Play Italy — A Deep Dive Into the Amalfi Coast

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Play Italy is an Italian based luxury & premium travel company that provides door to door service for your Italian Vacation! They have an “Italian Expert” booking agent, who helps you plan everything pre, during, and post trip! You can pick an itinerary that is already existing on their website, or you can work with them to create your own bespoke itinerary. From the countryside of Tuscany to the small towns in Sicily, to the romantic canals of Venice, to the historic cities like Florence and Rome, there is truly something for everyone.

We went to the Amalfi Coast on their “A Complete Dive Into the Amalfi Coast” Itinerary and their Italian expert planned and curated everything for us. They helped us select our flights, arrange transfers and accommodations, and plan the entire experience. What I love most about Play Italy is that you truly get to sit back, relax, and know that you’ll have the best experience without lifting a finger. They have two types of bookings. One is “Quality,” and the second is “Premium.” Quality is the more affordable option between the two. The main difference is your hotel accommodations will be 4 stars and your excursions will be small group experiences. The Premium package is 4 & 5 star hotels with all excursions and experiences private.

Private Boat Tour on the island of Capri with Play Italy

This trip is in partnership with Play Italy, but all thoughts & views are my own

Here is a breakdown of our own personal Play Italy experience!

ACCOMMODATIONS & ITINERARY

Because we are on this trip with Play Italy to showcase their incredible itinerary and experiences, we stayed at two different properties — a four star, and a five star. The first hotel we checked into was Hotel Bel-Air, and the second hotel that we switched over to was Hotel Continental Sorrento I loved both for different reasons. Bel-Air was beautfiul and lux, everything you would imagine a 5 star hotel to be, but it wasn’t in the heart of time. Hotel Sorrento was right in the heart of town, a 2 minute walk to the city center, and it was so fun to just step outside and feel the liveliness of Sorrento.

The pool of hotel Bel Air Sorrento — where to stay while in Sorrento

Day 0 – Travel Day

If you want Play Italy to handle your flights, they can arrange that for you — otherwise their packages exclude flights. We flew from LAX to Naples and were met with a private driver who drove us straight to Sorrento. After a long travel day, we grabbed dinner in town and just relaxed at our beautiful 5 star hotel.

Hotel Bel Air

DAY 1 — THE AMALFI COAST TOUR

Our first day was a tour of the Amalfi Coast with our private driver and tour guide. We started in Sorrento and drove to Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello. It was nice to have our own personal driver because we were able to pull over whenever we wanted for photos, or stay in a town longer if we enjoyed it. It was at our own leisurely pace. We arrived in Positano, did a mini walking tour, and then had some free time to explore on our own.

After Positano,, we drove to Amalfi, where we took a small boat along the coast to see the town from the water. Then we enjoyed lunch in Amalfi and had the famous lemon sorbettini. This was our own personal request because we had never been to Amalfi before and I wanted more time there!

Our last stop was Ravello, and we got a couple hours of free time to enjoy the small town. Ravello is my personal favorite, and I loved being back there. It’s so quite and charming, and feels like a proper local town. We walked around Villa Cimbrone and explored the ceramic stores in the square. Afterwards, it was close to a two hour drive back to Sorrento.

DAY 2 — SORRENTO WALKING TOUR

Our second day of our Play Italy trip was a walking tour in Sorrento. I had never explored Sorrento properly so I was really excited to be taken around by a local. We tried proper Sorrento local food including a famous foccacia shop called Storico 8, and had the famous calamri cones. We also got a history tour and visited a Limoncello Factory. The beach clubs in Sorrento are also stunning — Lionel’s Beach Club is my personal favorite.

DAY 3 — NAPLES HISTORY TOUR

We had a morning to relax and then were driven off to Naples for a history and walking tour! This was actually one of the highlights of my trip. I hadn’t spent too much time in Naples prior, and really enjoyed it. The city has so much history and personality, and it’s so fun to explore.

DAY 4 — CAPRI BOAT DAY

Day 4 was probably my favorite day of my trip because I love boat days. Our Italian Expert surprised us with our own private yacht, and we spent the entire day sailing to Capri and spending time exploring the island. Because the Play Italy Premium packages are all private tours, we were able to control our own itinerary again. The captain took us all around the island and we stopped at the grottos and famous rocks. Afterwards, we docked at some amazing swimming spots.

In the afternoon, we got off the boat and walked around Capri, enjoyed lunch, and visited the famous Augusto Gardens. In the early evening, we began sailing back to Sorrento.

DAY 5 — POMPEII EXPLORATION

I love going on a history tour, especially from someone who grew up in the area or studied a location extensively. Our tour guide took us around Pompeii and was incredibly knowledgable and made the tour so fun. If I had just purchased tickets to Pompeii and walked in myself, I would have no idea what to look for or what to explore. But with a tour guide, we were able to skip the lines, get priority access to locations, and had the best time.

Afterwards, we visisted a winery right at the foot of Pompeii and had a wine tasting with traditional Pompeii food.

DAY 6 — FREE DAY

Day 6 was a free day which was lovely. I love having a combination of a packed itinerary with some down time. Our Italian Expert gave us a ton of suggestions for what we can do, and helped us with dinner reservations. For me personally, a free day would’ve brought me back to Positano or Praino to enjoy a day at the beach club.