There seems to be a trend on social media now promoting tourists to “go here, not there”, “avoid Positano because there are too many tourists”, “skip Capri, way too touristy”.

Well, yes, there are a lot of tourists because these places are ridiculously beautiful and worth spending time in. There is a way to to do it respectfully and even avoid tourists on mass, which is how we spent eight days on the Amalfi Coast.

The dreamy village of Ravello, where everybody knows each other, sits 365 metres above sea level and six kilometres via a winding road from Amalfi, yet it feels a world away.

No wonder it’s romantic. In 1880 Richard Wagner drew inspiration for his opera Parsifal from the garden of Villa Rufolo. D.H. Lawrence spent time in Ravello whilst writing his masterpiece, “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”. In 1938 Greta Garbo had her long love affair with the conductor Leopold Stokowski. Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, Peter O’Toole, Robert de Niro and many other movie stars stayed and worked in Ravello.

Today, Ravello is the embodiment of the romantic wedding with several thriving Wedding Planner businesses and lots of brides posing in all the gorgeous corners of the gardens of Ravello. But you don’t need a wedding to experience the beauty as you wander the gardens of Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufulo, sip on an Aperol Spritz in Piazza Duomo when the daytrippers have departed, or capture the first morning light when no-one is around and the first bells are tolling.

We smelt the roses in the gardens of Villa Cimbrone (literally), walked the Avenue of Immensity covered with a wisteria draped pergola that is heavenly in spring and reached the Terrace of Infinity for breathtaking views of the coast. Here is the perfect place for dreaming of a life in Italy.

I can never resist Cumpo Cosimo, an authentic noisy trattoria where I have been eating their cannelloni for ten years. It’s that good. With a history of 300 years, the trattoria has been in the same family for 75 years, ruled by Netta, the matriarch of the family and one very smart businesswoman. She never misses a trick as she works the floor dressed in her apron with her bun securely tucked inside a a red crocheted net. She knows exactly what everyone at the table has eaten, who has drunk too much and within seconds has worked out the entire bill in her head.

For the true Amalfi Coast experience, one must catch a bus which we did from Amalfi to Bomerano, a small hamlet a thirty minute nail biting climb from the coast. It is also the starting point for the breathtaking Path of the Gods walk, finishing in the village of Nocelle perched high above Positano.

To walk Positano is to climb Positano via a myriad of tight alleyways and stairways, but this is how you escape the throng of tourists. This little piece of heaven with dramatic cliffs, shimmering sea, wisteria and lemon trees personifies ‘la dolce vita’.

Aside from the fashion phenomenon that began in the fifties and continues to this day with the buzz of sewing machines in many boutiques, Positano is also a melting pot of art and culture.

The Roman Archaeological Museum of Positano is the result of years of excavations and restorations to reveal a Roman Villa dating back to 1st century AD. Located in the centre of Positano and easily missed, it is an extraordinary piece of history that is totally unexpected.

Hard to imagine, but between the 9th and 12th centuries, Amalfi was one of the world’s great naval powers with a population around 80,000 compared to 5,000 now. The Amalfitani learnt to to make paper from the Arabs, producing bambagina, a thick heavy parchment made from cotton and linen rags. Beginning in the 12th century, former macaroni mills were converted to the production of paper, among the first in Europe to do so.

By 1811 more than a dozen mills were humming in Amalfi. The Museo della Carta (Museum of Paper) opened in 1971 in a 15th century mill which allows you to see tools of the trade and experience making your own paper.

It is impossible to know the beauty of this 10.4 square kilometre island and all that it offers without staying for a few days. In the tight streets away from the celebrity packed ‘see and be seen crowd’, you are in tranquil suburbia walking past seemingly empty grandiose villas with enormous gardens.

Our town of Anacapri located on the highest part of the island is more laid back with a villagy vibe. Only five minutes from our hotel is the village square and a twelve minute chairlift ride to the top of Monte Solaro. It is an eerily quiet experience as your feet dangle over treetops and gardens whilst ascending 587 metres to the highest point on the island where an Aperol Spritz awaits.

On the western, wilder side of the island, the six kilometre Sentiero dei Fortini (Path of the Forts) walk begins near the Blue Grotto and finishes at Punta Carena Lighthouse, the second biggest lighthouse in Italy. It is a stunning, but solitary walk of four forts, which were built by the British for short-range artillery at the time of the Napoleonic wars in the early 1800s. Not a tourist in sight!

An island highlight is our private boat tour circumnavigating 17 kilometres around the island which highlights the many caves and grottoes. It’s always a good opportunity to swim, but the weather was stormy with high seas, wind, rain and sunshine. I thought it was the most exciting boat ride I’ve done in ten years!

Once again, I have written this on a speedy train as we depart Rome for Naples to begin the tour of Sicily.

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana.

Deb