EJ · Positano and Amalfi Tour

For this adventure your time will be dedicated to visiting the captivating, romantic, stunning Amalfi coast, with a stop at two of its most renowned towns -  Positano and Amalfi. The picturesque road which follows the rocky coast between Sorrento and Salerno is the finest in Italy. Its innumerable bends, following the coastline, offer constantly panoramic views of enchanting landscape; fantastically shaped rocks lunging vertically into an empty, crystal-clear sea; deep gorges spanned by dizzy bridges; and Saracen towers, once the haunts of pirates, perched on peaks or reefs. The charm and softness of certain scenes contrast with the sublime awe, as it has been described, of the picture as a whole. Orange, lemon, olive, and almond trees, along with camellias and oleanders relieve the bareness of the naked stones. The villages of fishermen and littletowns of white houses nestled on the sloping cliff sides, preserve the charm of a past age. Your stop is firstly in charming Positano, a fishermen's village that lies in a delightful setting. This world-renowned village where the houses, subtlety colored cubes scattered on the slopes among terraced gardens facing the sea, are of Moorish type with flat roofs and balconies beneath arcades, is a favorite among the wealthy and famous.
Positano was a port of the Amalfi Republic in medieval times, and prospered in the 16th and 17th centuries. But by the mid-19th century, the town had fallen on hard times. More than half the population emigrated, mostly to Australia. Positano was a relatively poor fishing village during the first half of the 20th century. It began to attract large numbers of tourists in the 1950s, especially after John Steinbeck published his essay about Positano in Harper's Bazaar in May, 1953: "Positano bites deep", Steinbeck wrote. "It is a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone."
The church of Santa Maria Assunta features a dome made of majolica tiles as well as a 13th Byzantine century  icon  of a black Madonna. According to the local legend, the icon had been stolen from Byzantium and was being transported by pirates across the Mediterranean. A terrible storm  had blown up in the waters opposite Positano and the frightened sailors heard a voice on board saying "Posa, posa!" ("Put down! Putdown!"). The precious icon was unloaded and carried to the fishing village and the storm abated. Then guests will depart Positano for Amalfi driving along the Amalfi Coast (driving distance approx. 50 min.). The first view of Amalfi is unforgettable, with its tightly packed villas and palaces seeming to tumble down the Cliffside into the fishing port and shingle beach below. Amalfi was once a maritime power to rival Venice, and its golden age is symbolized by its stunning Cathedral (Duomo of Amalfi): its Arab-Norman facade dominates the Piazza Duomo, the unofficial town center that is always pulsating with people.