Trip Report: Italy - Amalfi Coast June 15-22 2016 with pre-days in Rome

[Rapunzellover]

Climbing St. Peter's dome is amazing. Did you use Walks of Italy for that?

 

[TXTransplant]

Climbing St. Peter's dome is amazing. Did you use Walks of Italy for that?

Nope. Did that on our own for 6 Euros each. I had done it before and felt totally comfortable doing it again. Certain spaces during the climb are such a tight squeeze that I can't imagine doing it with a tour group! WoI doesn't offer it anyway.

 

[2003Eeyore]

Thank you! It was great to hear from her (via Robyn)!

No Problem! You guys came up because she was trying to tell me what an "easy" bike ride it was when I wanted to ride the ferry. I told her that a mom last year said not so much that she had to walk up some hills and if she had it to do over she would have done the relaxing ferry! Then when I said that you had liked the whole trip but how it had poured rain at the last castle she figured out who I was talking about. I hate riding bikes!! I am so thankful for that trip report that would not have been fun for me.

 

[TXTransplant]

No Problem! You guys came up because she was trying to tell me what an "easy" bike ride it was when I wanted to ride the ferry. I told her that a mom last year said not so much that she had to walk up some hills and if she had it to do over she would have done the relaxing ferry! Then when I said that you had liked the whole trip but how it had poured rain at the last castle she figured out who I was talking about. I hate riding bikes!! I am so thankful for that trip report that would not have been fun for me.

I was glad that I did the bike ride, but it was definitely more challenging than relaxing!

 

[Rapunzellover]

Nope. Did that on our own for 6 Euros each. I had done it before and felt today comfortable doing it again. Certain spaces during the climb are such a tight squeeze that I can't imagine doing it with a tour group! WoI doesn't offer it anyway.

They offered it when I went last year. I used it. It was a private tour, so just me and the great guide. You toured inside the church too. Good value. I liked having the guide explain the view to me. Plus, listening to her took my mind off the climbing!

 

[TXTransplant]

They offered it when I went last year. I used it. It was a private tour, so just me and the great guide. You toured inside the church too. Good value. I liked having the guide explain the view to me. Plus, listening to her took my mind off the climbing!

Did you do a private tour, or were you part of a group? I only looked at the small group tours. I could have just missed it, though. Our Sistine Chapel tour included a tour of the church, so that may have been why I overlooked it. Although, if I had it to do over again, I might have looked into a second church tour. The Basilica was SOOOO crowded by the time we finished up the Pristine Sistine tour that we didn't get to see anything! A separate tour of the church when it was less crowded would have been better.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Totally private TXtransplant. Just me an the guide. And it's early! So we got in the church early. Not badly crowded. Even saw a couple getting married.

 

[TXTransplant]

Totally private TXtransplant. Just me an the guide. And it's early! So we got in the church early. Not badly crowded. Even saw a couple getting married.

Yeah, I don't think a guided group tour up the dome would work too well from a logistics standpoint. I did see that private tour, though. We should have gone in the church after we climbed the dome, but I was so sore and so tired. Between that and climbing all over the Colosseum, it took me a couple of days to recover!

 

[TXTransplant]

I just realized that I didn't go into a whole lot of detail on our Colosseum/Palatine Hill/Roman Forum tour, so I want to add some information, as I thought this tour was fantastic.

We did the VIP tour, booked through Walks of Italy. I chose this one because it is the only tour WoI offers that goes to all three levels of the Colosseum. We started out on the main arena floor (and we walked out onto a rebuilt "stage"), then we walked to the underground where we saw a replica of the elevators used to lift the animals up to the arena, and then we walked up to the very top floor. I will say that doing this tour the same day as the St. Peter's Dome climb probably wasn't the brightest idea (LOTS of stairs!!!), but the schedule worked out great. The VIP Colosseum tour is in the early afternoon, so we did St. Peter's Dome first thing in the morning, before it got crowded. The views from the top level of the Colosseum are just stunning! The Colosseum itself was crowded, but our visits to the arena floor, underground, and third level were exclusive to our group, so those areas were not crowded at all (we literally were the only ones there). After doing this tour, I cannot imagine going to the Colosseum and just walking around the perimeter of the main floor. There is just so much visual interest in the ruins, particularly on the arena floor and the third level - it really is a feast for the eyes!

