Two weeks in Southern Italy

[Pauline]

I have been stewing about this trip for weeks but finally have it booked. Two weeks in mid-May in southern Italy.

We fly into Naples. The flight arrives in the evening so we will overnight in Naples, then pickup a rental car and drive to the Amalfi Coast for 6 nights. We've been there twice before and we love the hiking in this area. Previously we stayed in Positano, but this time we are trying Praiano, the next town down the coast. On our last trip we did a hike from this town, one hour climbing stairs straight up to the Path of the Gods, then along the trail to Nocelle.

We rented Villino Blu from Summer in Italy. It is just off the main street in Praiano and has parking.

The plan for our time in Praiano is to do all our favorite hikes from Praiano, and from Positano (we can take the bus). Since we will have the car we will probably drive to Amalfi and do a hike there.

Then we drive south to the Cilento Coast in Campagna. We've only been there once before on a day trip in 2015 from Basilicata where we went to Paestum and a few of the coastal towns.

We rented Villa Trotta in Perdifumo, in the hills above the coast, also from Summer in Italy. This was the grand prize in one of the SlowTrav contests and I know a few people who have stayed there. On our one day trip to this area we drove by the villa to have a look at it. It is a 5 bedroom villa but priced like a 1 bedroom apartment on the Amalfi Coast. Friends from Basilicata are joining us so we won't be rattling around in the big house.

This will be our chance to see the Cilento Coast. We will work in a few hikes, some walks on the country roads in the area, some in the nearby national park, and we will do some exploring of the towns along the coast. Maybe even a return trip to Paestum.

Any suggestions for things to do, places to see on the Cilento Coast?

This is the photo I took in 2015 when we drove up to see Villa Trotta.

 

[jonathan]

The interior decor at the Praiano villa certainly takes up on the 'Blu' theme

 

[Valerie]

Nice choice in Praiano. And Villa Trotta <3

 

[Sara]

Certosa di Padula is definitely a must-see!

 

[SandiMcMc]

You know we love Positano, and I am planning to go back in September. The blue villa in Praiano looks lovely, and you are right that it will probably be a much better location for hiking.
I on the other hand, will not be hiking. So Positano is perfect for me!

 

[Pauline]

You know we love Positano, and I am planning to go back in September. The blue villa in Praiano looks lovely, and you are right that it will probably be a much better location for hiking.
I on the other hand, will not be hiking. So Positano is perfect for me!

I love Positano too and we’ve stayed there on our last two trips. This trip is an experiment to see how Praiano works for us. I know we will miss morning coffee at that cafe near the ferry dock, which I think you and Gail recommended to me.

 

[Pauline]

Certosa di Padula is definitely a must-see!

Thanks, we haven’t been there.

 

[ItalophileNJ]

Villa Trotta, amazing! I am, of course, one of the lucky people who got to stay there as a prize for the 2004? contest. It's a lovely and gracious house, as I am sure your friends from Basilicata know.....

When we were there, the actual town of Perdifumo, about a a half mile from the villa, was charming and/but totally un"improved". There was a bank, if I recall, but no ATM. A small (but lovely) grocery store, a bar/candy store kind of place where the men sat outside, just enough chairs for them. And across the small highway, a bakery that became a pizzeria on weekend nights, only restaurant in or near town.

At night, from one of the terraces of the Villa Trotta, you can see Capri off in the distance.

 

[ellen]

Villa Trotta is lovely and the setting is a big part of that, be sure to allow time to just sit on the terraces and soak it in.

We did so many fun day trips from there, unfortunately ItalophileNJ's wonderful trip report was lost with the old Slowtrav web site (unless she has a copy) and my memory of the details stinks.

A visit to the De Conciliis winery in Prignano Cilento stands out (http://www.viticoltorideconciliis.it/Default.asp?ln=2) as do several harrowing drives on some local roads (lesson learned, if a dog is sleeping in the middle of the road you probably don't want to drive down it).

 

[Pauline]

We did so many fun day trips from there, unfortunately ItalophileNJ's wonderful trip report was lost with the old Slowtrav web site (unless she has a copy) and my memory of the details stinks.

I have all the SlowTrav Trip Reports and have been publishing them here with author permission. I’ll look for that one!

 

[ellen]

I remember that the title of the trip report included "I vincitori", if that helps.

 

[ItalophileNJ]

Wow, "I vincitori", thank you ellen! The title comes from the phrase with which the Trotta's greeted us when we finally arrived at the villa, after getting lost several times (the villa is lovely but ---- at least then ---- the town of Perdifumo was off one of several poorly marked and barely paved roads.

Pauline, you have my permission to publish the report although I'd like to take a quick look at it first.

