Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

A separate post for my honeymoon review - Sorry it is so long!
We flew from JFK to Milan for a connection to Naples. At the Naples airport, a car picked us up and took us to Positano. One suggestion - if you are at all prone to motion sickness, take Dramamine. The roads there a windy and I almost thaw up! We used Autonegglio for the private car transfers while on the coast - They were great. The transfers are expensive but worth it - You really don't want to try to drive on the mountain roads -
In Positano, there are several wonderful hotels. The two most famous are Le Sirenuse which is right in town (it was actually featured in the movie "Only You" w/Marissa Tomei) and the San Pietro which is just outside of town (they provide a free on-demand shuttle 24hrs a day to town). We stayed at the San Pietro and OMG it was absolutely amazing. They have a website - I believe it is www.ilsanpietro.it. The pictures on the website don't even do it justice. The hotel is built into the side of a mountain and there are gardens EVERYWHERE. There's a private beach, pool and lots of other amenities. The room was incredible as was the entire staff. We ended up upgrading rooms and it was worth the extra money. We even had a view of the coast/water from the bathroom! All rates included breakfast either at the hotel restaurant or in your room (on the patio overlooking the sea - amazing!). We stayed there for 4 nights. I saw the Sirenuse when I went into town. It looked very nice but not quite as nice as the San Pietro. If you are really concerned about being right in the middle of the action, it would be good. I definitely would recommend the San Pietro though, probably over the Sirenuse but, of course, I didn't stay there so I can't say for sure. Also - there is a restaurant way above town called Donna Rosa's. You have to take a taxi up but you must go - The food was awesome!
From Positano, we headed over to the isle of Capri. You can take a hydrofoil (fast ferry) from Sorrento (about 30-40min drive from Positano back towards Naples). It cost around $12pp. There are also boats from Positano and Amalfi but they don't run if the sea is rough. On Capri, we stayed at the Grand Quisisana. It was right in the middle of town and I mean right in the middle. Too noisy and crowded for my taste. There were always tours outside or just inside the lobby. The restaurant wasn't too good there (if there is such a thing as just okay food in Italy). Our room had a funny smell, leaking toilet and was overlooking the Piazetta (main street). At night, there was loud music coming from a club across the street. You really couldn't open the windows at all because it was too noisy. The Quisisana is one of two five-star hotels on Capri but there are some much, much nicer four-star hotels. I would recommend the La Scalinatela (only 30 rooms!) or the Punta Traga (this one overlooks the famous "rocks" off the coast - I forget what they're called right now). I also heard that the Villa Brunella is nice. All of these hotels are slightly off the beaten path but only a 5min walk to the main square. They are also much more charming. If you decide to stay at the Quisisana, definitely request an upgraded room on the garden/pool side. We stayed here for three nights - plenty of time for Capri.
From Capri, we took a boat over to Amalfi. A taxi picked us up to take us to the Palazzo Sasso in Ravello. OMG - What a hotel! Only about 38 rooms or so and Ravello is a mountain town overlooking the coast. It was so beautiful! The staff at the Palazzo Sasso was absolutely amazing. They sent us champagne, muffins and apricots as soon as we got there and every night you got a bottled water with a little tag that said "Buono Notte" (goodnight) attached, a box of chocolates and a little card with the weather forecast for the next day. On our last night they left us a little gift with a "thank you for staying" card attached - a little bottle of Limoncelli liquor and two little ceramic cups all wrapped up in cellophane. They were so charming. The terraces and pools were gorgeous. There were even two rooftop hot tubs. Breakfast and lunch were served outside on one of their many balconies. They had a lounge with beautiful artwork where you could get drinks and every night they had a pianist that would come and play/sing for a few hours. The rooms were big and beautiful.They have a website too - I think it is www.palazzosasso.it. The town of Ravello is so charming but there really aren't too many great hotels there - This was definitely the nicest there. Ravello was very mellow so it was a good end to our stay on the coast. We stayed there for three nights but I loved the hotel so much that I could've stayed longer.
From Ravello, we took a car to the Naples train station and took a train up to Rome. Rome was awful. The car never showed up at the train station to pick us up. We had reservations at the Hotel De La Ville Intercontinental. It was not nice at all. The Hassler next door was much nicer. They tried to give me a room on the first floor - When you looked out the window, there was someone's office window literally right on top of you with just a big barrel of cement in-between. I went back to the desk and requested a room change. They were SO nasty! They ended up giving me a room on the third floor but it still was horrible. Tiny and dingy - yuck. The hotel was undergoing renovation so it smelled like paint/chemicals. Every time I rode in the elevator I'd get dizzy. I am really glad we only had two nights there - None at all would've been better. We then took a flight back to JFK from Rome.
I would definitely recommend booking the hotels about a year in advance. They are all tiny so they book up quick. We booked in early February for a late Sept. early Oct. trip and we had a bit of trouble. We could only get certain nights at the San Pietro, some hotels on Capri were already booked and we could only get a mountain view room at the Palazzo Sasso.
This honeymoon was just amazing! The Amalfi Coast is probably one of the most romantic places in the world! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask -

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Congratulations on your wedding Meg. Your honeymoon review sounds okay, but you focused mostly on the hotel accommodations. Did you spend most of your time in the hotels? What did you and your new hubby see while there? What is there to do on the Amalfi Coast? I would love to hear more...we want to plan a trip to Italy someday and it's always nice to have some suggestions from people that have been there before. Thanks!

