Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After spending five days in Rome, Jon and I were looking forward to ending the trip relaxing in Positano. We hopped on a train for about an hour from Rome to Naples, and then I arranged a car service to drive us the remaining hour and a half to Positano. I booked through Euro Limo both ways and they were great. You can also take a ferry or regional train and bus to get to Positano, but it can take double the time and there’s also the risk of cancellations. The car service gave us the option to add excursions onto the trip like Pompeii and Hurculaneum, but we needed a break from sightseeing.
As we got closer to Positano, the roads became a bit precarious and we were very happy not to be driving ourselves along the edge of the cliff. Positano is situated on a cliff with two roads that go through town. Our hotel was at the bottom of the cliff, so we got dropped off at the top and had about 400 steps down. Most hotels have a porter that can carry your bags, but we pack light and figured we could at least handle them going down.
We stayed at Hotel Pupetto and I booked this hotel because my parents stayed here for their 25th wedding anniversary and absolutely loved it. The hotel is on the smaller beach in Positano so it’s very quiet and not overrun with tourists getting dropped off by ferry. We were only a beautiful five-minute walk to the main beach and didn’t have to go up and down all the steps. We loved our room, especially the balcony. It was clean, spacious, and the views were spectacular. Hotel Pupetto is the pinkish building and our room was on the top floor on the far right.
After settling into our room, we headed up the steps to Casa E Bottega for lunch. This was one of our favorite spots of the trip. We loved the freshness of the dishes and would highly recommend stopping in, especially if you’re looking for healthier options. We started with some ricotta and spinach gnocchi and then I got the sweet and sour shrimp rice bowl and Jon ordered the seared tuna rice bowl. We finished with some matcha cheesecake. In addition to the delicious food they also have gorgeous ceramics for sale and the cafe is stunning inside. Make sure you get there early because there’s usually a wait and they’re only open 9-3.
We went to Saracen O’Doro for our first dinner in Positano and shared a wood fire pizza and good seafood pasta. It did seem a bit like they were rushing people through which isn’t typical in Italy.
Il Ritrovo is located up in the hills of Positano and provides a free shuttle for guests. The views are incredible and the food is delicious! We loved the fresh octopus and pasta dishes. Our only complaint was the ravioli only came with three pieces.
Every morning we had coffee and breakfast downstairs at the hotel and the view was just so beautiful. I wish I could have my morning cappuccino and espresso here every day.
Mimi Pizzeria is in Ravello and was our favorite pizza of the entire trip! Highly recommend going here in between your visits to the beautiful villas
Da Vincenzo was our favorite restaurant in Positano and we dined here on our anniversary. We loved everything we ordered, especially the tuna and seafood risotto. The tiramisu was the perfect conclusion to our meal. I made our reservation a few months in advance because this place is very popular!
Pupetto Beach Club was the casual restaurant at our hotel and a great spot for lunch. We loved the pizza and spritzes with the best views
We also got room service pizza and drinks for dinner and loved enjoying it out on our balcony.
On our last day in Positano we went in town and grabbed sandwiches from Positano Vini e Panini. They also have a great selection of wine and snacks.
If you’re staying in Positano, I highly recommend making your dinner reservations as early as you can. It is a very small town but filled with tourists so it’s difficult to walk in at restaurants, especially the top-rated ones. The prices were more expensive than in Rome, but it didn’t seem like anything was super unreasonable. As you can tell, there’s no shortage of pizza in Positano 🙂
Posts in this series:
Florence
- Where to Stay & Eat
- Piazza Michelangelo & Ponte Vecchio
- Uffizi Gallery
- Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, Accademia
- Climbing the Duomo
- Duomo Museum, Bell Tower, & Baptistry
- Palazzo Vecchio & Tuscon Wine Tour
Rome
- Where to Stay & Eat
- Churches, Churches, & Churches Oh My!
- Borghese Gallery
- Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, & Pantheon
- St. Peter’s Basilica
- Victor Emmanuel Monument & Capitoline Museum
- Forum & Palatine Hill Tour
- Colosseum Tour
- Castel Sant’ Angelo
- Twilight Trastevere Rome Food Tour
- Vatican Museum – Prime Experience
- St. Peters Dome & Square
How wonderful that you stayed at the same hotel as your parents! Glad you had such a wonderful time.
They were as excited for us as we were to be there, it was such a great experience!
😎
So lovely to relive your parent’s experience Lyssy. The hotel and it’s views are stunning as is the food everywhere! We wouldn’t have managed 400 steps with our luggage though as we always feel the need to take huge, suitcases when we travel!
