We intentionally failed to previously mention Palazzo Avino’s Clubhouse by the Sea because this stylish beach club deserves to be in a category of its own. A series of steps lead down to the intimate gardens and sunbeds tucked within the rocky shoreline. Just a 15-minute drive from the resort, you’ll have prime views of the yachts and slick Riva boats cruising by while you dine on freshly baked pizzas and seafood pasta.
On the eastern edge of the Amalfi Coast, Vietri sul Mare has a centuries-old ceramics heritage, and small workshops and family factories still produce hand-painted pieces today. If you’re short on time, browse handcrafted pieces in Ravello at Pascal Ceramiche D’Arte or shop artisan-crafted sandals at Bottega Eva Caruso. “Ravello has long drawn artists, musicians, and writers—Wagner famously found inspiration there—and that creative atmosphere still lingers,” adds Carla Sersale, co-owner of Le Sireuse and founder of Emporio Sirenuse.
Artists and writers part of the Bloomsbury Group, such as Virginia Woolf, for instance, once held court at Villa Cimbrone, and now the botanical gardens are one of the most lauded examples of English landscaping in southern Europe. The belvedere, the Terrace of Infinity, is crowned by a series of marble busts, and while the Amalfi Coast isn’t lacking in postcard-perfect viewpoints, this staggering spot rising nearly 1,200 feet above the Mediterranean is a scene-stealer. After touring the rose gardens and medieval cloister, cool off in town with gelato from Baffone Gelateria Artigianale or head over to Amalfi to Pasticceria Pansa for a taste of the legendary, dome-shaped delizia al limone dessert, a lemon cream-filled sponge cake.
“Amalfi’s historic center is compact, and part of the pleasure is getting away from the main streets and discovering the smaller lanes, hidden courtyards, and stairways that climb into the hills,” says Mansi, who recommends visiting the centerpiece, thousand-year-old cathedral and the Museo della Carta, or Paper Museum, set inside a historic, 13th-century paper mill. After a brief history lesson on the region’s papermaking tradition—which dates back to the Middle Ages—pop into La Scuderia del Duca, whose vast selection of handmade paper feels like a museum in itself and makes for the perfect souvenir.
