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CAU > Seminars and Study Tours > The Amalfi Coast and Naples: A Walking Tour

The Amalfi Coast and Naples: A Walking Tour

May 18-27, 2007

The registration period for this program has passed.
Please contact us if you have any questions.

Overview

The towns of the Sorrentine Peninsula and the Amalfi Coast have been part of the European "Grand Tour" since the eighteenth century, and with good reason. Its spectacular coastal scenery features dramatic limestone cliffs in contrast against an impossibly blue sea. Clinging hillside towns, groves of fragrant lemon and silvery olive trees, and vineyards are quintessentially Mediterranean. The draw is indeed ancient, dating to the Greeks who imagined the rocky coastline to be the home of the Sirens of Homer's Odyssey, and later to wealthy Romans who chose the area as a site to construct their villas.

Faculty

Led by CAU favorite Jeffrey Blanchard, academic coordinator of the College of Art, Architecture, and Planning's Rome Center and leader of numerous CAU architectural forays throughout Italy, and joined by our marvelous guides from Country Walkers, our tour outfitters, we will walk, talk, dine, and explore the well-known and little-known roads and byways of what many visitors regard as Italy's most enchanting region. Fine hotels and wonderful regional cuisine will add to each day's pleasures.

Itinerary

We'll spend the first two days in and around Naples, making our acquaintance with the culture, landscapes, and architectural history of this storied city. We'll enjoy a day at the archeological excavation site of Pompeii, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, whose eruption in 79 C.E. froze the town in time from that date until today. And, we'll arrive in the evening in the picturesque village of Ravello, perched high on a hilltop above the seaside town of Amalfi.

Both Ravello and Amalfi, powerful towns in the Middle Ages, are rich with art, history, and architecture. We'll spend a full day hiking through the valley between Ravello and Amalfi, visiting the nineteenth-century Villa Cimbrone with its splendid, slightly wild garden, walking the cobbled path to the tiny village of Pontone, where we'll have lunch, and exploring the trails, forest, brooks, and old, ruined paper mills in the Valle dei Mulini before returning to Ravello for the evening.

From Ravello we'll take the Sentiero degli Dei (the Path of the Gods), one of the classic walks of the Amalfi region. Starting along the ridge above the Amalfi Drive, one of the most stunning coastal routes in Europe, lunching in the town of Montepertuso, we'll descend the ancient stone steps to Positano, once a small fishing village, and today a chic seaside resort, where we'll board the ferry that will take us to the Isle of Capri for a two-day visit. Here we'll combine splendid landscapes, lovely villas and villages, and some free time for rest and relaxation, as we stop at the Migliara viewpoint for views of neighboring Ischia and Procida, Marina Piccola and the Gardens of Augustus, and the Villa San Michele in Anacapri, an estate built on the site of a Roman villa.

From Capri we'll return to the mainland and continue our explorations of the Sorrentine Peninsula, arriving in the afternoon at the Hotel Bellevue Syrene, with its stunning views of the Bay of Naples, and leaving time to stroll and enjoy the town of Sorrento. The next morning we'll head off to the estate of Colonna Castle in Colli di San Pietro, the summit of Monte Vico Alvano, and a walk through a lovely chestnut forest to the saddle of the coastal range, filled with wild asphodels, rock roses, and wild orchids. We'll lunch at the convent of Astapiana, with its authentic furnishings and grounds, before descending to Montechiaro to board our coach and return to Sorrento for our valedictory dinner at our exquisite hotel. In the morning, reluctantly for sure, we'll drive to Naples to catch our flights home.

Program Cost and Travel Arrangements

The program fee of $5,290 (per-person, double-occupancy) includes all accommodations and most meals, all site visits, admission fees, escort services, gratuities, ground and water transportation, emergency medical-evacuation insurance, and the full educational program. The supplement for single occupancy is $600. Airfare from the U.S. will be offered separately (the current price is $875 from New York) but you are free to make your own international arrangements.

Physical Requirements

This is a physically active program. We will be walking from three to six miles each day, climbing many steps, and traversing uneven ground. We expect everyone to take part in the walks, which, due to their locations and the terrain, will require all of us to complete the entire length of each day's program on foot (no coach pick-ups at the halfway point, so to speak). Please feel free to call if you have questions about the physical demands of the trip. Weather in May should be glorious, although a rain shower is always a possibility.