Positano, Italy

Our second stop on our Italian babymoon was Positano. Located on Italy’s famous Amalfi Coast, Positano is a gorgeous seaside town perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. We spent two nights in this colorful, vibrant city and it was probably our favorite part of the trip.

Before our trip, I spent a lot of time trying to decide which town on the Amalfi Coast we should stay in, from popular Positano or Amalfi to scenic Ravello to quieter Praiano (I found this site to be helpful). I’m ultimately completely happy we chose Positano. We took a day trip to Amalfi, my other top contender, and while we enjoyed that trip I think Positano was more picturesque and less crowded with tour groups.

Getting there: We drove our rental car from Naples to Positano, which included driving along the seaside Amalfi Coast roads. Before my trip, this was the portion I was most nervous about as I had read that the narrow coastal roads could be pretty scary. We found that information to be exaggerated. In our opinion, the coastal roads to Positano were totally fine, with fairly wide lanes, certainly big enough for a tour bus to pass without any trouble. My husband drove this portion of the trip, and according to him, “compared to Scotland, this was a breeze.”

Where we stayed: We stayed at the Hotel Reginella and would highly recommend this hotel. We had a triple room, which I booked just for a little extra space. It included a private balcony with views straight out to the ocean and the rest of the town. The hotel was also in a great location—the stairs down to the beach were right across from the hotel, and there was a small grocery store just around the corner where you could pick up water, snacks, wine, or whatever you might need.

What we ate: We had so much good food in Positano. Our first night we went to dinner at Ristorante da Constantino, a family-owned trattoria at the top of the hill with beautiful views over the whole bay. The restaurant offers a free shuttle service since the hike up the hill would be pretty punishing, whether you are pregnant or not. I enjoyed a delicious whole fish roasted in the wood-fire oven and Andrew had lamb ribs with a chickpea puree. I also had my favorite dessert of the trip here, a ricotta and pear cake with a hazelnut crust. I am still thinking about this cake. I long for it. I wonder when I will ever have a chance to eat it again.

Our second day in Positano we had an amazing lunch at Le Tre Sorelle right on the beach—we shared grilled octopus (so tender and sweet!), roasted artichokes, and ravioli. That night, we had dinner at Da Vincenzo, and enjoyed another fabulous meal, including a hearty squid appetizer (eat seafood in Positano! it’s so fresh!) and a delicious mozzarella and pear dessert (not the perfection of the ricotta cake from the night before, but still delightful).

What we did: Other than eating delicious food and enjoying the views from our balcony, we went to the beach and also took the high-speed ferry to Amalfi for a visit. I’ll write about our quick trip to Amalfi in a separate post, but here are the details on the beach. Positano’s Spiaggia Grande beach has two areas. The area closest to the ferry dock is the free public beach—you can plop down on a towel here whenever you like. The area with the deck chairs is a paid beach. You’ll need to go to the lido desk and pay for access to this beach area. I felt this was totally worth it. The deck chairs are rented for the day, and heck, I’m pregnant, we were living it up. They also rent towels if you need them.

We were so lucky with our weather. Even though it was late April, it was warm enough in the afternoon to sunbathe and even go swimming!

One thing to note about the beaches in Positano: there is no sand. The beach is made up of smooth black stones, but they are pretty painful to walk on barefoot. Bring sandals or water shoes for the best experience.

The Positano stair situation while pregnant: Positano is a vertical town. It is built on a cliff and getting anywhere requires going up and down lots (and lots) of stairs. I was a tiny bit worried about this before our trip, but you know what? I was fine. Granted, I live in New York City and I walk a lot. I think I’m a fairly active pregnant person. If you’re less used to walking on a daily basis, or experiencing a more difficult pregnancy, Positano’s stairs might pose a problem. I just took it slow and rested about halfway up when climbing the hundreds of stairs from the beach to our hotel. (Note: Our hotel was also probably only about halfway up the hill. I think it was actually an ideal location because the entrance to the stairs down was right across from the hotel.)

Ultimately, I didn’t mind all the stairs. It was good exercise and being pregnant didn’t keep me from doing anything we wanted to do. Plus, there were some services that saved us from climbing stairs, like the restaurants that would pick you up from your hotel.