The Amalfi Coast  Amalfi & Maiori 15 & 16/09/16

Amalfi
(T) After seeing the Amalfi coast by boat we decided on an afternoon visit to Amalfi town. We caught the Sita bus from outside the train station for €2.80 and set off on what turned out to be one of my all time favourite coast road journeys. The road was quite very bendy and very narrow in places so it was a bit of a squeeze when we met other buses. The road winds up round the rock face and all the way along you have the sea on one side (and a very low wall) and houses built into the rocks on the other with a number of terraces for growing grapes. The views were absolutely stunning and we were quite high up. I can see why some describe it as a white knuckle ride. Amalfi town is lovely, quite small, it has an amazing promenade with fabulous buildings, a small beach and views of the numerous buildings high up on the cliffs. The main road/Piazza is where the impressive steps are that lead up to the duomo. All around this piazza are shops of all kinds, restaurants and cafe’s. We had a lovely lunch, a stroll through the shops and some little side streets – where a little tunnel led us out to the side of the duomo – and then a few drinks in the square. The town was putting on a musical about Amalfi so we were also treated to a few songs by an actor from the cast performing on the church steps to drum up some trade.

Maiori

The next day we hopped on the bus again to visit the town of Maiori which is the second (i think) town along the Amalfi coast from Salerno. Despite waiting for another 50 mins for the bus (no idea why they issue a monthly timetable when it is not adhered to!) and being first there waiting, the total lack of manners from others meant we ended up getting pushed and shoved and got on almost last and nearly having to stand all the way, i was miffed as i wanted to take some pictures of the scenery. Anyway, a few got off so i got my seat by the window. In most of our travels in europe we have come across so many who don’t believe in queues, waiting till you get off/out before barrelling passed and never say thank you if you make way, unbelievable rudeness. Rant over.
Maiori is a very small town but does have one of the longest beaches along the Amalfi coast. We spent a couple of hours here wandering around. At first it didn’t look like there was much to see but there is a long wide main road with shops and cafe’s, the centre of which is like an open tunnel but it looked pretty much derelict, it did have some plants to cover it tho. We found some steep steps leading up to the duomo and once again a very impressive interior with altars, statues, paintings and incredible architecture.
The little towns along the Amalfi coast are very pretty indeed, not as colourful as Cinque Terre but stunning all the same. And of course the drive to and through them is amazing.

The beautiful Amalfi coast road