves from time to time. If you're looking for snorkeling, you may be a little disappointed because the water is a little puddled and there is few fish. From Positano you can go for a boat tour of the coast. Also, you can go to Capri Island and there you will find bigger beaches. The road takes 50 minutes and the price is 35€. 

Positano

Grotta dello Smeraldo - the internet says the cave is in Positano. Actually, it is in Conca dei Marini. If you're headed to Positano, you will see signs on the road leading you to a lift that will take you to the cave. The ticket is 5€. When I was looking up for stuff to see along the coast, I saw different opinions on the emerald cave. Some people said it's awesome, others said it's a waste of time. Now that I saw it, I can say the cave is spectacular. But if you want to see the wonderful, blue color you will have to visit the cave on a sunny day. The sunnier the day, the bluer the blue. :)

The emerald cave

Fiordo di Furore - when you're about to exit Furore (towards Positano), you will cross a bridge and at its end you will see a sign pointing you to the right. There is no car access, you can only go on foot to see the fjord. There are some stairs and a little alee that will walk you along the fjord. It will be hard to find a parking spot because the main road is pretty narrow so get ready to walk 200-300 m on foot. It's a nice thing to see in the summer because if you go there after few rainy days, you will only see some puddles and an abandoned beach.

Fiordo di Furore seen from the bridge

Pompei - the old town is golden. You can get there by following the signs with "Pompei Scavi", but it's better if you use your GPS because they forgot to put signs in many intersections. The best idea is to take a whole day to visit the ruins because the town is HUGE. Also get some comfy shoes because you are going to walk A LOT. Don't take flip-flops or sandals because you are going to trip easily. The ticket price is 13€ (you only get a reduction if you're an art student) and if you want to see the museum, it costs an extra 2€. I recommend you first visit the ruins and after that the museum. Also you can take audio guides for an additional tax of 6.50€. They will help you understand what you see and it's easier to listen and watch at the same time than to read and watch after you finish reading. You can consider bringing your own headphones because the ones they give you will make your ear hurt (also there is only one headphone). They will also give you a map together with your audio guide. As far as the old town is concerned, I can only say you have to see it AT LEAST once in this lifetime. Its greatness is impressive, everything you see there will make your jaw drop. 

Pompei Scavi

Naples - the biggest disappointment of this trip. Just like the new city of Pompei, everything is miserable. There is garbage everywhere and everything smells like pee. The traffic is infernal and it's a miracle if your car doesn't get scratches. There are many things to see in Naples, but the way the city looks like will be a total turn-off. If you are travelling by car or you rented a car, you should park it in the parking of the harbor because you will hardly find a spot anywhere else. We wanted to visit the underground city and we had a hard time finding it. The signs that will lead you there are those with "Galeria Borbonica". Anyway, after we walked in all the directions for 15 minutes, we finally succeeded, but we found out it was closed. Apparently it is open only during weekends so plan your trip wisely. We only managed to visit Piazza del Plebiscito, Fontana di Santa Lucia, Castel dell'Ovo and Castel Nuovo. Neither of the castles was in good condition. Only the entrance gate at Castel Nuovo was impressive. The narrow streets between buildings are full of different smells which vary from fish to pee. The buildings are slowly falling apart and no one takes care of them. There were many other objectives to be seen such as the Archaeological Museum, the Dome of Naples, the Castel Sant'Elmo, etc, but, as I said earlier, the misery of the city was a total turn-off.

Piazza del Plebiscito

Entrance gate at Castel Nuovo

Baron's Hall curently used as City Hall - Castel Nuovo

Skeletons found in Armory - Castel Nuovo

Fontana di Santa Lucia

View from Castel dell'Ovo

Caserta - it's an upcountry city and we didn't find many tourists visiting Caserta. Compared to Napoli, the city is clean, with decent traffic and decent drivers. Here we visited Casertavecchia, the old town which was truly amazing. Paved streets, old houses, painted house numbers, lovely places. It's a little piece of history. The only disappointment I had in the old town was that the castle build around 800 AD was not open for visitors. In the new city, we visited Reggia di Caserta, palace designed by Luigi Vanvitelli. The entrance fee was 12€ and students had a reduction of half the price. The palace is huge. Personally, I liked the stairs and the first two rooms (they had simpler decoration since they were intended for security - haleberdiers and soldiers). The other rooms were very goldish and they didn't have too many pieces of furniture. The audio guide is not worth (5€) because you don't listen to any historical information, but you only find out who painted every fresco of the palace. The park was inspired by the one in Versailles, but it is kind of dull. It is 3.3 km long so be wise and rent a bike because otherwise you're going to say goodbye to your feet. The fountains are spectacular and pretty well taken care of. At the end of the park, there is a big exotic garden called Giardino Inglese so save some energy to visit that too.

Casertavecchia

Reggia di Caserta

Giardino Inglese

I really hope sharing my experience in Amalfi Coast will help you plan your journey as well as possible. Thank you for reading and I am open to any suggestions and remarks. Have a nice day! :)

P.S. - Only few Italians speak English.