A feast for your eyes and a playground for your dog, Ravello is the place you go to relax while taking in the incredible views, wandering the hills and the winding pedestrian streets with your pup. Spend time with friends drinking beer, eating pizza and laughing into the night with your dog asleep next to you in one of the town’s charming restaurants. This hillside dwelling town on the Amalfi Coast is a fantastic dog friendly getaway and a perfect home base to explore the coastal towns or head over the hill to Pompeii for a day trip, only an hour away. But first, we need to get to this little hillside town.

Driving to Ravello is an adventure all by itself, and one to be embraced and not stressed about as it’s all part of the memories of a wonderful vacation. If you haven’t heard already, the narrow Amalfi Coast road is famous for it’s twists, turns and cliffs. Traffic is halted while buses maneuver around tight corners and you are constantly saying things like ‘That tour bus will never ever fit through there…‘ and ‘Aiieee, that’s just not possible!’ and ‘What the…there’s no room??!!’.

If you don’t want to brave this first hand then it’s best to get a driver or take a bus and relax while looking out at the scenery and the car chaos, but we were not swayed by the stories and decided we’d go all in. Tikka was also up for the challenge, giving us a paws up and then napping the whole journey. We took our time and drove carefully in the daylight, learning to honk as we went through tunnels and leaving lots of room for cars in front of us in case they had to back up to make way for a truck.

There are many places to stop along the way and with stomachs rumbling and a dog needing a pee break from all that napping we decided to stop at a wee cove and grab some lunch. The road down to the water was a steep descent, clinging onto the side of the hill so we took it very slowly. Marina di Praia is a tiny village with a pebble beach and towering cliffs between the towns of Praiano and Conca dei Marini. Along with the beach goers and rental umbrellas, there are fishing boats and nets and we knew we were in for a yummy seafood lunch. Trattoria da Armandino didn’t disappoint and we happily dug into our fresh calamari while Tikka laid out in the warm sun, having a nap from all that, you guessed it, napping.

 

With our bellies full we started the car and headed back up the cliff to join the road and finish the last 30 minute leg of our drive. Describing Ravello with words would fall short of how magical and beautiful this pocket of Italy really is. So I present you with the first morning we awoke after our drive down from Rome. No dispute, this was the most incredible sunrise we ever witnessed. You win Amalfi Coast. We get it. You are a goddess.

And the beauty doesn’t stop as you explore the town with your dog throughout the day. Every angle reveals a gorgeous view, whether looking towards the houses and gardens dotting the hills or towards the sailboats bobbing along the blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

 

The sun and the rain were playing a game of leap frog during our five day stay, but the wet stuff didn’t deter our daily adventures. We took Tikka to the gardens of Villa Cimbrone, built in the 11th century and extensively renovated in the 20th century and just popped into a cafe when the rain swept through for 3o minutes.

 

The gardens of the Villa are a great place to bring your dog with lots of shade and nice pathways to walk along and we took her off leash in a quiet area for a game of fetch to let her stretch her little legs.

Most people come to stand at the edge of the Terrazzo dell’lnfinito (Infinity Terrace), 1200 feet above the water and possibly the best view in Italy. There are also numerous paths, rose gardens, statues to gaze at and a 5 star hotel to sit and sip a Limoncello at the pool lounge… and yes, it is dog friendly.

‘I was asked…what was the most beautiful place that I had ever seen in all my travels and I said the view from the Belvedere of the Villa Cimbrone on a bright winter’s day, when the sky and the sea were each so vividly blue that it was not possible to tell one from the other.’

Gore Vidal

One of our days was spent at Mamma Agata’s, a friendly family run cooking school at the edge of Ravello, with huge gardens and huge smiles. Mamma Agata started her career as a teenager and cooked for Humphrey Bogart and Fred Astaire at the wealthy house she was employed at. Jacqueline Kennedy also enjoyed her simple, traditional dishes made with local ingredients that grow sweet and flavourful under the Italian sun.

 

We picked up some great cooking tips for authentic Italian dishes but it was the experience of joining the family for an afternoon that made it so wonderful. We didn’t want to impose so we left Tikka to rest at our AirBnb, but we were quickly scolded upon arrival for leaving her behind and yet again we were reminded about how dogs are welcomed with open arms in Italy. Probably not a bad thing that Tikka skipped the cooking class as I sense she would have been stuffed silly with all sorts of goodies from the kitchen.

If you are thinking of a trip to Italy with your dog, you won’t go wrong with planning a relaxing stay in Ravello. For more information, this is a good link for exploring the town and attractions. Also have a look at the video below from the Ravello Festival, showcasing the surroundings for their annual music festival. When you go, raise a glass of Limoncello in honour of all the wanderlust dogs that keep us company on our travels 🙂

 

Read more about our travels around Italy with our dog Tikka on our Travel Page

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