Casa Buonocore

September 2024 With only 8 guestrooms to choose from, Casa Buonocore is wonderfully charming and intimate. We stayed in the Superior room with panoramic terrace that offered picture-postcard views of Positano and the sea – it was absolutely stunning in every way; a dream come true. The location is perfect! Staff are lovely! Attention to detail is extraordinary! Breakfast is like nothing we’ve experienced on our travels! … and the praises go on and on! Simply, a rare find: refined, elegant, and welcoming – plus, it is owned and operated by the very family whose family have lived for 200 years! Fantastic dining recommendations – La Guarracino in particular, was perfect for us. Romantic walk to reach it, away from the main area and crowds, stunning location. Hand on heart, Casa Buonocore is one of our favourite stays anywhere, ever. Read on for tips on how to get to CB from the port (to avoid a pile of stairs) and on the iconic Path of the Gods hike. Tip on stairs – we read in advance that there are 70 stairs to reach the property … no problem, even with our luggage, we thought! … what we missed was that these 70 stairs begin only from the main road at the base of the property! If arriving by ferry, instead of leading you along the ring-road, Google Maps will take you up from the port through various stairwells before connecting you with the main road at the base of Casa Buonocore– in fact, right up through one of the most photographed-from spots in Positano, which is at the base of CB and among throngs of people! A little more challenging with our carry-on only luggage than anticipated! Highly recommend walking up the road instead so you can wheel your luggage rather than carry it! Tips on hiking the Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods) clifftop trail: • It takes about 1.5 hours just to get to the starting point: we took a ferry from Positano to Amalfi (25 minutes) and from there caught a bus to Bomerano (40 minutes + waiting time for the bus to depart). Buy the bus ticket when you arrive in Amalfi, not too far from the port and near to where the bus departs – don’t expect to find a shop that sells the tickets, instead, look for a guy in a yellow vest selling them nearby (hanging out on a sidewalk / kind of random) … be sure to have change with you and know what the tickets should cost as we were charged about 15 euros for 2 tickets that were worth more like 5. Ah well, live and learn. On arrival in Bomerano, you will walk about 10 minutes to reach the trailhead – be sure you know how to get to the starting point! Lucky for us a local was on the bus and showed us the way. • The hike itself takes about 3 to 3.5 hours: from Bomerano to Nocelle is about 2 to 2.5 hours. Then, the +1,700 steps down from Nocelle to Positano is another 30 – 45 minutes (and definitely the most challenging part of the hike – despite being in good shape, our calves and achilles ached for days!). Once at the bottom of the stairs, it is another 15 minutes or so walk to Positano. • What to bring: Gravol for the winding bus ride. A packable backpack with insulated bottles of cold water (~1 litre per person at a minimum), electrolyte tablets, hat, sunscreen, Band-Aids or moleskin (just in case a blister starts). • What to wear: quick-dry athletic wear and proper footwear (we both had trail or running-type shoes – no need for hiking specific gear in our minds, just something with good stability and traction). While we’ve strayed from this being purely a hotel review, we figure some (lots?) of readers will at least be considering the hike so thought it worth writing about. Jeri & Tim Canada