Stephanie Pitera Statile
From the moment my husband and I got engaged in 2021, we knew we wanted to honeymoon in Italy. After all, our shared Italian heritage really bonded us during our early days of dating.
When we began mapping out our trip, we planned to visit historical sites in Rome, sip wine in the Tuscan countryside, and explore the colorful hillside towns and turquoise waters of the Amalfi Coast.
I was perhaps most excited for our four-night stay on the Amalfi Coast, which was named one of the best honeymoon destinations for 2024 by Condé Nast Traveller.
Although the Amalfi Coast is absolutely gorgeous, and we enjoyed our time there, I left feeling like something was missing from the experience.
When we returned home and told our family and friends about this portion of our honeymoon, many were shocked to hear that my husband and I had no desire to return.
Here's why our trip to the Amalfi Coast didn't quite live up to our expectations.
Stephanie Pitera Statile
As soon as we were dropped off alongside the busy road outside our Airbnb, I noticed one thing — there weren't sidewalks or pedestrian walkways.
As my husband and I explored the town we were staying in, we clung to the walls on the side of the road as buses and motorbikes sped by.
We found that the majority of the towns we visited along the coast didn't have sidewalks either, which meant getting around on foot felt a little more difficult and dangerous than we expected.
Although the locals didn't seem phased, I was a little nervous about walking down the busier streets.
My twice-weekly Pilates classes did not prepare me for the hundreds of steps and steep inclines of the Amalfi Coast.
One night, we decided to visit a gorgeous seaside restaurant in Praiano. When figuring out the best way to get there, we discovered it was only a 40-minute walk from our Airbnb.
Since it was a nice night, we decided to give it a go. However, I didn't realize the walk would be more like a hike.
Before leaving home, I had been warned about the many steps on the Amalfi Coast, but I severely underestimated how difficult it would actually be to get around on foot.
In all fairness, I did visit in July, when temperatures reached up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Although the heat definitely made the steps harder to conquer, I'm not sure I would have fared much better in cooler temperatures.
Stephanie Pitera Statile
As someone who grew up right outside New York City, I can typically smell a tourist trap from a mile away. To me, a lot of the most popular destinations on the Amalfi Coast felt as though they were specifically designed for tourists.
I guess this makes sense since the coast attracts roughly 5 million visitors a year. However, the coast felt like a far cry from the more authentic Italian experience I was expecting to find.
For example, while wandering the gorgeous streets near the port in Positano, we found that many of the gelato shops were owned by the same company. The gelato was delicious, but I was a little disappointed that we couldn't sample flavors from a variety of different local merchants.
When I travel, I also love checking out the products from local vendors. In Positano and Amalfi, I was looking for one-of-a-kind mementos and handcrafted pieces but mostly found dresses and pottery that looked nearly identical from place to place.
In my experience, it was hard to find authenticity in many of the tourist-filled locations on the coast. Although we genuinely enjoyed our experience there, I preferred immersing myself in the culture of the small towns we visited in Tuscany.
When I was researching and planning our trip, one of the No. 1 tips I read was not to rent a car on the Amalfi Coast. After all, the steep, winding cliffside roads are not for the faint of heart.
With this advice in mind, we decided to use public transportation to get around. Although we loved how cheap the buses were (typically less than 3 euros per person), we soon discovered that they rarely showed up at the scheduled times.
This led us to have to cancel reservations and plans, which was disappointing since we were only in town for a few days. Additionally, we found the taxis to be quite expensive — one 15-minute drive cost us 50 euros.
Because navigating public transportation quickly became draining, we ended up spending more time at our Airbnb than at the beach.
Stephanie Pitera Statile
In terms of honeymoon destinations, it doesn't get more romantic than the stunning seaside towns on the Amalfi Coast.
My husband and I genuinely enjoyed our time there — it just isn't the type of place I'm dying to return to.
The views were incredible, the people were friendly, and the food was delicious. But next time we return to Italy, we'll probably stick to less-touristy areas to really immerse ourselves in the local culture.
