Amalfi Coast - On Top Of The World

Lucy Halfhead enjoys golden days on the Amalfi Coast, with dramatic clifftop views, moonlit dinners and refreshing dips in the turquoise sea

Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone,” wrote author John Steinbeck in an article for the May 1953 issue of Harper’s Bazaar. It was a sentiment that seemed apposite to the whole of Italy during those eerie first months of the pandemic, when we were confined to our homes for all but a daily walk. I clung on to memories of holidays gone by—exploring Rome’s architectural wonders, eating creamy gelato while getting lost in Venice and spending lazy afternoons drinking Aperol by the pool at a wedding in Tuscany. And so, when the FCO confirmed that travel was once again permitted, I made swift plans to return, and flew to Naples with one of my oldest friends.

We emerged tentatively from the plane, squinting against the bright July sunshine, and taxied down to the port to catch the ferry to the island of Capri. The 50-minute journey was surreal; we stood at the back of the boat, mostly in mesmerised silence, gazing out across the inky waves as the Italian coastline unfurled before us. As we arrived at the island’s Marina Grande, any anxious feelings were dispersed by a friendly, mask-wearing host from JK Place Capri who directed us to a smart golf buggy for the short drive up from the harbour.