Choosing which town to base yourself on the Amalfi Coast is no easy feat – with over 40 miles of coastline and over a dozen municipalities, the choices are endless. We knew that we didn’t want to spend too much time driving between towns, and that for our weeklong trip it would make sense to base ourselves in two locations. We loved Sorrento for it’s hustle and bustle and proximity to Pompeii, but for the remainder of our trip we were looking to maximise beach and relaxation time.
The drive from Sorrento down the Amalfi Coast is worth a morning, in and of itself. We left Sorrento after breakfast and embarked on this hairpin journey. As you travel south down the Amalfi coast, there are beautiful seaside towns tucked away from the main road, and lots of twists and turns with on view more jaw-dropping than the next. Make sure you pull over (carefully!) a few times to get some pictures, there are specially marked turnouts for this purpose, but they come up quickly. Romantic villages like Priano, Amalfi and Positano are stunning, but definitely not very stroller friendly – I would avoid staying here if you have children that are going to rely on needing a stroller to get around. We were able to fold up our Joie Pact Stroller and carry it when we visited Positano, but it was still difficult due to the many steps, narrow passages, and lack of sidewalks . Remember, they call Positano the vertical city for a reason!
Why we chose Maiori
If Sorrento is Rome’s younger Vespa riding cousin, Maiori is it’s cigar smoking great-uncle. No joke, Mairori is a retirement community enclave, and it’s not unusual to see more mobility scooters than regular ones. It’s wide sidewalks, car free zones, and large beach made it our top choice, it was a world away from the hustle and bustle of towns like Positano and Amalfi.
We chose to stay at Hotel Due Torri which has large rooms and stunning ocean views – I loved sitting on our balcony and taking in the blue water below. Our hotel choices on this trip could not have been better, and Hotel Due Torri was no exception. It is also right across from Torre Normanna, a seaside restaurant with stunning views. While we didn’t eat there (not penguin friendly! – just getting to the restaurant involves some perilous steps), I would love to come again and dine there someday sans kids. The only drawback to this location was that being on the edge of the village meant a precarious 5 minute walk along the side of the road down to the beach. While it was scary the first few times, there is little traffic and you just need to be cautious. Plus, it was a great workout carrying the penguin down to the beach!
The town of Maiori is great for children – every night around 7:00 all the neighborhood kids comes out to play with their scooters and bikes, and the whole community watches. Every evening we finished dinner and headed to the playground on the beach – this was a hotspot for all the younger kids. It was so fun to watch our daughter interact with the Italian bambini, and see all the other parents hanging out. This was definitely one of our trip highlights.
As for dining, our food in Maiori was incredible. I highly recommend Al Mare – coming in right when they opened at 7:00 allowed us to take in the beautiful beach views and sunset. This menu is a bit more fancy, so perfect for a special occasion. We also loved family run La Terazza – we loved it so much that we went back the next day. And, it wasn’t just us, we noticed quite a few diners had been with us the evening before. Sitting on the outdoor patio with a glass a wine looking down at the street below… heaven!
Things to Do
Mairori is the perfect home base for exploring other towns, and going by boat is the best way to do that. Parking is nearly impossible in Amalfi and Positano (there is a lot in Amalfi, but it is small and fills up quickly) and taking a boat tour allows you to take in the view you didn’t get to see while driving across the highway.
We were able to book a boat tour through our hotel (kids under 5 free – hurrah!) and it was one of the highlights of our trip. We were on a beautiful boat with 10 guests (many honeymooners – we gave them a glimpse into their future life with kids) and arranged to sail from 9-1:00 with stops at the Emerald Grotto, Positano, and time to swim in the ocean.
I had been to the Emerald Grotto as a teenager, and while it is pretty cool, it was decided that it would be too difficult to get our toddler out of our boat into a tiny rowboat so she and I hung out with the captain (this should be totally fine to do, the captain didn’t mind) while my husband explored the Grotto. I personally don’t feel this is a “must do” – it was nice to have it included but if you don’t make it you really aren’t missing out on much. I think the Blue Lagoon o We had a snack, enjoyed hanging out in the sun, and looking at the other boats in the water – definitely very relaxing and felt like a private yacht experience.
From the Emerald Grotto we had an hour of free time in Positano – which was more than enough time. Positano’s harbor in July can feel like a bus station, boats pulling up and tourists stumbling out laiden with luggage. It can be very crowded, so you may want to head up to the hills to escape the hustle and bustle. Being a tourist town, Positano is not cheap. A lot of the restaurants, especially those in a line near the harbour pretty much sell the same food and will leave your wallet much lighter.
As our boat made its way up and down the coast our captain shouted out all of the little towns, Amafi! Furore! Priano! Conca de Marini! It is so fun to look at these gorgeous cliffside homes and hotels… and imagine yourself staying there. Swimming in the sea was definitely a highlight – my husband and I took turns with the other one staying with our toddler. By this point in the trip she was pretty tuckered out and falling asleep.
Maiori is also notably different from many of the other towns on the Amalfi coast, in that it has a nice large beach, in fact, the longest stretch of beachfront of all of the Amalfi coast. While our hotel had a great pool, hotel Due Torri also has a partnership with one of the local beach clubs, where for a fee of about €25 for two loungers and an umbrella you can hang out on the beach all afternoon. You can dine simply and cheaply at any of the beach clubs – which makes them a great option for lunch.
Ravello
Our last full day, we made a spur of the moment decision to check out Ravello. It’s about a 30 minute drive up through the hills, and definitely not a drive for the faint of heart! Ravello is very different from the other towns in the Amalfi coast, with its lack of cars (make sure you get to the parking lot early, we arrived at 11:00 and snagged one of the last available spots) slower pace, killer views, and luxury hotels, you can see why Jacqueline Kennedy, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote hung out here.
While there isn’t a ton to do in Ravello beyond visiting a handful of villas (Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone), the views, piazzas, and the slower pace makes for a perfect day trip. The fact that it is a car free town makes it very easy to get around with a stroller.
We walked up to the Hotel Belmond Caruso, took in the gorgeous views and then made our way back to the town piazza for lunch. Again, this is a luxury tourist town, the prices were a bit higher than in Maiori – save your souvenir shopping for later. Though there are some gorgeous pottery shops, one of my favorites being Ceramiche Cosmolena which is conveniently located near the parking lot.
What I’m Saving for Next Time
We spent a lot of time debating whether or not to include Capri on our itinerary, and while it would have been amazing to go, we ultimately made the choice to forego it. While this was a difficult choice, Capri is only accessible by ferry, and traveling with a toddler you need to be all about flexibility. The ferry is also pretty pricey, would it be worth it to us to spend €90 on ferry tickets and have to leave after two hours? The island itself is not super child friendly, there are few sidewalks, it’s quite hilly, and buses won’t always be equipped to handle strollers. What sealed the deal for me was actually reaching out to Capri’s tourism board, who suggested I would have a much better time if I returned on a couples trip, without my toddler.
Another town we would have loved to visit, but there just wasn’t enough time, was Amalfi. I would have loved to do the walk from Amalfi to Atrani, which is about 10-15 minutes. There are some stairs which might prove difficult, but if you had a hiking backpack would definitely be doable. The one hike I strongly discourage anyone from doing with kids is Amafi to Ravello – you need to give yourself about three hours and it contains thousands upon thousands of stairs… though that could be an amazing workout and allow you to eat as much pizza and gelato as you wish!
