Positano and Praiano

positano and praiano

There's not much to POSITANO , only a couple of decent beaches and a great many boutiques; the town has long specialized in simple beach clothes made from linen, georgette and cotton, as well as handmade shoes and sandals. But its location, heaped up in a pyramid high above the water, has inspired a thousand picture postcards and helped to make it a moneyed resort that runs a close second to Cápri in the celebrity stakes. Since John Steinbeck wrote up the place in glowing terms back in 1953, the village has enjoyed a fame quite out of proportion to its tiny size. Franco Zefferelli is just one of many famous names who have villas nearby, and the people who come here to lie on the beach consider themselves a cut above your average sun-worshipper.

Positano is, of course, expensive, and an overnight stay isn't recommended, although its beaches are nice enough and don't get too crowded. The main one, the Spiaggia Grande right in front of the village, is reasonable, although you'll be sunbathing among the fishing boats unless you want to pay over the odds for the pleasanter bit on the far left; there's also another, larger stretch of beach, Spiaggia del Fornillo, around the headland to the west, accessible in five minutes by a pretty path that winds around from above the hydrofoil jetty - although its central section is also a pay area. Nonetheless the bar-terrace of the Puppetto hotel , which runs along much of its length, is a cheaper place to eat and drink than anywhere in Positano proper.

Buses to Positano drop off at the top of the village, from where it's a steep walk down or a short bus ride (every 30min) to the little square at the bottom end of Via Cristoforo Colombo, five minutes' walk from the seafront; ferries and hydrofoils from Cápri, Naples, Amalfi and Salerno pull in at the jetty just to the right of the main beach. There's a helpful tourist office just back from the beach by the church steps (daily 8am-2pm; tel 089.875.067). By far the cheapest accommodation in Positano is Ostello Brikette (tel 089.875.857, brikette@syrene.it ; L60,000-90,000/30.99-46.48; curfew Mon-Fri midnight, Sat & Sun 1am; lockout 10am-4pm), on Via G. Marconi 358, a100-metre walk uphill from the main bus-stop at Viale Pasitea along the coastal road from Sorrento to Amalfi. It's a clean and airy but somewhat spartan hostel ; lower-floor male dorms are a little too close to the boisterously loud balcony area which does, however, offer stunning village and Mediterranean views. There's an Internet service (L10,000 per hr) and a bar. Alternatively, the Bougainville , right by the bus stop (tel 089.875.047, fax 089.811.150; L90,000-120,000/46.48-61.98), is very pleasant and very central; less central, but handy for the Fornillo beach on Via Fornillo, are the Maria Luisa (tel 089.875.023, fax 089.875.023; L90,000-120,000/46.48-61.98), the similarly priced but rather nicer Casa Guadagno (tel 089.875.042, fax 089.811.407; L120,000-150,000/61.98-77.47), and the more expensive Vittoria (tel 089.875.049, fax 089.811.037; L200,000-250,000/103.29-129.11). Consider also the Puppetto hotel (tel 089.875.087, fax 089.811.517, www.starnet.it/pupetto ; L200,000-250,000/103.29-129.11), which is very enticingly placed right by the beach.

For food , Chez Black , right behind Positano's beach (open daily), is a long-established seafood restaurant - their pizzas are the closest you'll get to a budget sit-down lunch in this location. O Caporale , just around the corner (closed Wed), is worth a try too and isn't too expensive whatever you have. If you're really strapped for cash, check out the alimentari by the tourist office at the foot of the church steps. At the other end of the price spectrum is La Cambusa , on the right as you approach the beach (closed Wed), where a full fish blowout will set you back L100,000/51.65 a head.

PRAIANO is a little further along to the east, squeezed into a cleft in the rocks. It's smaller than Positano, but these days its two tiny centres - Véttica Maggiore on the Positano side, and Marina di Praiano on the Amalfi side - are often no less congested; indeed Praiano is becoming more so as its status as a fashionable resort increases. There is a small patch of beach, together with a couple of sandy coves close by, but food and rooms are again quite pricey. The Casa Colomba pensione (tel 089.874.079, fax 089.874.392; L120,000-150,000/61.98-77.47), high above the main road just after the first tunnel, coming from Positano, has great views from its location at the top of 180 steps. Onda Verde (tel 089.874.143, fax 089.813.1049, www.starnet.it/onda_verde ; L150,000-200,000/77.47-103.29), perched on the cliff edge at Marina di Praiano, is a friendly place, or there are rooms to rent right on the harbour front - ask at La Conchiglia restaurant in Marina di Praiano (tel 089.874.313; L60,000-90,000/30.99-46.48). In Véttica Maggiore there's also the Tranquillità campsite (tel 089.874.084), on the seaward side of the main road, which also rents out bungalows, or the nearby Continental hotel (tel 089.874.084, fax 089.874.779; L120,000-150,000/61.98-77.47), which also has a good restaurant . Otherwise the Trattoria San Gennaro , next to the church (closed Wed), with its good choice of local dishes, and La Brace , above the pharmacy (closed Oct-March), with its fresh fish and pizzas straight from the wood-fired oven, are especially popular at weekends.

Shortly after Praiano you pass the Furore gorge, which gashes into the mountainside just above the coast road, and a little further along, about 4km out of Praiano (reachable direct by taxi boat from either Praiano or Amalfi), the Grotta dello Smeraldo (daily: March-Oct 9am-5pm; Nov-Feb 10am-4pm; L5000/2.58), one of the most highly touted local natural features. An elevator gets down to the level of the grotto, where you can tour the green-hued interior by boat - a mildly impressive but certainly not unmissable sight which includes a rather startling sub-aquatic nativity scene.