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Sorry Claud - I didn't mean to focus only on hotels - it was just that a few people had asked me for some hotel info. I'll expand on my already wordy review -

Positano was beautiful - a "port" town built into the side of the mountain. We did a lot of shopping there - they have tons of ceramics and lemon-products. We also did a lot of eating. Mostly at the outdoor cafes for lunch and a few restaurants (mostly the one at the hotel for dinner). Positano was pretty touristy but we went at the end of high-season so it wasn't really packed.
Capri was really pretty too. I found it to be very crowded - mostly day-trippers and many, many, many tourists. You got less of the "Italian" flavor here. We went to see the famous rocks (still can't remember the name), the "Arco de Naturale" and the Villa San Michelle. When we took a walk to see the rocks (we actually did it twice), we went to eat at the restaurant at the base of the mountain just underneath the rocks. It is a rough hike back up but worth it. The restaurant (of course I can't remember the name!) only serves lunch. There was also a public beach down there but it was too cold for us to swim. Capri isn't really known for it's beaches. The shopping there was mostly designer shops - Gucci, Prada, etc. - Not really what I wanted to buy on the honeymoon but most people love it. We tried to go to the Blue Grotto (mini cave with supposedly amazing blue light) but the seas were too rough so they weren't taking anyone that day. I did hear it was disappointing so I wasn't too upset. I would definitely recommend checking out the Villa San Michele - that was beautiful.
Ravello was probably my favorite. A very quaint, quiet town up in the mountains (but still with an incredible view). I don't think many people really stay there - just visit for the day. We visited both the Villa Rufolo (right in the town) and the Villa Cimbrone (a hike up from the center of town). Both were amazing - old mansions with tons of gardens and pathways to explore. Both had incredible views. My pictures look like postcards! At nighttime (moreso in the the summer), they have outdoor classical music concerts at the Villa Rufolo. We ended up missing the only one when we were there because it was really cold and rainy. There are also beautiful ceramic shops in Ravello but much more expensive than Positano. We also bought a case of wine to ship back to NY while we were there. We ate at a restaurant called "Cumpa Cosimo" which was a lot of fun - gave you a real flavor for the culture.
If you're planning a trip to the coast, I definitely recommend checking out Fodor's Naples, Amalfi Coast book (not the Italy one - it is too vague). It was really helpful. Fodors also makes a picture book which is amazing.
Hope this helps!

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Meg, your honeymoon sounds amazing. How exciting to see so much !!!!
I can only imagine how wonderful it was !!!!!!

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Congratulations. I'm glad you had such a wonderful honeymoon.

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Thanks Meg, I am currently working on booking my honeymoon in Italy for next june. Have you already been to other parts of Italy such as Venice and Florence? I also considered Amalfi but since I have never been to Italy I felt the need to see cities such as Rome and Venice. If I have enough time, I will also consider Amalfi. Thank you for all of your detailed reviews.

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Drjenn10 -
I haven't been to Rome, Venice, Florence etc. but my husband has. What you could do is just stop in all of the big cities - the Amalfi coast is only about an hour from Naples so you could do one or more day-trips there. If you can swing it, definitely check it out for at least a day. The coast it just breathtaking.
Good luck and happy planning!
P.S. I have heard that Florence is amazing -

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

A friend of mine is going to Amalfi on vacation next year, so I have been giving her copies of your posts to read. She wanted me to ask you if you knew the language. If not, how was that. Should she try to learn some before her trip?

Thanks...It all sounds so beautiful, I am sure something you will remember all of your life.

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Gracejilly - My FH knows a bit of Italian and I tried, pretty unsuccessfully, to learn a little before we went. We didn't need it at all. EVERYONE spoke english. We tried to speak Italian whenever we could but it really wasn't necessary. If your friend has any other questions, feel free to email me.

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Thanks Meg9-20-02 for sharing your honeymoon experience with us ... I plan to rent the "Only You" movie this weekend so that I can visualize what everyone raves about. My FH are considering Italy for our honeymoon too.

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Good luck Lovejones!
My favorite thing to do when we were trying to decide on where to go on our HM was go to Borders and spend hours in their travel book section. The best feel you'll get for the coast are the pictures in the Fodors Amalfi Coast hard-cover book. They look surreal but my pictures actually came out the same as those in the book!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me

Re: Honeymoon Review - Amalfi Coast (LONG!!)

Meg, don't apologize ...I just wanted to hear more about what you did/saw while you were there. It sounds beautiful!