Category Archive

Naples has undergone a renaissance and recent years so that while there are old Neapolitan standbys for places to eat and sleep and visit, there are new choices, especially in terms of modern art.

I hadn't been in Naples for years, and this had me worried. Was it changing? Was my beloved city of cheerful anarchy going soft? Our intrepid writer finds much to love in both the old and new...Naples.

Anacapri (pronounced "ah-nah-CAH-pree" by the locals) literally means "above Capri." It offers spectacular views, little traffic, historic churches and homes, narrow pedestrian lanes and great shopping, all surrounded by colorful and fragrant flowers like bougainvillea and geraniums.

While the town of Postiano on the Amalfi Coast is alluring in and of itself, if you can force yourself to leave its charms, you will be rewarded by visiting Pompeii, Naples, Amalfi and Ravello.

Each spring they descend on Hotel Le Sirenuse--30 writers of different ages, life stages, and literary genres, arriving to spend a week at the famed hotel in the company of each other and a faculty of acclaimed authors who in 2012 will include Susan Orlean, Dani Shapiro, Jim Shepard and Hannah Tinti.

What visitors might not realize and should know about is that "Moda Positano" evolved not just from a beachside aesthetic, but also from a local tailoring tradition. Here's where to shop in Positano for such a look as well as ceramics and other gifts to take home.

So you're ready for a retreat in Positano? We tell you where to stay -- affordable to luxury hotels -- and where to eat fresh seafood and other culinary treasures of the Amalfi Coast. Don't miss this comprehensive guide.

"Positano bites deep," John Steinbeck famously said in a May 1953 piece for Harper's Bazaar. While those words are often used to promote Positano as a place that sinks its teeth into you, the truth is that Positano takes a deep bite geographically into the Amalfi Coast. The town, with its roads stacked layer upon layer like tiers of a cake, is built around a deep, narrow bay that gives it a privacy and whimsy matched by no other nearby town.