Ravello: Fewer Tourists and Amazing Amalfi Coast Views 🇮🇹 Italy Travel Guide

Welcome to the enchanting hilltop town of Ravello, perched 365 meters above the Amalfi Coast. Escape the crowds with us while we spend the day soaking in its charm, peaceful gardens, medieval history, and sweeping views. But wear your comfortable shoes because you'll be doing plenty of walking uphill on quaint cobblestone streets and climbing many stairs. We promise that Ravello is worth your time. I'm Judy and I'm Kevin. Welcome back to Find Jeanne Marie, where we share our lives as full-time travelers and the connections we make along the way. Unlike other towns and villages on the Amalfi Coast, you can't reach Ravello by boat. That's because it's high in the mountains, but it's also what gives it the sweeping vistas exclusive to it. It means that there are fewer crowds here. The beachcombers are gathered elsewhere. We arrived a little later than we had planned, and since there is plenty to see here and the evening buses get crowded, be sure to start your day early for the best experience. Stay tuned to the end of this video because we'll be sharing prices for everything we spent. We were off to a slow start this morning from Pomerano Agarola, and we're at the bus stop to Ravello in time to catch the 9 a.m. bus to Amalfi. It seems counterintuitive, but to get to the mountains of Ravello from the mountains of Pomerano, you have to travel down to the coast and then go back up. Many of the bus and ferry trips start from Amalfi. Unfortunately, the bus we needed to be on to get to Amalfi was already nearly full before it got to us, so we had to wait for the next one, which wasn't arriving until three hours later. A shuttle saved us this time, but the other option is to pre-arrange a taxi to drop you off in Amalfi. From Amalfi, we hopped onto a Sita Sud bus to Ravello, which takes about 30 minutes. The Sita Sud buses get very crowded very quickly. Get your tickets ahead of time. Make sure you're in line. Don't push. You'll get on most of the buses, but if you don't, you're going to take the next one, so give yourself enough time to catch the next bus because you can see the crew here, and most of the time we're ending up standing on these buses. Our first stop of the day was to Villa Rufolo, a place that inspired Wagner's opera Parsifal and why Ravello is known as the city of music. So we're here at the super impressive Villa Rufolo in Ravello, and this is an enormous, incredible-looking palace with amazing views. It was built in the 13th century, and it is a mix of Arabic and Norman and Sicilian cultures blended perfectly, but it had been in disrepair for several centuries. In the 18th century, they added cloisters, and in the 19th century, they updated the gardens. So it will be interesting to just kind of walk around and see what's here. Yeah, it's a beautiful view. Again, the Amalfi Coast, so all these views look really good no matter where you are. The International Musical Festival is hosted on the grounds of Villa Rufolo. Other famous authors and artists and musicians such as Tennessee Williams, Virginia Woolf, Gore Vidal, and Pablo Picasso have been influenced by the beauty of Villa Rufolo. The Torre Maggiore, which means major tower, is worth the 100 steps to climb up to the glass enclosed panoramic platform. This large tower has only been open to the public since 2017. For the last thousand years before that, it was not part of the standard visitor route, and access to the tower was either restricted or entirely private. A little bit after hiking the Path of Gods yesterday, I'm feeling every single one of these steps. Me too. I definitely feel it. A few more. That was high. Yeah, incredible views. It's always a little disappointing when they have to put glass up so that you can't see unobstructed views, but still fairly panoramic. The tower and the Torre Museo, which has artifacts and explanations about the history of the family and the tower, are all included as part of the admission price to the rest of the grounds. Some of the gardens were under renovation when we visited, so we weren't able to capture the full magnificence of having everything in bloom. We didn't have time to squeeze in a visit to Villa Cimbrone, which was in a completely different direction, but if you've been there, we'd love to know how it compares to Villa Rufolo. After Villa Rufolo, we headed to Piazza Vescovaro, Ravello's main piazza. It's the heart of this charming town, and you'll see people bustling, eating, shopping, and snapping photos. It's where you'll find the cathedral, Duomo di Ravello, that was built in 1086. Inside, you'll find a crypt containing the relics of Ravello's patron saint, Saint Pantaleone. While getting to Mimi's Pizzeria and Cucina required us to climb a lot of steps, we were ready to find a shady spot with nice views. The food was tasty too. So we're at Mimi's Pizzeria and Cucina, and I have some ravioli with red sauce and cherry tomatoes and basil, and it looks pretty tasty, I'm not gonna lie. That cheese in there? It's got cheese in there, and it's quite al dente. It tastes homemade. It's really, really good. I haven't had ravioli in quite a while. Yummy. Mine's not a simple spaghetti. There's tomatoes in here, the yellow tomatoes, there's a little bit of anchovy, and there's cheese, and yeah, with the sauce, it looks very hot. And there's truffle croutons also in here. That's something I was missing. Delicious though. I was a little worried when I saw the red sauce on the table that I was missing out, but this is delicious. No, you're missing out. Oh no, I'm gonna have some of yours. Getting to other parts of Ravello requires you to sometimes go downstairs, walk for a bit, and then climb back up again in another area. Our Airbnb host in Bomerano suggested we check out Hotel Coruso, and we're glad we did. Of course we weren't guests of the hotel, which had once been a luxurious estate house, but the staff didn't mind that we wandered around. It sits on a hilltop, and the views from it are gorgeous. Palazzo Aveno is a five-star luxury hotel housed in a 12th century villa. It's been meticulously restored into a sophisticated and elegant retreat for celebrities and dignitaries, and boasts two Michelin star restaurants. All that's too rich for our tastes, but the atmosphere was alluring enough that as we walked through the gardens, we then decided to splurge on their delicious but expensive aperitivi. The green olives, tortilla chips, and peanuts were complimentary, which was good because the cost of a single drink for each of us was a huge indulgence, even with mine being alcohol-free. Before we talk about what we paid for this enchanting day in Ravello, we're excited to share that we've started our own absolutely free community forum that we are calling La Familia. You can ask questions about trip planning and all things related to travel there. A video with the details is linked in the description below. So what did everything cost? The bus to Ravello was full, so we ended up getting a deal on a taxi that charged us only €15 per person. Typically, you'd be paying €100 for a private taxi. Bus tickets from Amalfi to Ravello are €1.50, or you can get a round-trip ticket for €2. A bus ticket from Amalfi to Bomberano cost us €2.40 or €2.80 per person round-trip. Villa Ruflo tickets will cost you €8 apiece. At Mimi Pizzeria in Cucina, we paid €86.50, which included espresso for Kevin at €2.50, bottled water for €3, a carafe of red wine for €10. For our three mains, we paid €20 for ravioli for me, and €22 for local pasta with sausage for our daughter, €20 for pasta with yellow cherry tomatoes for Kevin. Don't forget to factor in coperto, which was €9 for the three of us. was fairly pricey at €22 for Kevin's Lagavulin 16, a classic Aperol Spritz for our daughter at €23, and my Rose Hills Fancy Virgin drink at €18, for a total of €63. Included in this price were nibbles, amazing views, and an indulgent atmosphere. If we would have had one more day on the Amalfi Coast, we would have spent it here. Join us next week as we wrap up our time by visiting Capri and Amalfi. Did we think they were worth it? We'll tell you next week, so subscribe if you haven't already. And one of the best compliments you can give to us is to recommend our videos to your friends and family. Check out FindingGenieMarie.com. We have articles, more information, and our community forum. Until next time. Until next time.