Praiano, Italy, where every day is the best day of your life.

Praiano was an accident. Well, not really an accident… it was a bargain. At 31 I had never been to Italy and I decided I needed to finally make a dream come true. And of course I would go to Positano, right? It looks like paradise with those little houses tumbling down the Amalfi cliffs, practically spilling into the sea.

But Positano houses cost a fortune to rent and I wanted to stay for a week. Not knowing anything, I expanded my search and found a house with a pool and the most dramatic view in some town called Praiano, between Amalfi and Positano. I don’t remember what I paid exactly. I think about $800 for a week. (The same house is about $3500 a week now… you can do better, and I will show you how.)

Renting in Praiano was a happy bit of luck, and I’ve returned several times since then. Over the years, I’ve dragged friends and family to Praiano and everyone loves it.

Praiano has a village vibe. It’s unpretentious, quiet, and casual. It’s absolutely not “fancy” and that’s the point. The sea is the star and nearly every house and hotel has million-dollar views.

The town is split into two. The coastline looks like someone is snapping a branch over their knee. On one side, it faces Positano. Positano up close can be garish. Too many gift shops, too many tourists, too many day-trippers, too much of everything. But Positano from a distance - exactly the distance from this side of Praiano - is gorgeous.

The other side of Praiano is my favorite side. The best side. The perfect little village beach that will have you thinking, “How is this real?” The center of life on this side of Praiano is the beach called Marina di Praia, situated in a steep and narrow ravine. It has exactly what you want and literally nothing else (which is perfect, trust me). Four restaurants. A tiny little snack bar called La Conchiglia. A few very basic motel-like apartments tucked into the ravine. A lovely villa with a pool. A disco built into a cave. A rocky beach cut in half: one part free beach (lay your towels on the rocks) and one part pay-beach with chairs to rent, all set in front of the exact restaurant featured in the last chapter of the loveliest book about cooking called, “An Everlasting Meal.”

There is also Il Pirata (above) a waterfront restaurant and beach club with a commanding view of both the Tyrrhenian Sea and much of the coastline that wends toward Amalfi, Salerno, and beyond. Here the old patriarch of the Marino family has the early shift and will rent you lounge chairs and umbrellas for the day. The restaurant is pretty good, and the bar & cafe (like the nearby disco) is carved into a cave. You can spend all day here swimming, sunning, eating, and drinking. Most of the Amalfi coast is cliffs or rocks. The sun beds here are on paved cement platforms which make this a nice alternative to the beach. The chairs and umbrellas are really not that expensive (maybe $10 per chair and $6 per umbrella?) - certainly not as expensive as you’d pay in Capri - and the view is infinitely better. From my sun lounger at Il Pirata, I once watched a man drive his boat up, tie it to a buoy, and stuff his shades, wallet, keys plus a shirt and shorts into a “wet bag.” He then jumped into the water and SWAM UP TO IL PIRATA like James Bond. I mean… that’s a big mood.

The water taxi stand at La Praia will take you to Amalfi, Positano, or wherever. They also rent little rubber boats with outboard motors that you can self-drive to explore.

One must-visit spot is somewhere I am certain you have seen on Instagram - the beautiful Furore. I can’t tell you how to access this beach from the road because I have only ever gotten there by boat. The captain took us as far as he could go and then all of us jumped in and swam toward the beach. Simply saying “I don’t know how to get there other than having a boat drop me off” is really such a flex. I wish this kind of baller-on-a-budget energy in your future trip to Praiano.

Here’s my chance to talk for a moment about diving. This exact spot is home to a famous diving competition. Every July, completely insane human beings jump from a bridge on the serpentine Amalfi Coast highway into the sea. The water under the bridge is 70 meters deep, I am told. Boats gather to watch, as do spectators on the narrow road. On every other day of the swimming season, less expert but equally daring people scramble up the cliffside to do their own diving from more manageable heights. It’s thrilling to watch. Everything about the Furore experience is exciting. Swimming into the beach from a boat feels amazing, and watching people dive is so cheering. I would never have the guts to do it, but I love that someone else will.

The Furore experience really concentrates the feeling that everyone is having the best day of their life, together. To me, there is no better feeling, and I feel it every time I’m in Praiano.

(My friend swimming up to change the music as she DJs a lazy boat day at Li Galli islands.)

To continue on with boats for a minute… a boat day is an absolute must. The self-drive option is affordable. The freedom to go where you please, to pull up to Amalfi and have your friend hop off, run into town to buy more cold wine and cigarettes, to speed alway like you’re in a movie… all of that will be worth every penny. But it’s also worth splurging on a “gozzo.” This is the classic wooden boat you’ve seen in pictures, the kind with the little sunshade that extends over you. These boats have a generous bow fitted with padding so you can sprawl out and lay in the sun. You can rent one for a half or full day, and it comes with a driver. The driver will bring drinks, cups, ice, and towels. You are free to bring snacks. The wonderful old man at La Conchiglia snack bar can send you off with sandwiches and drinks. And if you buy falanghina (the “porch pounder” white wine of the Amalfi Coast) at 9am, he will know what you’re up to and yes he will cork it for you, stuff said cork back in, and plop small white plastic cups on top of the bottle, then send you on your way for your day at sea.

On your boat day, eventually you will end up dropping anchor between three gorgeous tiny islands called Li Galli. These are islands that mythological sirens sang from, we are told. You won’t be the only boats there, but it’s not at all a hectic scene. People come, drop anchor, dive off and swim, or just sit on their swim step to chat, eat, and drink. Boats are playing music from little WiFi speakers. We like a very old driver named Andrea, and we always ask for him. He’s a legend in Praiano. If he senses you are not that uptight, he waits until your group is distracted and takes a dive to snorkel a bit. He stubbornly refuses to learn English and I find that admirable. Why should he? He takes people on the same glorious route every day and if any tourist thinks they need to give him directions, well, they’re wrong. Andrea knows where to go, and that’s that about that.

(Look closely and you can see Il Pirata beach club and restaurant sitting just over the water in the center.)

Back to the beach:

Because you are tucked into this ravine, the high cliffs on either side are like a sundial. This beach starts to lose its sun around 2 or 3 pm. Every day at 1pm, as long as the sea is calm, a wooden boat comes to pick up customers to take them around the promontory of Praiano to One Fire Beach. This is one way to extend your day of sun. One Fire is more of a party with music, a DJ, drinks, a view of Positano, and a sunset. I’ve never been! I love Il Pirata too much.

That’s it for now. I’ll have a follow up in the next newsletter for paid subscribers with a lot more practical advice including:

1. A perfect Amalfi Coast / Praiano itinerary

2. Links to AirBnBs I recommend (all of them walking distance to the beach)

3. Practical “getting there” advice

4. Contact information for car service to get you from Naples to Praiano

5. Restaurants

6. Boat hire information (you can arrange when you’re in Praiano, but you may want to reserve ahead of time)

7. …and more.

Links to rentals and videos of Furore:

For now I leave you with THIS Praiano rental… at $600/night it’s pricey, but the views are absolutely ridiculous so splurge, or maybe share with friends or family to split the cost.

I also leave you with THIS more modestly priced rental, just to get your vacation planning going. This is best for a budget-minded couple.

I give you THIS link to the famous diving competition in Furore.

And I give you THIS link to amateurs doing some insane diving in the same place.

Unrelated to Praiano, HERE is a link to the glorious rental I posted on IG stories (photo above). It has a pool, views, and very restrained decoration. It’s perfect.

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