Head South with Moon Southern Italy
The second edition of "Moon Southern Italy with Sicily, Puglia, Naples & the Amalfi Coast" is here – just in time for summer travel!
One of the things I enjoy most about learning languages is noticing which expressions feel universal and which ones are delightfully local. More often than not, the same sentiment exists across multiple languages. Take the familiar saying “Better late than never.” In Italian, it translates quite literally as “meglio tardi che mai.” It’s a phrase I’m fully embracing with this—admittedly belated—newsletter about the 2nd edition of Moon Southern Italy with Sicily, Puglia, Naples & the Amalfi Coast. Released earlier this spring, this new edition is a greatly expanded and updated follow-up to the original guide, first published in 2022.
Since the first edition of Moon Southern Italy came out, my co-author Linda Sarris (AKA The Cheeky Chef) published her full Moon Sicily guidebook. You can read more about it here:
Say Hello to Moon Sicily
As much as I love my little corner of Italy, there’s still so much of the country I want to see. My short list goes from the windy corners of Trieste to the peaks of the Dolomites and all the way down to the Greek temples of Sicily. That list got a lot longer when
When it was time to create the 2nd edition of Moon Southern Italy, there was so much more to draw from with all of Linda’s expertise in Sicily and travels in southern Italy. The result is our chunkiest edition yet, coming in at nearly 500 pages and packed with the places, experiences, and local details we both love about the regions we’re lucky to call home.
It’s always a special day when my author copies arrive in the mail. Moon Travel Guides is lovely with their authors in so many ways – but I’m especially grateful for how generous they are to send a big box of books with every edition. While the edition came out in March, my copies somehow got stuck in dogana (customs) just outside of Venice for an inexplicably long amount of time. (Thanks, Moon, for getting them unstuck somehow!) Meglio tardi che mai definitely applies to any and all books – especially this very special delivery!
—Unintentionally dressing to match my book cover in Amalfi. (Photo by: Livia Hengel)
If you’re planning a trip to southern Italy this summer—or simply dreaming of one—I hope you’ll check out the new edition of Moon Southern Italy with Sicily, Puglia, Naples & the Amalfi Coast. Whether you’re visiting for the first time or returning to a favorite spot, it’s filled with thoughtful insights, local favorites, and slow travel inspiration to help you make the most of your time.
PS: If you’re only visiting the Amalfi Coast or Campania, the 3rd edition of my guidebook Moon Amalfi Coast with Naples, Capri & Pompeii is an even more in-depth guide dedicated exclusively to this area.
AMALFI COAST NEWS
—The new CMS buses to look out for on the Amalfi Coast.
When John Steinbeck visited the Amalfi Coast in the 1950s, he wrote a now-famous essay about Positano, published in Harper’s Bazaar in May 1953. While Positano created a lasting impression, the road and traffic left him horrified. Think I’m exaggerating? Here’s his description of the drive to Positano: “We didn’t see much of the road. In the back seat my wife and I lay clutched in each other’s arms, weeping hysterically…” I’m convinced that if Steinbeck had endured a summer ride on a packed SITA bus, we’d likely never ended up with the chance to read his thoughts on Positano. He simply wouldn’t have survived. Anyone who’s clung to a handrail on a standing room only bus careening around curves while wedged between an oversized back pack and beach bags knows exactly what I mean.
So I’m here with a little good news from the Amalfi Coast. While getting around by ferry is still the most comfortable option, there are some places along the coast—Furore, Praiano, and Conca dei Marini—that are best (or only) reached by bus. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had the chance to try out the new Amalfi Coast buses run by Consorzio della Mobilità Sostenibile. These are smaller private buses that you can reserve in advance online on the CMS Amalfi Coast website or directly via their app. They have routes that connect Positano-Amalfi, Agerola-Amalfi, Amalfi-Ravello, and Amalfi-Minori-Maiori. While the tickets are higher than the SITA bus (€5 for Amalfi to Minori/ Maiori, €6 from Amalfi to Agerola, €7 from Amalfi to Ravello, and €10 from Amalfi to Positano), the buses are smaller, more comfortable, air conditioned, and can be booked in advance. The buses up to Ravello are even mini open-top buses.
While I can’t guarantee that the twists and turns of the Amalfi Coast Road won’t still leave you feeling a little bit like Steinbeck, you’ll surely enjoy the thrill of it all a little bit more along the way!
KEEP READING
My lovely friend Emma J Page—who shares my same passion for the Amalfi Coast and London—has penned a beautiful article for House & Garden on How to spend a perfect weekend on the Amalfi Coast. Excellent advice!
Take a walk along Capri’s gorgeous Sentiero dei Fortini path with Eva Sandoval in her recent article for BBC: Capri has two faces – here's the one you've never seen.
Did you hear the news about the Napoli soccer team winning the scudetto again? (You probably heard the fireworks in whatever corner of the world you’re reading this from …) My wildly cool friend Virginia DiGaetano has recently launched her own newsletter called Cancel Anytime. (Go subscribe … you won’t want to cancel anytime soon!) She’s written a gorgeous essay—one of the best I’ve read in ages—about the experience of falling for a soccer team and being in Naples for the recent festivities. Find a quiet corner for this read: Napoli, the Invincible.
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Congrats on the new edition!!
Excellent newsletter Laura! Very informative and interesting.