They were so excited to relive their memories through all my pictures 🙂 the peacefulness and views of the hotel were so incredible, we loved it there. We never went hungry in Positano. I was somehow able to fit everything for two weeks in a carryon luggage and backpack.
That’s great packing Lyssy, I obviously need lessons!
Italian seacoast towns are so beautiful, but they do have their ups and downs if you know what I mean. Not a lot of fun if your knees don’t work or for wheelchair users. We spent 4 days in Cinque Terre and really got a workout. The hotel and food look wonderful. Nothing beats good Italian food and drink when in Italy. Happy Wednesday Lyssy. Allan
I definitely know what you mean. I consider myself very physically fit and the stairs still got my heart rate up pretty high. Cinque Terre is such a beautiful area! I agree, Italian food is always something I look forward to, but it’s even better in Italy.
That view from your balcony looks incredible and, of course, all that fresh Italian food looks wonderful too.
The views were spectacular, so different from at home! The food was so fresh and delicious.
My college year studying architecture included tours of the ruins of Pompei, but understandably we never had reason to study Positano (unless to understand how all of those structures don’t just tumble off the mountainside – ha). My parents visited once that year and promptly went to Positano after seeing me. Looks like they made a great choice!
It is amazing how they can build it in the hill. I would like to visit Pompeii one day, but we were ready to relax. Your parents knew what they were doing! They could relax after making sure you weren’t getting into trouble 🙂
Another beautiful and helpful review of an Italian town. I love what you share and your style of writing. Informative, breezy and enthusiastic. And the pictures are sensational too. Thank you 🙏
Thank you so much! Positano is such a wonderful town to visit.
:))
You guys eat so well. The food looks incredibly delicious as usual. Was it hard to leave you room with that view from your balcony?
We do eat so well! It was hard leaving at the end of the trip, we weren’t ready! While in Positano we visited places with equally beautiful views so it was easy to leave for our little excursions.
Ah, Positano! I don’t recall visiting it despite having toured through the Amalfi Coast years ago as a teenager. However, I may have, as I vaguely recall having a (also) rushed lunch somewhere; given that it’s ridiculously touristy, I can understand staff wanting to turn tables as quickly as possible– definitely not an Italian thing to do! Hotel Pupetto looks like the dream, and it looked to be the perfect location to stay! Glad you had a great time, and with tons of food to boot!
The turning tables was very surprising especially because it was at the end of our trip and we were so used to slow dinners. Luckily the other restaurants weren’t like that in Positano. But I can understand they would want to make a profit ha. Our hotel was such an incredible and relaxing place to say, the food was awesome too.
Everywhere and everything was so gorgeous in Positano ! Views and food are so precious. I am sure I would like all the dishes and spritz. Thanks for sharing this marvellous Italian trip !
It is such a gorgeous place to visit, you’d absolutely love it!
What a beautiful town! I love that it’s just built into the cliff like that, though I think I’d get very sick of all the stairs. All the pizzas look so good, I’m not sure how you settled on a favorite!
The stairs really kicked my butt when we had to go up them to get to our dinners and I’d consider myself pretty fit. The pizzas were so good, I have no idea how we decided haha
Oh this post made me smile. Your hotel looks perfectly situated and I love that last photo of you guys. It also brought back so many memories – my best friend and I drove ourselves to Positano, and wow did I feel like we’d nearly die about 100 times. And those steps – the climb back up was a killer. We also ate lunch at Pupetto 🙂
We were so relaxed in Positano, perfect way to end the trip! Oh my goodness I can’t imagine having a car there, I feel like NYC is easier to drive in and that is scary to me too. We loved PUpetto 🙂
Gorgeous, the town, the hotel, the food! I think we wouldn’t be able to resist all the beautiful ceramic pieces. Love the view from your balcony, it’s the perfect spot for morning coffee and breakfast.
It was easier to resist once we saw the prices ha! They were all so beautiful though. It was so hard to leave that view!
I do love Positano! So beautiful! I like the scene of the pizza on your lanai 🤩
Such a beautiful town! The perfect place to eat pizza and completely relax 🙂
Positano looks picturesque. It’s neat that you stayed at the same place as your parents for their wedding anniversary. Love the view from your balcony. And the food all looks delicious!
It’s such a picturesque town! It is really special to have stayed at the same hotel, they loved reliving all their memories through all my pictures. The food was outstanding!
How amazing to stay in the same hotel and it’s beautiful too! Positano looks amazing. Maggie
The pizza looks incredible!
I have saved all of your posts from Positano to be slowly devoured when I have some quiet time on the weekends, and this initial recap has me beaming. This area is so, so high on my bucket list. Your hotel looked just dreamy, and how special that it was the same hotel your parents stayed at for an anniversary! The view is just to-die for.