Amalfi Coast

Stretching along one of Europe's most dramatic coastlines, the Amalfi Coast is a masterpiece of vertical landscapes. Colourful villages, winding roads, historic villas and terraced lemon groves create an unforgettable dialogue between nature and Italian craftsmanship.

The Amalfi Coast runs along the southern side of the Sorrento peninsula, where the Lattari mountains drop almost straight into the Gulf of Salerno. Recognised by UNESCO in 1997, it is linked by a single road, the SS163, cut into the cliffs. Amalfi itself was once a maritime republic that traded across the Mediterranean; its cathedral of Sant’Andrea still dominates the town.

Each village has a character of its own. Positano climbs in tiers of coloured houses above its beach; Ravello, high above the sea, has the gardens of Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone. Between them lie terraced lemon groves growing the large sfusato lemon, and the Path of the Gods, a walk high above the coast from Bomerano to Nocelle.

The season runs from April to October, and many hotels close between November and March. May, June and September are the most rewarding months: warm enough for the sea, with gardens in flower and terraces open for dinner. Boats along the coast from Salerno and Positano spare the drive on busy days and offer the best view of the villages from the water.

July and August are hot and crowded, and the coast road slows to a crawl. They are, however, the months of the Ravello Festival, with concerts on the belvedere of Villa Rufolo above the sea. October is quieter and still mild, a good month for walking the old mule paths between the villages and for lunches by the water in Amalfi and Positano.

The coast’s most celebrated hotels are family-run houses: Le Sirenuse and Il San Pietro di Positano in Positano, and Hotel Santa Caterina on the cliffs just west of Amalfi. In Ravello, Caruso, A Belmond Hotel occupies an eleventh-century palace with an infinity pool above the gulf; in Amalfi, Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel is set in a thirteenth-century former monastery.

LVXVRY books the Convento di Amalfi through Anantara Journeys — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges the programme attaches to the stay. For the other houses, LVXVRY advises on rooms and seasons and arranges the stay directly with the hotel. Sea-view rooms in Positano are few and are best reserved well ahead for June and September.