Ravello & Praiano, Italy
The coast without Positano's day-tripper crush — you stay above it and come down when it empties.
Positano in July is a beautiful place having a bad time. Staying in Praiano puts you eight minutes along the coast, halves the room rate, and gives you the same water.
The walking is the underrated part of this coast. The Path of the Gods gets the attention, but the stepped mule tracks between the villages are better and almost empty.
Two nights in Ravello at the end, up where the air changes and the gardens look straight down two thousand feet of nothing.
Private transfer from Naples, roughly ninety minutes. Aperitivo on the terrace.
Bus up to Bomerano and walk back down to Praiano. Four hours, all of it a view.
Private boat for the day — Furore fjord, the grottoes, lunch anchored somewhere quiet.
Down after 5pm when the day boats have gone. Dinner and the walk back up.
Transfer up the hill. Villa Cimbrone gardens in the late afternoon light.
Villa Rufolo, the ceramics workshops, and an unhurried last dinner.
Transfer back to Naples.