Positively Perfect Positano in Tuscany, Italy

One of the most picturesque towns on the Campania coast

After a week driving through Tuscany and contending with crazy Italian drivers my husband and I were looking forward to a planned weeks’ break on the Amalfi Coast, south of Rome.

We had heard the coastline around Amalfi was simply breathtaking: Cliffs plunging steeply into the azure Mediterranean Sea with picturesque villages perched on their rocky sides, some of which, until recently, were only accessible by boat. But a special place like that comes at a price if you’re driving yourself; you first have to endure the drive from Sorrento to get there. We had chosen to stay in Positano, approximately an hours’ drive from Sorrento.

As we navigated our way on a road with more twists than a corkscrew, all the while hugging the sheer cliff-face, I began to doubt our choice. Always a coward when faced with this sort of driving I forced myself to concentrate on the scenery rather than the road. It helped although I noticed my toes refused to stop tingling. I had to admit the views out across the Mediterranean Sea were stunning. The coast can quite rightly justify its claim to be one of the most scenic stretches in the world.

But when we finally arrived we knew a week was never going to be long enough.

Positano is just one of those places you never want to leave.

The owner of our villa where we were staying, Paul Clark, came for a holiday 26 years ago and didn’t leave. Two New Zealand girls we met on the beach on our first afternoon were passing through two weeks prior and were still trying to convince themselves they really should move on.

So here we are, relaxing and enjoying the unique ambience of Positano. It’s a place where you want to do nothing yet want to do everything.

Nestled into the steep hillside and stretching skyward is a collage of multi-colored Moorish-style houses, villas and hotels, perched on top of and overhanging each other. Shades of pinks, ochre and mustard with protruding balconies draped in bougainvillea and geranium.

Winding its way through this colorful chaos is a steep one-way road, which serves as the town’s lifeline. It worms its way from the nerve-tingling top road hundreds of feet above sea level - also the main route through to further towns along the coast - down to the central piazza and beach.

It’s the only access for cars; the local bus route; the pedestrian walkway (no footpaths here); restaurateurs spread their tables across it; animals sprawl in the middle of it; Italians stand and argue at each other on it; children play on it; shopkeepers display their wares along it; and cars and motorcycles manage to wedge and park at varying angles along it. And it’s not much wider than a king-sized bed.

Add to this an intertwined web of craggy steps and steep cobbled alleyways and you begin to understand the charm of Positano, undeniably one of the most picturesque towns on the Campania coast.

Wherever there’s a wide enough space to be found, there is always a piazetta and café with a gathering of people pausing from climbing the hundreds of steps, some as steep as ladders, which scale the hillside from the main piazza down on the foreshore.

Here blue and green clear water laps a pebbly beach, which during the summer season is a carpet of deck chairs and umbrellas. Unfortunately this is Italy, not New Zealand, and for the privilege of using these there is a charge.

However, the foreshore is a mercurial hive of activity; a paradise for people-watching and various craft pulling in and out at regular intervals all day long from the jetty at the end of the beach. They connect Positano with seaside towns further up the coast for those not game to drive, and also pick up day-trippers to Sorrento and Capri.

We take a trip to Capri one day and also spend a day in Amalfi and Ravello, further up the coast and a definite must-see.

The rest of the time we are content to spend in a comfortable state of light lethargy, ambling and rambling and enjoying the unique ambience of a place Paul Clark calls paradise. We find it hard to disagree.

John Steinbeck once wrote of Positano: - “When you discover a beautiful place like Positano the first impulse you have is not to tell to anybody else your discovery. You think: if I tell about this place to other people it will fill with tourists that will spoil it.”

Once a sleepy little fishing village and the secret of painters and writers, it is now one of the most popular seaside and holiday resorts of Italy. However, if you time your visit right, crowds will be minimal and you’ll be pleased it was discovered so you also have the opportunity to share and enjoy its unique charm.

As for the drive, it’s worth every minute.

Author: Linda Brown