Saturday – Departure, Budapest – Naples – Salerno

Due to the Hungarian weather conditions, this not-so-summerlike take-off filled us with a little fear, and we only hoped that the southern tip of Italy would promise a little more sunshine and warm weather. At home at that time and in the weeks before our departure, 15-20 degrees and torrential rain were typical, I could say that the summer of 2023 started with a mild winter.

Our plane landed in Naples and the sun was shining. Hooray! The team got together and we set off towards our base port in Salerno. There were a few who completed the Budapest-Salerno 1450 km by car, they also arrived fortunately and joined the flying brigade. The afternoon just fit in a shopping spree, for which the car came in handy, as we usually pack the ship’s kitchen and refrigerators with quite a few things on day 0. One week’s supplies for 10 people is not a small amount. In the evening, a get-together dinner with lots of seafood, delicious local wines and the long-awaited adventure quickly aligned the team.

Sunday – Salerno – Positano

We set off on time as planned, crossing the sea in smooth water towards Positano. Positano is a real little jewel box, which does not have a traditional port, but has a well-developed buoy system, so we tied ourselves to a buoy and literally connected the pleasant with the useful: we beached at our “port”. There were two ways to get to the mainland from the buoy: with your own inflatable boat or one of the local barges. A part of the team decided to choose the “water taxi” (the price of the buoy includes transportation to and from the shore 24 hours a day). On the beach, beyond the hustle and bustle and the adventurously winding streets, better and better restaurants awaited. A good lunch combined with sightseeing turned out to be a great program. Meanwhile, those who remained on board drank from the previous day’s rich loot, got to know each other, went to the beach, and timed their visit to Positano for the evening.

Monday – Sorrento

We anchored in a sunlit, azure bay on the south side of the popular island, where we spent a few hours bathing, snorkeling, sunbathing and preparing a nice lunch in the tranquility provided by the towering rocks around us. We were driven by the desire to explore, so in the afternoon we pulled up our anchor and sailed to the city of Sorrento at the southern end of the Bay of Naples, where we booked a berth in advance. Sorrento, like so many settlements in the area, was built on a high rock wall, so from the port you can either take a taxi or lift to the center of the city, where the pulsating Mediterranean atmosphere awaited us again.

Tuesday – Procida

In the morning – not when the sun rose ☺ – at the entrance to the port, we ate fresh pastries and aromatic Italian coffee from a local bakery and reflected on our sailing adventures, then left the land behind and headed towards Procida. Procida is a tiny little island above the northern tip of the Gulf of Naples. The approximately 3-hour-long journey was really calm. Before arriving at the harbor, we dropped anchor in a nice bay, had a swim, a snack, and a motorboat that went around the ships and offered coffee, soft drinks, and ice cream. We bought, ate – in other words, we licked – and in the evening we sneaked nicely into the port, then looked for a pizzeria. If you’re looking, you’ll find it – well, not surprisingly, it’s not that hard to find a pizzeria in Italy – we chose a pretty good little place: for 9 euros, we got a pizza so big that it hung off the plate, and it was unbelievably delicious.

After dinner, there was a short evening sightseeing walk, and we had a lot of laughs during the walk.

During his morning walk, one of our fellow passengers allegedly bumped into famous movie stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Matt Damon, and then Massimo Troisi and Philippe Noiret came across him. Well, all we have to say about this is that we weren’t there, we didn’t see it, but we believe him.

Wednesday – Ischia

On Wednesday morning, we could still fit in a walk seasoned with British celebrities simply because our next destination was very close. Ischia is only an hour away by boat, so we quickly got there and dropped anchor at the foot of Aragon Castle. At this point, the team split into four. Some people hopped on a scooter, others visited the castle, some stayed on the ship, and some chose the shore restaurants to indulge in local culinary delights. The latter could observe the filming taking place literary next to them.

For the night, our skipper navigated our ship again to a cozy harbor, where we can go in the direction of various programs, some in the direction of a louder party, some in the direction of romantic walks and restaurants.

Thursday – Capri

In the morning, we set off towards the much-desired wonder island, because the plan was that on the way back we would not only visit a bay, but also go ashore. We were a little worried, because we didn’t manage to book a berth (there was a plan B, too), but at that point we were like, whatever will happen. Off to Capri! The plan worked, we moored!, and after mooring the whole team dispersed. Sightseeing walk, up and down the mountain, eating, drinking, Phoenician stairs, perfect weather, sunshine, souvenir shopping, seafood, pizza, prosecco ☺. That’s pretty much how the day went on the island. In the evening, we finally had a nice dinner together in one of the restaurants on the coastal promenade, where the crowd had fortunately disappeared by then.

Friday – Amalfi – Salerno

We left early in the morning (around 9 ☺ ) in order to have enough time for Amalfi. We sailed on flat water, with hardly any wind, opened one- two bottles of wine and listened to pleasant, mostly Italian music. Amalfi crowned our week. The atmosphere of the city, its view, winding streets, cozy restaurants and the bazaar captured the hearts of the team. This place is not only wonderful in the movies!

In the late afternoon we headed back to our base port, Salerno. After the mandatory refueling, we pulled into our places, where the representatives of the charter company were already waiting for us. Short paperwork and inspection, then another walk together in the evening, dinner, and the unavoidable packing – much to everyone’s chagrin.

Saturday – A tearful farewell

Go to Budapest, solid ground and reality! Summing up the atmosphere of our Amalfi tour: Good company, good places, good time! We wish many similarly successful tours to come!