From the villa, we went to Paestum for a day, but I believe you've already been there Pauline. Our not very long trip to the De Conciliis winery was the first time I got irretrievably lost and we were led to the winery by a local policeman: The vinaio who greeted us told us that this particular policeman was only too happy to guide us to the winery...... enough said.

I believe the roads are much much better now, because even back in 2006 there were new three- and four-lane roads that did not yet appear on the map, only the rutted, hilly and poorly paved roads that led between the various small towns. We followed one such up to a mountain overlook in fog that soon became overwhelming, but there was nowhere to turn around. That's probably where we did the damage to our tire that, thankfully, only turned into a flat when, having survived the trip up and down, we were driving on a new and wide road. (And I thank ellen's father for having taught her to change a flat; my father didn't even drive...)

Once you find the trip report, we can see the names of several restaurants that were happy to make wonderful vegetarian dishes for us, even if none were on the menu. And the names of the lovely seaside towns that we visited, very quiet in early May.

Oh, and the sleeping dog on the road: Coincidentally, I just told someone that story a few weeks ago. I'm planning a trip to Florence in early March to spend time with my granddaughter who is studying there, and this person was urging me to rent a car and try driving in Italy, it's not really that hard.;-) I explained that the days when I would rent a car in a foreign country are past, but that I did have some experience doing so. Ha!

Thanks for this, ellen!

 

[ItalophileNJ]

AND ----- I do have a copy of the "I Vincitori" trip report. Saving it to read later with a glass of wine. Or maybe with an *Aperol spritz or a digestivo.

*yes, yes, it's from another part of Italy....

 

[ellen]

Yes, I'd love to know the name of the restaurant we ate at before we climbed that mountain into the fog, or at least I think it was the same day.

I haven't needed to change another tire since that day but I was glad I knew how!

 

[ItalophileNJ]

Well, that was fun! The name of the restaurant was/is il Chiocchia d’Oro in Novi Velia, Vallo della Lucania. We visited it a different day...


And of course the phrase i Vincitori was because we were the prize winners.


Pauline ......what happened to all the Slowphotos? I think I tried to get them when I first left ST but there was some bureaucratic problem.

 

[ellen]

Yep, that looks familiar (you can see it on google maps street view). I remember that meal was one where the owner (at least I assume he was the owner) asked us to trust him to come up with something suitable for vegetarians and it was wonderful.

 

[Valerie]

It's a lovely and gracious house, as I am sure your friends from Basilicata know.....

No heart smiley but {HEART} Villa Trotta

 

[Valerie]

I've been making notes of walking trails for you.

 

[Georgia & Zig]

Zig and I will be at an Airbnb in Ravello in September. How does one get to the Path of the Gods from there? We won't have a car.

 

[Georgia & Zig]

I have been stewing about this trip for weeks but finally have it booked. Two weeks in mid-May in southern Italy.

We fly into Naples. The flight arrives in the evening so we will overnight in Naples, then pickup a rental car and drive to the Amalfi Coast for 6 nights. We've been there twice before and we love the hiking in this area. Previously we stayed in Positano, but this time we are trying Praiano, the next town down the coast. On our last trip we did a hike from this town, one hour climbing stairs straight up to the Path of the Gods, then along the trail to Nocelle.

We rented Villino Blu from Summer in Italy. It is just off the main street in Praiano and has parking.

The plan for our time in Praiano is to do all our favorite hikes from Praiano, and from Positano (we can take the bus). Since we will have the car we will probably drive to Amalfi and do a hike there.

Then we drive south to the Cilento Coast in Campagna. We've only been there once before on a day trip in 2015 from Basilicata where we went to Paestum and a few of the coastal towns.

We rented Villa Trotta in Perdifumo, in the hills above the coast, also from Summer in Italy. This was the grand prize in one of the SlowTrav contests and I know a few people who have stayed there. On our one day trip to this area we drove by the villa to have a look at it. It is a 5 bedroom villa but priced like a 1 bedroom apartment on the Amalfi Coast. Friends from Basilicata are joining us so we won't be rattling around in the big house.

This will be our chance to see the Cilento Coast. We will work in a few hikes, some walks on the country roads in the area, some in the nearby national park, and we will do some exploring of the towns along the coast. Maybe even a return trip to Paestum.

Any suggestions for things to do, places to see on the Cilento Coast?

This is the photo I took in 2015 when we drove up to see Villa Trotta.

View attachment 16693

Where did you hike on the Amalfi coast? Do you have a trip report from that trip? Zig wants to hike the Path of the Gods. We will be staying at an Airbnb for a week in September in Ravello!