Hello, hello!
Today I am sharing the third part of the anniversary trip we took this summer, which was in Positano! (My apologies for taking so long to get these posts up; we took SO many pictures on this trip so it took a while to get through and edit them all!)
We started out in Venice, then went on to Rome, and finished in Positano and I have got to say, if you love being by the water, this is the right move.
I knew the first two cities we visited would include a lot of walking and sight-seeing and wanted to finish the trip at a slower pace, soaking in the sun and water.
Positano is a little town built on a cliffside on the Amalfi coast and it is as picturesque in person as it is in the photos. But, being on a cliffside means there are a lot of stairs and hills to navigate around, so if getting around is difficult for you or anyone you are with, this might not be the right stop for you.
We stayed at the Hotel Miramare and to us it was the perfect location. It wasn’t too high up on the cliffside that it was a pain getting to, yet was high enough to give us an incredible view. A family we met while on our trip was staying much higher on the cliff in an Air BnB and it took them so long to go up and down that they just packed what they needed for the whole day and didn’t go back until the evening. At the Miramare, it only took 5 minutes to walk down to the beach.
I also cannot stress enough how friendly and helpful the staff were at this hotel. We were greeted with the biggest hugs and truly were made to feel like family.
The room we stayed in was really spacious, had a NICE air conditioning unit that kept the room cold (which in August was a must for us) and the view was perfection.
The first thing we did once getting settled was to go down to the beach and to check out the little town. Again, the VIEW!
Something that was really nice was that our hotel gave us a little bag and towels to take down to the beach with us which was so appreciated! Otherwise, we would have had to either bring our own towels from home, bring our bath towels, or buy some once there. So this was a nice surprise! If you look closely once on the beach, you can find little nuggets of green glass in the sand that have been rounded over the years, so I enjoyed hunting for those while my husband snorkeled.
There are a bunch of little shops all throughout Positano, all which can be reached by foot. I would not bother renting a car as there aren’t many places to park and once there, you really don’t need one. So for the rest of the night, we explored the town by foot and stopped at any and all places that looked appealing to us!
Our favorite little shop was this lemon store, which we couldn’t find a name for! There is a bottle of perfume in that store that smells just like a lemon drop, and we both loved the smell. A great little spot for gifts!
The next morning we decided to check out the complimentary breakfast provided by our hotel and it blew us away! Not only was the room beautiful in itself, but the views were incredible! Plus, each time we ate in there we were either the only ones in there or were with only one other couple.
View from the breakfast room
Plus, there was a really nice spread! Bottomless cappuccinos, too.
For our first full day in Positano, we had booked a boat tour to the island of Capri. My husband LOVES snorkeling so I knew this tour would be a hit, and it really exceeded our expectations. (Just google Boat tour island of Capri.) We met at the meeting place and got on a bus that took us to Sorento, which is the next town over, and it was about a 30-minute bus ride. Once there, we got on our boat with about 5 other couples, and by the end of it, we were all laughing and having a great time. Wine, beer, prosecco, and snacks were provided as we toured around Capri, stopping at various places to snorkel.
Because my husband loves to snorkel so much, we bought and brought our own snorkel masks for this tour. Initially, I wasn’t sure they were worth the suitcase space, but I have to tell you, we received many compliments on them from fellow passengers saying they wished they had masks like these. They worked really well.
Once we made our way all the way around Capri, we docked the boat and were given 3 hours to explore the island. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants, and filling those 3 hours was not hard to do.
We then got back on the boat, did a little more snorkeling, and then made our way back to Sorento. Before we got back, though, our captain took us by a little waterfall and let us go underneath it, which was fun for everyone.
One thing I REALLY wanted to do while in Positano was to visit the Blue Grotto on Capri. I thought maybe we would have a chance to do this during our 3-hour break on the boat tour, but after talking with a few people, we might have cut it close. I was ready to let it go when the super-sweet receptionist saw that I was a little let-down and said she might have the direct number to the Blue Grotto so that we could call and find out when their slowest time might be. So that is exactly what we did! They said we might have the best luck right when it opens.
So the next day we caught the earliest ferry, which I believe was around 8:45 and got to Capri around 9:30. We then were told we had two options; we could either take a 45 minute bus to the location, or we could take a 15 minute boat ride there.
NOW HERE IS WHERE YOU NEED TO LISTEN! TAKE THE BUS!!! What we didn’t know is that if you take a 15 minute boat ride, your boat then waits on the open waters for your turn to go into the Blue Grotto. That means you are waiting on rocking waters for around 1-2 hours, and we saw many people getting sick during this time. It was not good. BUT, if you took the bus to the location, which appears to be the less-popular route, you simply wait on land and you actually get into the grotto much faster than those waiting on the boats. I had my little umbrella packed and can’t tell you how thankful I was to have had it to block from the sun.
ANOTHER good option we later learned, is that you can rent your own little mini boat at an hourly rate, and drive on over to the Blue Grotto yourself. And, if you let some of the workers running the canoes know that you are willing to tip, you will skip right on ahead of those waiting in the big boats. Is it fair? no. Did it happen? It sure did.
We ended up waiting about an hour, and when it was our turn, a man in a little canoe took us to pay (I think it was about 10ish per person) and then took us to the opening of the blue grotto. Here, we had to lay flat on our backs so as not to hit our heads upon entering….
And once inside it was a cave of the bluest of blue waters! It was truly incredible and was in this moment that we realized the whole ordeal of making it to this point was totally worth it.
My husband had heard that if you offer to tip your skipper, that he would let you jump in, so he did and overboard we went! We can now say we swam in the Blue Grotto, which is something we will never forget.
Below is a photo of the little tent you where you can rent your own little motorboat to take you to the grotto. This is what we would do if we were to do it again!
Once back in Positano we just decided to soak up the last night of our vacation. We showered up and hit the town to decide where to eat.
There is a Michelin restaurant called Rada that is located inside and around a giant rock on the edge of the cliff but does take reservations to get in to. Instead, we asked if we could go to the bar upstairs, which I believe is called Fly Bar, and we were allowed to do that and it was AMAZING! We were the only ones up there, had incredible 180* views and enjoyed an appetizer and drinks with the place to ourselves. Another hidden gem!
After our drinks and appetizers, we landed on a restaurant named Tre Sorelle, which means three sisters, and I cannot recommend it enough.
We ordered lasagna, these little fried appetizer things (I apologize for not remembering the name but they were amazing), eggplant parmesan, water (you pay for water everywhere here) and a beer and our total was $40. Pretty dang good!
Because we had to be up at 2:30 am to catch our ride to the airport at 3 am, we decided to call it for the night and went back to our hotel. The last little bit of goodness that I want to be sure to share, though, was that as we checkout out of our hotel at 3 am, our sweet receptionist handed us this bag of goodies to take with us for thw ay home. She had made us little sandwiches, and threw in some drinks and patries. We were SO touched and will never ever forget the wonderful hospitality we received while visiting the Miramare hotel in Positano and we would 100% stay there again.
Ciao, Positano! You treated us well!
This is the last post for our 10th Anniversary series, I hope you enjoyed and found them helpful!
If you missed it, I explained what to pack for Italy in THIS post, our favorites for Venice HERE, and our best tips for Rome HERE.
You can also see videos saved of our stops in Venice, Rome and Positano saved to my Instagram highlights HERE.
As always, thank you for stopping by!
<3 Shannon
