For a long time, I dreamt about going to the Amalfi Coast. It has always been on my bucket list so for my birthday this year, I decided to make it happen and take a trip of a lifetime. During my 10-day visit, I made it to Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi and Positano.

Each town has its own unique character but if I had to pick favourites I would have to choose Positano and Naples. The best way for me to describe Amalfi coast towns; Pompeii is the grandfather, Sorrento the Father, Amalfi the Mother, Capri the boujis sister, Positano the fun uncle and Naples the quirky, alternative cousin (and black sheep of the family).

To me, Naples had the most heart. I was warned about the high crime rate and intimidating alley ways (especially after dark), but I liked the realness and rawness of it. It was also the town with the most interesting background filled with culture, beautiful architecture, mythology, and a warm friendly community. The food in Naples is also unbelievable. I went on a street tour where I got to try authentic homemade pizza, Mozzarella and Arancino and everything tasted incredible.  Naples may be dirty and gritty with a bad reputation of (mafia and crime) but I liked its transparency and historic look and feel.

I was so glad I chose Sorrento as a base for the Amalfi Coast trip. It was easy to get to from Naples airport, easy access to other coastal towns and reasonably priced. As it’s set on a hill top above the harbour, Sorrento has a stunning coastal scenery overlooking the Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius with sweeping water views. It also has cute narrow streets with colourful boutique shops and restaurants and is basically an idyllic seaside town. We stayed very close to cafe-lined the Piazza Tasso square which meant we were right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the main town.

If you’re staying anywhere near Amalfi, I would definitely recommend visiting Pompeii. Known as Europe’s most compelling archaeological site, the ruins of Pompeii captures so much history, it’s frozen in time. Ancient buildings, architecture, figures of the bodies and streets all so well preserved that you feel like you’ve gone into a time machine. Beautiful!

As beautiful as it was, I liked Capri the least. If you’re a millionaire with a yacht, you’ll definitely enjoy everything Capri has to offer but I found it too expensive and a little pretentious.Having said that, it has the brightest sapphire blue water you could ever imagine and spectacular views.  I also think I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Grotto was closed the day we went because of the windy weather.

To me, Positano is an architectural wonder. The best views of the town are from the beach, or from the sea which is why we visited on boat trip. The houses are beautifully stacked on top of one another painted in shades of white, peach, pink and red and the town is a maze of pretty flower-covered alleyways lined with boutique shops that all seem to lead to the sea. The cobbled beaches aren’t amazing but the views from them are spectacular especially when you’re coming in on a boat. I would say that Positano is definitely one of my favourite coastal towns to visit

Overall, this trip was one of the most amazing I’ve ever had. It met all my expectations and though my time was fast paced travelling through the coast, I wouldn’t have changed anything. I will definitely be returning after I’ve explored more of Italy!