After leaving the Colosseum, we walked to Palentine Hill and then to the Roman Forum. I can't say enough good things about our guide on this tour. She was extremely knowledgeable and told us lots of fun facts about life in Ancient Rome. We were together for over 3 hours, so I feel like this was also a good value (lots of bang for your buck).

At the pasta-making dinner, some of the people there said they did the VIP Colosseum night tour, and they raved about that as well. I don't believe that tour takes you to the top tier, though (which was one of the reasons I didn't choose it). Ideally, I would have loved to do both, but there just wasn't time for that.

 

[RSM]

Hey TXTransplant--couldn't agree with you more on Walks of Italy. We used them for this tour also when they were the only tour company allowed to go to all 3 levels. It truly was a VIP experience, and their guides tend to bring history alive with stories versus throwing a bunch of dates and facts at you. For our tour, the "story" started at the colosseum with Nero, and 3 hours later we ended at the forum with Nero. Another tour that we did with them that was as good was "Crypts and Bones and Catacombs". This was also a fascinating tour.

 

[EllinK]

What a great trip report! So much info that I want to keep track of for when I get to Italy (again). Thanks for taking the time to write it.

 

[TXTransplant]

I wrote a lot about gelato and singled out a couple of restaurants that we enjoyed, but I didn't identify anything by name. Below are the places I would recommend (this does not include everywhere we ate, these are just the notable places).

Gelato
In Rome, Carapina. This is a small Italian chain that (I believe) originated in Florence. We ate at the location just south of the Pantheon. They only have maybe 10 flavors, and they are kept in stainless steel tins that are covered (from what I understand, that is a hallmark of true artisanal gelato). Very fresh, simple ingredients, but without the fillers, it does tend to melt easier. It also isn't as creamy as you might expect (but still infinitely better than anything here in the US). We had mint (made with fresh mint, not any sort of extract, and it's not dyed green, either!), chocolate, and peanut (not peanut butter!). The mint and peanut were outstanding. I unfortunately do not remember the name of the place where we got gelato on the WoI walking tour, but it was right near the Pantheon and had 150+ flavors. We also got gelato at a place near the Colosseum that was good, but not necessarily a must-stop. The place I heard about over and over was Fatamorgana, but the locations weren't very convenient to our apartment, so we didn't stop there. Multiple people told us it is fantastic, though.

In Sorrento, Raki. Unbelievably good gelato! We ate here twice. I can't say enough about the pineapple basil, vanilla ginger, and cinnamon. Believe me when I say that pineapple gelato is better than a Dole Whip (blasphemy, I know!) If you get a pineapple flavor, don't mix it with anything. The flavor is so delicate, anything else just overwhelms it. We could not get past these three flavors at Raki. The flavors here are also more limited (maybe 20 at most), change regularly, and are kept in covered tins.

In Florence, My Sugar and Edoardo. My Sugar is near the Accademia. It's one of Florence's newest artisanal gelato shops, and it won this year's gelato festival. Although it's a very tough contest, I think the lime sage I had here was my absolute favorite flavor on the entire trip. If you like make-your-lips-pucker sour, then this is for you! My Sugar does not use the covered tins, but this is true artisanal gelato. We also had pineapple ginger and dark chocolate; there were maybe 20 choices all total. I liked the pineapple basil at Raki better. Edoardo is special because they make their own cones (right in front of you!), and they are oh-so-yummy! The gelato here is also in covered tins, and likewise, they have a small selection that changes daily (maybe 10-15 flavors). The cherry was very good (and the only place on the entire trip where I saw true cherry gelato; usually the flavor was vanilla with a cherry pie filling-type swirl), as was the cinnamon. We also had the dark chocolate (honestly, I couldn't really tell much difference from one dark chocolate to another).

We had gelato in Amalfi that was good, but I don't remember the exact name of the place. It is on/near the main square and had the word royal (or maybe royale) in the name. The coconut flavor here was very good (for coconut).

As far as food goes, we only had a couple of "write-home" meals on our own time. One was at O' Parrucchiano in Sorrento. This restaurant is owned by the same people/family as the hotel. It is just such a beautiful setting that you have to eat here! We had fried squash blossoms stuffed with cheese, lasagna (with little Italian sausage meatballs and eggplant), and a three pasta sampler (gnocchi, cannelloni, and something that I can't remember...ravioli, maybe?). It was delicious.

