Rooftops of Positano

The pressure is high when it comes to planning a vacation. There is only so much time, there is a certain budget, for most, and there are endless choices. There will always be that place that was absolute perfection when you first visited; it was beyond expectation, one of the best trips of your life where you made only the most beloved memories. You want to return again and again, but it means sacrificing a new experience, a new destination, sights unseen, cultures unexplored, foods uneaten, distant hotel beds unslept in.

The town of Amalfi

En route to Ravello

When your most perfect vacation was la costiera amalfitana, the decision becomes simple. You return.

No matter how many times you have visited the Amalfi Coast, there is newness to be experienced; there is nostalgia to be felt, there are sunsets and sunrises more exuberant than you remembered, there are vivacious southern Italians with whom to laugh, to dine, and to learn the art of living.

The sweeping cliffside drive on the edge of the Tyrrhenian sea is the first sign that you have re-found your dolce-est vita. These figure eights should be enjoyed from the leather seats of a vintage car; the driver, a thrill seeker, will feel as if he or she is headed straight towards the loop of the eight, as if one can drive over the sea and across to the next loop. You will speed past lemon carriers; miniature trucks carrying crates of just-picked lemons in the back wagon. You will zoom past the infamous Grottoes and their azure reflections. The Tyrrhenian sea, itself a starry-eyed muse to so many of the world’s premier fashion designers, looks more alluring after every bend of the Sorrento peninsula. No wonder so many summer collections return to those cerulean blues and those bright-as-lemons, sunshine yellows.

Charme & Adventure, a bespoke, luxury tour company, understands how to capture the essence of this Cliffside drive, of the tantalizing aromas and of the contagious passions of the region. Have your eye on a legendary Fiat 500? A romantic, photogenic Beetle? They will provide it. Do you prefer a Vespa? Just ask them. Would you prefer to seek your thrills from the comfort of the backseat? C&A will hire you an expert driver.

There are other, unique ways to take in the astounding beauty of the Sorrento Peninsula. Charme & Adventure is one of the only companies who is able to hire a balloon on demand, a helicoptor, or even a horse. So, if on your first visit to la costiera amalfitana you relied on your own rented car to twist and turn from Positano to Ravello, your choices for new experiences are plentiful on your second or third trip. Giddyup, Dolce, it’s time for take-off, Gabbana.