Vietri sul Mare

We didn’t have to go far to reach our next stop: the legendary Amalfi Coast. If you’ve been following along (or if you’ve been there), you already know that this is the rugged section of south-facing coast between Sorrento and Salerno, where the mountains come crashing down into the sea, Big Sur-style, and a dozen dreamy towns cling precariously to the cliffs and hillsides. It’s so unique that the entire place been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the coastal towns, the most famous of these are Amalfi and Positano, and their fame is well-earned. But especially during the summer, both can be so mobbed with tourists that they’re difficult to enjoy. My clever wife had done her homework and booked us a place in one of the much quieter and lesser known villages, Vietri sul Mare, where few tourists go and an AirBnB is surprisingly affordable, even in June.

Despite its epic location and famous siblings, Vietri seems almost like a working-class town. It’s so close to the big coastal city of Salerno that you can hardly tell where one ends and the other begins, and the city’s bustling industrial port almost rubs elbows with the village’s gorgeous beaches. But up on the cliffs, Vietri is very much one of those precarious hanging villages, and is oriented such that you could almost forget Salerno right around the corner. It has one small main street, one main church, and less than 8,000 inhabitants. Like so many of these villages, it’s a warren of narrow streets, steep alleys, and staircases that wind every which way, duck underneath buildings, and quickly leave you disoriented. (Favorite challenge: trying to figure out these labyrinths and learn my way around!) Of course, getting lost and finding new things is part of the fun, but you never stay lost too long in a town this small.

Although getting lost was precisely the theme when we first arrived. The big ferry we took from Ischia was dropping us at Salerno, and we figured we’d just grab a cab to Vietri. Easier said than done! We piled off of the boat with hundreds of other folks at Salerno’s big, modern port, but then everybody else just sort of…disappeared. Walked off somewhere. There wasn’t a cab to be seen anywhere, and none of the taxi or ride share apps we’d been using seemed to work here. It was already evening, and our AirBnB host was waiting for us. So we hurriedly started lugging our bags in the direction of a big coastal promenade where we figured everybody else must have gone. We walked probably over a quarter mile, part of it along one of the busier streets in Salerno. No taxi rank. No taxis at all. We finally spotted one and practically jumped into its path. The guy jerked to a stop, half in the middle of the road, to pick us up, but then told us he wasn’t really supposed to go to Vietri. Huh? It was like a mile away. How did people get there? We finally talked him into it, but would soon regret it. He clearly did not know his way around that village…and couldn’t even figure it out using GPS and talking with our host on the phone. We drove completely around the town two or three times before we finally found the right turn. We’re pretty sure we got fleeced on that ride, but were just happy to finally get there. Did we mention that Vietri is a little off the beaten path? Apparently even from Salerno!

We were met at the apartment by two sweet (and patient) young women, one translating for the other—this being one of the few places we had been where English was not widely spoken. Flat land in the village is almost non-existent, and flat cliffside land with sea views seems like it should be highly coveted. But in Vietri, the one area that fits this description is covered with a dozen fairly drab concrete apartment blocks, clearly the low-rent part of town. We were staying in one of these, in a quaint, well-worn 2nd floor unit that was obviously the home of one of the girls rather than a full-time rental. But it had views over the Med and was only steps away from the lengthy staircase that leads down to the beach. Anywhere else, this would be a million-dollar condo. But not in Vietri!

The downside, however, was that there seemed to be small-scale repairs and construction going on around our building every morning, and unlike the Spaniards, contractors in Vietri start early. No sleeping in for us tourists! Especially since we somehow arrived right in the middle of the town’s annual festival and feast of its patron saint, John the Baptist. We were wondering all week why we kept hearing cannons and/or fireworks going off and loudspeakers blaring in the distance until well past midnight. Or why we were awoken early one morning by a brass band parade winding around our building! The festival is very much a local thing, and we didn’t see it advertised anywhere; even now I can find few references to it online. How’s that for local color?

The town’s claim to fame is its ceramics industry, and it apparently used to have several factories. Of these, only one appears to remain—Solimene—housed in a large, eccentric, impossible-to-miss Gaudí-esque building at the entrance to town. Across the road, there is a whimsical cliffside park coated in brightly colored ceramic tiles, including a small amphitheater and a lot of meandering staircases and ramps. There’s also a small ceramics museum in town and, of course, plenty of shops selling the stuff. Vietri’s most distinctive wares are little ceramic donkeys (the main form of transport for centuries and a much-loved icon of the region) and brightly-colored hand-painted majolica tiles. The town is literally covered with these tiles, including several large tile murals. Even the prominent church dome is adorned with bright yellow, green and blue tiles!

Vietri is a place that doesn’t move quickly, and for us, our five nights there were (like Ischia before it) a chance for the three of us to slow down, catch up, and relax. We often split up and took turns hanging with Griffin. He & Amy spent a few languid afternoons swimming and sunbathing at the beach. They also took a couple of ceramics classes from an adorable local woman. (Amy is obsessed with all things ceramic and dreams of having her own kiln one day.) While Griffin was below the stated age limit for the class, the teacher apparently thought him a natural and kept exclaiming “Bravissimo Grif-fone-eh!”. (She was less enthusiastic about Amy’s talents.) When I wasn’t back at the apartment napping or catching up on my writing, Griffin and I spent a lot of time walking around the town—heading up to our favorite café for a cappuccino and croissants, exploring the various little markets (the daily fresh fish market was especially fascinating!), and looking for good pizza.

One of our favorite family memories was heading down to the beach on our last afternoon and renting a paddle boat per Griffin’s request. We awkwardly paddled out, well away from shore, trying hard not to capsize in the waves from passing ferries. Then we headed into a couple of tiny, rocky coves, where we pulled the boat ashore on our own little private beach and played in the warmish water. It was a wonderful, relaxing way to wrap up our week there.

Should you visit Vietri sul Mare? I’m not sure. You should visit the Amalfi Coast sometime, preferably in May or September when the crowds are a bit thinner and the weather a bit cooler. Pop into Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi and/or Positano if you can, to experience those famous spots at least for an afternoon. But to soak up that slower, more local vibe that we did in Vietri, you can stay in any one of a dozen smaller towns along that coast. (Check out photos of some of these in our next post.) These lesser known towns are all definitely worth a look…I’m sure there are wonderful surprises to be found in each. We spent over two weeks in this area, and there was so much we still didn’t see!