In Florence, we ate at Acqua al 2. Technically, this is a chain, as there are also restaurants in DC and California (San Fran, maybe, or San Diego?). However, we went for a specific purpose...the filet. Specifically the filet with a blueberry-balsamic reduction. It sounds weird, but it was delicious! My JA had the filet with just a plain balsamic reduction (no blueberry), which did taste different and equally good. Although there were clearly a lot of tourists eating here (mostly American and Asian - I doubt there were any Italians in the place), the menu is only in Italian, and the steak was very good, especially since, other than cured meats, we had not had much protein on the trip. Frankly, a nice steak was a real treat at that point in our trip.

Edited to add that it appears the other two locations of Acqua al 2 have very recently closed. So, the Florence restaurant (the original) is all that remains.

 

[DollyM]

I've been to the Acqua al 2 in DC twice and as far as I can tell it's still open. While in Florence last month the owner told us they had just closed their San Diego restaurant after 15 years. Regarding the filets, I think the blueberry versions are similar in both DC and Florence. I thought the Florence version of the balsamic filet was better than DC's because the sauce was mellower. I also recommend the pasta sampler and think they're equally good in Florence and DC.

 

[TXTransplant]

I've been to the Acqua al 2 in DC twice and as far as I can tell it's still open. While in Florence last month the owner told us they had just closed their San Diego restaurant after 15 years. Regarding the filets, I think the blueberry versions are similar in both DC and Florence. I thought the Florence version of the balsamic filet was better than DC's because the sauce was mellower. I also recommend the pasta sampler and think they're equally good in Florence and DC.

I read an article from January that said the DC location was closing/had been sold, but the website is still active.

The pasta sampler was also recommended to us, but our waiter insisted that the pasta plus 2 steaks would be too much food. And I couldn't decide which steak to get. So, we opted for both filets and got the dessert sampler

 

[Cousin Orville]

Love the breakdown and detail on the gelato shops! I'm making a mental note to search this page out the next time I go to any of these cities.

 

[TXTransplant]

Love the breakdown and detail on the gelato shops! I'm making a mental note to search this page out the next time I go to any of these cities.

I had you in mind when I wrote that post! I reposted in the "Restaurants for OYO time" sticky thread.

 

[DD's Prince]

Thank you for such a great report. We are heading on the same trip in late July. (DW, DD, DS) Any small tips or advice you could give would be appreciated. A few questions though. How did you decide how much cash (euros) to take? Also, what do people tip the adventure guides and how do you do that? I'm just trying to get my banking in order before we leave. Thanks.

 

[TXTransplant]

Thank you for such a great report. We are heading on the same trip in late July. (DW, DD, DS) Any small tips or advice you could give would be appreciated. A few questions though. How did you decide how much cash (euros) to take? Also, what do people tip the adventure guides and how do you do that? I'm just trying to get my banking in order before we leave. Thanks.

I'll think about the small tips/advice question, and if anything comes to mind, I'll post it here.

I did not get any euros before leaving because most banks will charge you about 15-20% to exchange money. I got $250 euros out of an ATM at the Amsterdam airport during our layover to Rome. I got cash two more times on the trip (each time it was 250). In the end, I only paid $5 in ATM fees because my bank waives the fee on the first two transactions. I would NOT get euros before you leave the US because it's going to cost you significantly more.

I tipped almost the max recommendation. There were two of us, and I tipped each guide $150. The recommended tip is in the back of your spiral bound trip guide, but feel free to tip what you are comfortable with. I can assure you, though, the guides will earn every penny!

Where are your flights to/from? Probably the most "trouble" I ran into was during this part of the trip (i.e., travel days). When you're with the guides, they have a suggestion for everything, and there really are no worries. Are you doing any pre- or post-days?

I hope you will do a trip report! Mine is only the second one for this trip, and the other one is from quite a few years ago. They have changed the trip a good bit since then. I would love to hear about differences in your experience, and relive my trip through yours!

 

[TXTransplant]

Just thought of one tip...when the guides offer you bottled water, take it! Every time! Even if you already have bottled water. Stash it in your room, because I guarantee you will wake up thirsty in the middle of the night (especially if you drink wine at dinner).

Also, the water at Capri is not that cold (I absolutely hate swimming in cold water!). Just take the plunge (pun intended) and jump off the boat! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so just go with it! Just try not to swallow any water - it's extremely salty!

Sit on the right side (facing the driver) of the bus on the way to Amalfi for the best views.

 

[TXTransplant]

Oh, you might also want to bring a waterproof bag for your stuff when you go on the boat ride in Capri. Big enough for your belongings and anything you might buy while there. The boat is pretty cozy, and between waves and wet people, your things could get soaked.