A Taste of Positano & Capri
We finally made it to what seems to be the destination of the summer: the Amalfi Coast! While we only made it to Positano, Capri and Nerano (just for lunch), we have created a list of some of our favorite places and compiled some useful tips for those planning to go in the future.
When to Go
Our trip to Positano began July 14th and we spent 5 days there (1 of them being in Capri). We were there during the summer heatwave with temperatures up to 43 degrees celsius/110 fahrenheit, so our first piece of advice is that if you plan on going to Positano in the summer, be prepared for extremely high temperatures and busy crowds. While we had an amazing time, the next time we go we will travel there during May, June or September when the weather is more temperate, prices aren’t as high, and the town is not as crowded.
Another thing to note is that the beautiful town of Positano is very elevated, and will require lots of stair climbing so plan accordingly and pack comfortable walking shoes!
Where to Stay
Le Sirenuse
During our time in Positano, we stayed at the Le Sirenuse hotel and absolutely loved it. The hotel is in the perfect location right in the center of the town, only a 5-10 minute walk from the main beach. The hotel had the most incredible breakfast buffet spread, a beautiful pool, and a full service gym and spa. The hotel's views are like no other and both Aldo’s cocktail bar and La Sponda, the fine dining restaurant, overlook the colorful hills and the megayachts anchored in the bay.
We definitely took advantage of all of the hotel amenities including the impeccable in-room dining service to enjoy breakfast with incredible views from our private balcony, the private pilates classes offered daily, the hotel pool perched perfectly above the ocean, and the cold-plunge pool in the spa which felt incredibly refreshing during the heatwave. This hotel is definitely pricey, but we felt worth it. If you don’t stay here, do at least come for a drink or meal.
The incredible breakfast buffet spread at Le Sirenuse
Il San Pietro
We visited the Il San Pietro hotel for drinks one night and were captivated by the gorgeous setting. This hotel is the perfect honeymoon/romantic getaway spot. It is located about a 5-10 minute drive from the main part of town so guests here escape some of the crowds and have an unbeatable view overlooking the ocean. Come for sunset drinks and take in the stunning bougainvillea too.
Drinks with a view!
Hotel Poseidon
We never had the chance to visit this hotel, but have heard several great things about it! If you plan on staying in Positano, consider looking into this as another option of where to stay.
Where to Eat
Maestro’s
Located at the Five Star Villa Treville, Maestro’s serves super fresh fish and decadent pasta. Many of the ingredients are grown at Treville’s organic farm, so the menu changes regularly depending on what’s in season. We ordered the burrata and tomatoes to start, fresh fish of the day, and spaghetti pomodoro, all were amazing!
Lo Scoglio
This was one of my favorite meals of the entire trip. Lo Scoglio has a few different locations and we visited the one in Nerano. We booked a boat for the day to explore the caves and the Amalfi Coast from the water and planned our lunch here that day as it is about a 20 minute boat ride from Positano.
We sighted a couple of celebrities at Lo Scoglio, and it’s no wonder as this institution has been around since 1958 and is well known for its authentic Italian food. The zucchini pasta and vongole are both a must if you go here, along with the ubiquitous aperol spritz. This is a meal I will be dreaming about forever.
Bruno
One night we dined at Bruno, which was more casual than some of the other restaurants we tried. This wasn’t our favorite meal, but the views were outstanding. If you do go, order the aglio e olio which was delicious. We would avoid the seafood here as it didn’t taste as fresh as at the other restaurants we went to.
La Sponda
For a special occasion, La Sponda at Le Sirenuse is your spot. The ambience, the service and the food all exceeded our expectations. The steak here was incredible as was the cacio e pepe. Pictured is the stunning view.
Aurora
We all decided that Aurora was our favorite place to eat out of all the places we went to on this trip. Aurora is located in the heart of Capri island, and is the oldest restaurant on the entire island of Capri.
Aurora is famous for its thin crust pizza, and rightly so. We have never seen a pizza crust so thin and the tomato sauce and cheese were just right. Everything we ate was amazing but the pizza and truffle pasta were definitely the stars of the show. We ate on the earlier side as we only spent the day on the island but we heard Aurora turns into quite the scene at night. Definitely a must if you are ever in Capri.
What to Do
Hike: The days were really hot when we were there, so normally we would recommend a picturesque hike, but we didn’t even attempt it. We did hear the Path of the Gods is one of the most beautiful walks in Italy, so give it a try if you don’t go during a heatwave!
Beach Clubs: Another great thing to do in Positano and Capri–and the rest of the Amalfi Coast for that matter–is spend a day at a beach club.
Arienzo
We spent one of our days at Arienzo beach club, known for its iconic all orange aesthetic. The beach club crew will come pick you up on the main beach as the only way to access this beach club is by boat. It gets extremely busy in the summer, so make sure to book far in advance.
This was the perfect place for us to lay out all day, enjoy the water and sip on aperol spiritzes. We recommend booking a lunch reservation and eating at the restaurant to catch a break from the sun. The food here was good, but the main attraction is definitely the beach chairs and its a much less crowded swimming spot than Poistano’s main beach.
La Fontelina Capri
We also spent a day at La Fontelina Beach club in Capri. If you aren’t staying on Capri, you can take a ferry over or book a private or semi-private boat to take you over there. After touring the beautiful grottos and the famous Arco Naturale, we pulled up to La Fontelina, which looks like it should be on the cover of a travel magazine. Blue and white umbrellas and sling chairs are perched all over the natural rock looking over turquoise waters. The food at the restaurant was amazing too. If you are going to do one beach club, this one was definitely our favorite
Boat Hires
At the main beach there are several vendors that will rent out boats for half a day, along with a captain and some snacks and cocktails. We rented through Lucibello, but there were several vendors along the main beach that you can rent through. Our Captain showed us some of the most incredible caves with the coolest waters, which was definitely refreshing during the heatwave. The view of the whole coast from the water is particularly dramatic.
Shopping
We didn’t spend a lot of time shopping in Positano, but there was one store we couldn’t resist–Luisa Positano. We highly recommend this shop, which has been around since 1969 for buying the most beautiful linen and cotton-blend skirts, dresses and wide leg pants.