Southern Italy

Italy… where do I start?! (insert heart emoji eyes here). Italy was a dream. We only traveled to the southern part of the country but it was such a beautiful place with so much amazing culture and cuisine. I will definitely be going back to see the northern part of the country and maybe explore the vineyards.

Anyways, our trip was actually for our babymoon— it was really perfect for both adventure and relaxation. More on our babymoon here. We started off in Naples and spent a few days there at this beautiful hotel that really was more like an air bnb. It was situated right in the center of a bustling area so it was nice to sit on the patio and people watch. Another cool thing about Naples is that there weren’t many tourists at all. When hubby and I travel we seek out authentic places that have not been ruined by tourists so to us it is always a great experience when we encounter language barriers and see only native people.

From Naples we drove to the Sorrento Coast and the Amalfi Coast. Both absolutely stunning. Check out the pictures below.

Sorrento is more laid back and has a family vibe to it. There were restaurants lining the coast and many kids running around. There were also a ton of shopping and dining options. This was definitely a nice town to just walk around in casually and take in the scenery.

The Amalfi Coast had more of a romantic vibe. Driving from the top of the mountains all the way down to the coast was exhilarating as the roads are tiny and you’re just a few feet away from falling off the edge on any given turn. However, littered amongst the mountains are tons of brightly colored homes and quaint little towns that make the drive that much more enchanting.

Our last day trip while in Italy? The island of Capri. This is where the adventure kicked in. We took a quick ferry to Capri from Naples. Instead of going on a boat cruise or doing any other water activities (I was seven months pregnant so we were limited), we decided to rent a boat ourselves and have hubby be the captain. He was a great captain and got us back safely, however, with a smaller boat you feel the waves way stronger. We (tried) to boat around the island. I say “tried” because we hit a bend where the waters got extremely choppy and scary so we turned around quickly back to calmer waters. If you’re looking to get your heart racing a little, rent a small three person boat and try to navigate around the entire island lol. Nonetheless it was a great time and we even stopped at the blue grotto to see the infamous illuminated cavern. All in all, super fun and the experience would not have been the same if we did a boat cruise on a larger boat with other people.

As amazing as Southern Italy is, there are a couple of things to keep in mind… for one, drive at your own risk! We rented a car and wow, I must say I’m glad I wasn’t driving. The roads are unbelievably small (since the roads were originally designed for foot traffic), there were so many roads that were only wide enough for one car a time so if you happened to come face to face with another car, one of you would have to reverse out in order for anyone to go anywhere. With that being said however, without a car, it would have been unreasonably expensive to get around and be able to see everything that we saw. So proceed with caution, but consider renting a car if you want to be able to get around.

Also, if you’re staying in Naples like we did, driving to the Sorrento Coast and the Amalfi Coast were places that we dedicated a whole day to. Thus, if you’re spending several days in Southern Italy you can absolutely see multiple different places by dedicating day trips to each.

Ultimately, whether you crave adventure or relaxation will determine what cities you choose to visit and what you choose to do. For our trip Capri was the most adventurous, Amalfi was the most romantic, Naples was the most authentic, and Sorrento was the most laid back. Don’t you love when you can get a bunch of different vibes in one country?

I would definitely recommend Italy for travel, we had an amazing time and will be going back again.

Have you been to Italy? if so, what city and what did you like about it? Leave a comment below.

With LOVE,

KayaDejure