Positano, a Cliff-side Village along the Amalfi Coast!

July 11, 2016 by nikirath 10 Comments

Having been brought up in a small town of India surrounded by so many villages, I have always had desire to visit villages of other countries. I have been endlessly curious to know and see how villages of other lands look like. That is how Positano, the coast side village of Italy was a part of our itinerary during my family trip to Italy. The Cliff-side village of Positano along the Amalfi coast is more like a beach town surrounded by little houses puzzled up together built upon high cliffs. The breathtaking bird’s eye view, ample greenery topped with ornamental flower vines on the hillside during summer makes it look all the more beautiful.

The village of Positano is about 45 minutes drive from Sorrento. The cheapest means of transport from Sorrento is via Sita Bus which leaves the train terminal at Sorrento every half hour. The tickets are just 8 euros person and the bus provides transfer to Positano and Amalfi, the coastal villages along the Amalfi coast. We hopped into the bus at around noon. Our drive was very scenic overlooking the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The drive was uphill cutting sharply through the mountains making way downhill and finally landing into the magical land of Positano.

Bird eye view of Positano

pink Bougainvillea flowers

On our way down the stairs

The bus dropped us at quite far in the hills away from the beach and we stepped down about 1ooo steps to reach to the main shopping area. The walk down the stairs was very unusual, it was through the houses that were built along the hills. It looked like private stairways going down right by their houses. We enjoyed walking down the stairs looking and appreciating the vegetable gardens in the backyards of private houses, just like any other village. I even noticed green figs hanging on the trees yet to ripe on our way down. After a few minutes of walking down the stairs , we overlooked the panoramic view of the city which was just like something that I had never seen before for real. The blue sea surrounded by the cliffs and hills packed with little colorful houses covered with beautiful pink Bougainvillea flowers looked just magnificent. Living in one of these houses must be such a wonderful experience.

Boutique shops

Main market area

Pathway to the beach

Lemons and more lemons

We then finally reached further down to the main shopping district of Positano. Little boutique shops on both sides, lemon scented soaps and perfumes, ceramic handmade art and craft were few of the things that caught my attention while walking through the shops. As we walked further down, the streets got narrower and narrower and they were covered with purple pink bushes all over the walkway. The beauty of the this place can be experienced only by visiting it for real and I was really awestruck looking at the natural creativity and happy at the same time that I got to visit such a lovely place.

More vines

More flowers

At last we reached the beach “Spiaggia Dell Fornillo” which was a sight absolutely worth those stairs and walkways. The colorful beach chairs all around the beach, tourists basking in the sun and the hustle bustle of the little restaurants nearby was a perfect spot to relax. We spent some time sipping on green detox smoothies in one of the restaurants facing the beach. After lazing around for quite some time and soaking in the view of the city, we made our mind to head back to the shopping area to buy some souvenirs. We really loved the lemon scented perfumes and I personally loved the soaps too, their lemon like fragrance was just to die for. We then made our way to the local bus which dropped us back to the Sita bus stop to hop on the bus back to Sorrento.

Beach by the cliff

Overall we had a lovely day, although we were bit tired by the time we reached Sorrento at the end of the day, it was all worth it. I had never seen such a serene and scenic village. It is a perfect getaway to spend time away from the city and enjoy mother nature. Is there any other villages you would recommend for visit? Do share. I would love to hear!