Guided visit of the divine coast. The first stop will be in Sorrento, one of the most fascinating destinations of Campania and one of the most suggestive site of Italy. From the top of a hill we will stop to admire the sea village of Positano. After that, we will continue to an old maritime republic. It will be possible to visit the Cathedral with its long flight of steps and its polychromatic marbles. During the tour we will stop to visit a typical craftmade product show room and we will have lunch.

Sorrento is one of the best known international tourist sights. As the native city of the poet Torquato Tasso, it is indeed a very pretty little city where kindness and hospitality are a combination that is handed down from one generation to the next. Many civilizations have passed through here: the Etruscans, the Greeks (who gave the city its urban layout that is still clearly visible today in the historical centre), the Oscans, the Romans. Later the subjugation to Byzantium, the sack by the Longobards, the conquest by the Normans, the good influence of the Aragonese.

After a long period of stagnation, the beginning of the 1700s saw a period of cultural, economic and social rebirth for the whole Sorrentine peninsula, which reached its climax during the 1800s. In this period the tourist vocation of this area was born and was established with its inclusion in the so-called Grand Tour, a journey through the most important Italian sights that every noble European son of the time had to make to complete his cultural, historical and literary formation. Distinguished guests such as Byron, Keats, Scott, Dickens, Goethe, Wagner, Ibsen and Nitzsche, to just mention the most famous, came to stay in Sorrento in search of sun and inspiration.
Goethe's famous remark, made on that trip, is known to all of us:See naples and then die.

The same period saw an intensification of the more traditional activities such as agriculture, sea trade and finally and progressively that tourist industry that is currently the most important sector of the Sorrentine economy. Modern Sorrento is has over one hundred comfortable hotels; it is the home of a prestigious and impressive Museum Correale of Terranova, that contains important testimonies of both the history of the city and of the purest craft tradition of inlaid wood. Sorrento hosts important events in the fields of culture, music, cinema as well as the ideal starting point for visiting to all the tourist sights of the area.

Amalfi, originally Roman, was the first Sea Republic of Italy. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was the first city to re-establish relationships between East and West by transporting and introducing into Italy exotic merchandise such as carpets, coffee and paper. Amalfi had its own coin the Tarì, was the home of Flavio Gioia, the inventor of the compass and gave the navigators the famous maritime law known as Tabula de Amalpha.

Amalfi founded an imposing hospital in Jerusalem which could contain 2000 beds and which gave birth, in 1112, thanks to Brother Gerardo Sasso from Scala, to the first military and religious Order called at first the Knights of St.John, then the Knights of Cyprus, of Rhodes and, in 1530, of Malta, still existing today. The Knights fought repeatedly against the Saracens and, in 849, they defended Rome and the Church in the famous battle of Ostia.

One of most elegant and well-known health-resorts of the Amalfi Coast is in Positano and has ancient origins, because it was founded (the tradition is confirmed by historical searches) by the fugitives of Paestum, escaped from the Saracens.
The 10th century centre was suburb and was located at a Benedictine Abbey dedicated to St. Vito. It seems probable, however, that the zone had been populated by the Picentini, who, rebelled against Rome. Defeated in 290 b.C. they were deported to the area of Positano, as reported by the ancient historian Strabone.

The townspeople of Positano were vassals of Cava Abbey during the Middle Ages but eventually freed themselves.Situated in an enchanting position, Positano was a favourite destination for great artists such as Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee, and illustrious personages of culture such as Rossellini, Toscanini, Bernstein, Steinbeck and Pirandello.
Made up of three outlying wards, its greatest attractions are represented by the Ancient Town and the sea-suburb, where are characteristic white houses with the spherical cover and the front-small colonnade. It is advised to the visit the Civic Tower; the Churches of Santa Maria Assunta, Santa Margherita and San Giacomo; the Marina Grande; the picturesque beaches of Fornillo, La Porta, Arienzo and Ciumicello; the Cave of La Porta. Very attractive are the walks in Montepertuso and Nocella, and interesting are the excursions to the Belvedere, the Sciaccone, the Bridge of the Books and the Matera Grottos.

During the tour we will have a light lunch.

Every day, h.11.30 a.m. (beginning of the excursion)

Duration: about 8 hours.