Mariella Frostrup: Why spring is the best time to explore Italy's Amalfi Coast
Sometimes it’s hard to keep a straight face when referring to my part-time “job” as a travel writer. Friends and family regularly mock me for any suggestion that my sponsored wanderlust can be considered work.
Usually I like to put them straight, describing the slog of cocktails with the hotel manager, the conjuring of tsunamis of gratitude, the pressure of exemplary behaviour and the impossibility of relaxing with one eye constantly alert to what might be amusing, illuminating or provide the perfect photo opportunity.
Occasionally, though, even I have to admit that it would be churlish to be anything but downright grateful. So I was, when I was offered a four-day stay at a beautiful looking villa an hour’s drive from Naples.
View our best holidays to the Amalfi Coast
The precipitous cliffs, cascading villages and black sand beaches of the Amalfi peninsula have been a vacationer’s idyll since Roman times. At the height of the summer season it’s one of the most frenetic areas on the Italian coastline, its picturesque harbours packed with day-trippers and small boats, but visiting in spring proved a revelation.
At Villa Sirenusa it felt as though we had the whole coastline to ourselves. You’d certainly be hard-pressed to find a more impressive panorama than the one we enjoyed from our garden. This Sixties-built spacious home perched on the cliff-top and down a no-through road, was an oasis of serenity.
It also faced one of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever seen. Out front lay the three iconic, postcard-favoured Galli Islands, including Rudolf Nureyev’s one-time private island home. To our left, jet set favourite Positano, to our right further along the coast the gourmet hotspot of Nerano, and across the still, shimmering sea, Capri loomed temptingly once the early morning mists cleared.
With not another dwelling in sight we would sit, on one of the array of terraces dropping down the rock face, or lounging by the infinity pool, marvelling that somewhere so remote and peaceful could exist in such an otherwise overcrowded tourist destination.
A short walk up a long hill lay the unspoilt, working village of Fontanelle, where in the early morning old men sat with espressos solving the world’s woes, and in the afternoon the supermarket opened somewhere between 4.30pm and 5pm, depending on the length of the owner’s siesta.
Shopping there I was reminded of how indulged we’ve become by the global food market, when I asked for fresh chillies and was told by the incredulous manager they wouldn’t be “in season” until September, as though that were the most natural thing on earth! It probably should be.
One of the particular pleasures of renting a house, rather than a hotel stay, is how it pushes you into local life, so while the family slept, my mornings began with a visit to the one-roomed bakery, with it’s flour-dusted tiled floor and open bread oven where delicious crusty loaves sold out before most of the world had opened their eyelids.
Part of my mission in going there was to educate the children by introducing some Ancient Roman history. So we traipsed up Vesuvius in fog, catching enough of a glimpse of the crater to be intimidated, and then walked around Pompeii in breezy sunshine and were momentarily silenced by the poignancy of the villagers preserved for millennia.
Less cerebrally we gorged our way around the peninsula on the simple seasonal food that Italy does better than anywhere else. In the old marina in Sorrento, we chose the long wooden deck of Delfino, golden light spilling from the harbour and Vesuvius looming iconically on the horizon, to enjoy a perfect spaghetti vongole, casting away thoughts of what plump mussels and clams had been so well fattened on in the Bay of Naples!
Gazing out on an empty seascape we marvelled at the tranquillity of our perfectly placed rental and toasted our good fortune in escaping the summer hordes we’d have been rubbing sun-screened shoulders with later in the season. It’s a tough old job as I said at the outset, but somebody has to do it.
The essentials
A stay at Villa Sirenusa with Oliver’s Travels (0800 133 7999; oliverstravels.com) costs from £7,188 per week based on an occupancy of eight people.
