Hello!
Just wanted to provide a brief(ish) recap of our 16 day trip to the Amalfi Coast and parts of Sicily. We loved our trip and thanks to those here that provided feedback and answers to my questions.
Thoughts/Attitude Pre-trip: We wanted to explore the Amalfi coast and Sicily but understood from the start that it would be overcrowded and hot during the only time we could go (mid June) and that we would be very active (we averaged over 23k steps per day). We do ok with crowds and intense heat (by no means prefer them) but were limited to this time.
Goal of the trip: See as much in the area as could (and this was reasonable pace for us. We were very intentional about not spending too much time in most of these places because we knew it would be overcrowded. Would have planned differently for off season trabvel. We went to (in this order) Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii (half day from Sorrento), Capri, Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, Minori, Maiori, Atrani (the last four all in one day), Salerno, Taormina, Catania, Siracusa, Ragusa, Modica, Noto (all in a day tour), Palermo, Segesta and Erice (day tour from Palermo) and Cefalu (day tour from Palermo. This was not a stay put nor particularly relaxing vacation but we occasionally enjoys these kinds of trips. !
Best advice I got from fellow contributors: made Amalfi our base and explored places on the Amalfi coast from there
Advice I wish I could have taken: stay longer in one place to get a feel for life.
The weather: Indeed it was very hot during most of our stay. Clothes soaked through, needing breaks in AC, swam when and where possible, drank lots of water, granita and gelato for survival. Book a place with decent AC to cool down if you need to.
Food: One big reason to go here especially if you love Neopolitan-style pizza, pasta dishes, eggplant cooked well, pastries that aren't overly sweetened, and gelato. Our calorie count came close to matching our step count. We did some research and weren't disappointed in the choices we made.
Favorite moments/places we wish we had more time We loved the energy and vibe in both Naples and Palermo. Yes, they are crowded and dirty but we loved walking around and exploring these two cities. We loved our day trip to Cefalu and spent half a day camped out on the pier at the end of town and swimming with the locals. Taormina is charming with (we thought) the best greek amphiteater. We wished we were there off season - and we enjoyed taking the tram down to swim by Isola Bella.
kind of disappointing: Positano. Pretty but you get the idea after an hour of exploring (try to spend an early morning there and then go to to the beach or explore another place. To us Sorrento felt like a tourist trap and very crowded. It's not huge and we felt like we were navigating Disneyland-sized crowds to see shops selling anything and everything with lemon prints on it. We did enjoy walking out of town there to check out the Bagni Regina Giovanna.
Were I to return one day: I'd explore more places in Sicily and perhaps base myself in a quieter beach town there with easy transport to Palermo - sometime when it's warm enough to swim but before the hordes of tourist arrive. The towns on the Amalfi coast are pretty (I loved being able to walk back and forth from Amalfi and Atrani (think MC Escher) but personally wouldn't return. Although, I could see myself drinking coffee and eating pastries at Pasticceria Pansa for a week if I could go off season.
Please reach out if you have any questions or comments.