Vietri Sul Mare and the Amalfi Coast: Or, the Never-Ending Stairs

Here’s how we got from Capri to Vietri Sul Mare: Antonio (the father at our Monte Salerno B&B in Capri) drove us to the bus stop (because the rain was pouring) where we took the local bus from Anacapri to the Marina Grande on Capri; from Marina Grande we took a ferry to Sorrento; once in Sorrento, we hiked up several long and steep flights of stairs to catch the Circumvesuviana to the Pompeii stop (the Circumvesuviana is a local train running from Naples to Sorrento); once we reached Pompeii, we walked to the TrenItalia station where we caught a regional train to Vietri Sul Mare; once we arrived at the Vietri Sul Mare station, we had to walk down several flights of stairs to the bus station that would take us to the small town of Raito where our B&B, Il Melograno (meaning Pomegrante), was located. While waiting at the bus stop, the owner of our B&B, Marco, happened to drive by and gave us a ride into Raito. We traveled on nearly every form of transportation in one day - thank goodness we didn't have to fly anywhere! (By the way, an interesting fact about the weather during our travel day: the rain would pour whenever we were outside walking to the next stop, and then cease as soon as we were in a bus/ferry/train/car. Very strange…and a bit annoying!)


After all the travel shenanigans, we were exhausted and hungry! The lovely owners of Il Melograno B&B, husband and wife team Marco and Rosa, greeted us to their home with a bottle of frizzante wine and some local mozzarella cheese and delicious rolls. We gratefully gobbled up the snack and listened as Marco provided us with a small history lesson about Raito and Vietri, and then instructed us where to visit while we were staying on the Amalfi coast. He was extremely helpful and informative! Also, as it turns out, Marco is friends with the owner of the B&B where we are staying in Salerno, and apparently they are both attending a B&B Expo this weekend! Small world!

Friday morning the rain was gone and the sun was shining. The view from our room looked straight out to the beautifully clear coast. We planned to explore the towns of Raito, Albori, and Vietri. After a good night’s sleep and a wonderful breakfast, we felt recharged and ready for the day ahead. Little did we know what was in store: stairs, stairs, stairs, and more stairs! We decided to start the day with a short hike to the small town (smaller than Raito) of Albori located just up the hill from Raito. The hike began with a few little steps, then a steep climb of stairs, then even more stairs, then a little dirt path on a bit of an upward slope, and finally a steep declining road into Raito, followed by more stairs down to the town “center” (or what we assumed was the center). We thought Marco told us to eat at his friend’s restaurant in Albori, but when we asked a local where the restaurant was located he told us there was only one restaurant in Albori and it wasn’t open (it also was not the same restaurant Marco’s friend supposedly owns). The man even offered to drive us down into Vietri to get lunch, but we declined in favor of walking.

It was still early in the morning, probably around 10:30, and I thought it would be fun to walk down the road from Albori to Vietri so we could enjoy views of the coast. We walked back into Raito along the one highway that connects all the Amalfi coast towns (it’s not very big, so cars and people are free to share to road). Five minutes later, we were in Raito and ran into Rosa near the center of town. She directed us to a set of stairs and indicated they would take us to Vietri. After over 30 minutes of steep, declining steps, we reached the beach. But, the city center of Vietri, where we wanted to go, was more up in the mountain: below Raito, but above the beach. We stood on the beach staring up into the city wondering how to get there. I found a highway sign for “Vierti Sul Mare,” so we followed the road up the mountainside. After roughly an hour of steep, inclining, winding highway, we reached the city center hungry and completely exhausted. Luckily we had packed a small lunch of sandwiches and apples – a delicious and incredibly rewarding treat after all the “hiking”! After we ate, we went back to Raito to visit the Ceramics Museum. The museum is located in an old villa, and the ceramics are simply beautiful! I am IN LOVE with Vietri ceramics! The colors are so vibrant and the designs are so indicative of the area: lemons, grapevines, boats, sailors, etc. If I could buy an entire store of Vietri dishes, I would. Too bad my backpack isn't bigger! (*A side note: sad to say, the Vietri dishes I registered for for our wedding are not from the city Vietri; they are made from a company in North Carolina called Vietri, Inc. and are designed after the ceramics made in Vietri, Italy. I think they are still made in Italy, but they are not authentic Vietri Sul Mare ceramics. Either way, any kind of Vietri ceramic makes me very happy!)


After the museum, we walked back down the winding highway to Vietri. In my opinion, it’s easier to walk than wait for the bus. The Italians think we’re crazy to do so much walking. They would much rather wait hours for the bus; they don’t like to walk any more than absolutely necessary. We wandered around Vietri for a while and attempted to find somewhere to eat dinner, but we were having serious difficulties finding anything other than a small café/bar open. Luckily, we had a small kitchen in our B&B, so we bought pasta and sauce and made simple spaghetti instead!

This morning (Saturday) the sun was shining once again. There is a rooster who lives near the B&B and is constantly cock-a-doodle-doing. I told Ian it sounds like the rooster is repeatedly calling: “I am a ROOSTER!” just to make sure we all know that he is, in fact, a rooster. But, I kind of like the rooster. I think I might enjoy having one someday – along with the goats and chickens I plan to have. (I say that now, but Ian assures me that I would get fed up with the rooster constantly calling: “I am a ROOSTER!” twenty times a day!). After breakfast, we took a SITA bus from Vietri up to Amalfi: home of the gorgeously famous Amalfi coast beaches. The bus winds along a very narrow mountain road (much like the winding mountain roads in Colorado, but even more narrow), and has to constantly honk around each corner to avoid colliding with the little Italian cars. Once in Amalfi, we admired the beautiful Duomo perched high above the piazza atop a grand staircase, and then wandered around the charming, tourist-packed streets. We had planned to visit Positano, another beautiful city along the Amalfi coast, but were told by a bus driver that rocks had fallen onto the road blocking the only way in and out of the city. I was bummed because I read that Positano is a great place for shopping and sipping Limoncello. Oh well! It only means we’ll have to come back to the Amalfi coast some day. Oh darn!

The weather seemed to turn in the afternoon as dark clouds rolled in, so we decided to call it a day. After one more big climb up the steep steps into Raito, we are completely done with stairs. Never in my life have I walked up and down so many stairs in a three-day period. While the exercise is probably doing me some good I certainly hope Salerno is flatter!