Sail the Amalfi Coast to admire its sublime charms
The Amalfi Coast is so beautiful that the Italian writer Renato Fucini said that ‘the Day of Judgment, for those Amalfitans that go to heaven, will be a day like any other’. even those who say they don’t like it, like it. Graham Greene declared: ‘It isn’t really my kind of place.’ But he still bought a house on Capri, visited for 40 years and was made an honorary citizen.
This coastline, which stretches from the Gulf of Salerno to the Gulf of Naples, has captivated all- comers, from Odysseus resisting the Sirens’ deadly seductions, to Sophia Loren, D.h. Lawrence and Beyonce.
Driving here is notoriously tricky, with more twists than a bowl of spaghetti. So, a better idea is to take to the water and share these a with the blackedoutwindowed super- yachts, sitting motionless in the bays.
I’ve joined two single Australian women on a small yacht designed to sleep nine, with the skipper doubling up as chef. We set sail from Amalfi to Procida.
The skipper’s in charge of all things boat, but we crew decide where and when to eat and share jobs, such as making lunch.
BeING on a boat means there’s no tiresome packing up to move from town to town, no traffic jams and you wake up to a different view every morning. It’s intimate, communal and relaxed. We eat together (dinners are usually on shore) and chat, sunbathe and read by day. There’s plenty of quiet time.
It’s heavenly to drop anchor and swim off the back of the boat and it’s peaceful after the (relative) hurly-burly of visits to the towns.
Space is limited. The cabins are tiny. Tiny. My ‘double’ narrows to the width of a pillow at one end and the mattress (a very hard pad) touches three sides of the room.
Climbing in from the head end (as seafarers know, you always sleep with your head towards the middle of the boat), I can touch both sides and the ceiling with my hands once lying down.
So, beware. You could end up sharing this with a stranger, who would instantly be a stranger no longer.
One of the other guests in a twin room is relaxed about the size of the cabin. But then she spent nine years living with her husband and two children on a catamaran off the east coast of Australia. She says they prided themselves on all being able to ‘shower, shampoo and condition their hair’ in 15 litres of water.
Viewed from the boat, Amalfi’s pretty villas in shades of cream look as if they are piled on top of each other.
Capri, meanwhile, is busy and expensive. But the main square is perfect for people-watching, the narrow lanes for exploring and the family-run boutiques (where Jackie Kennedy bought sandals) for shopping.
Procida, meanwhile, feels like the less polished relation, a sort of pre- fame Positano, with seriously tasty food from the quayside trattorias.
Alas, as calming as these gentle seas are, and as enchanting as this coastline is, I’m not sure that I’ll ever get my sea legs. Unless Beyonce has any room on her boat, of course.