Babymoon adventure in the Italian mountains

This post is for anyone considering a holiday or babymoon in Italy and would like some ideas on where to stay, and what to do and see.

As I write this, I’m 30 weeks pregnant (and a few days) and just got back from a blissful 9 day Babymoon with my boyfriend in the mountains near to Sorrento and Positano on Italy’s famous Amalfi coast.

While everything is still fresh in my head, I thought I’d share some of the things we got up to whilst away with the intention of this post being useful to anyone else considering a Babymoon in Italy but isn’t quite sure where to go yet.

We booked this holiday back in June and with this being my first pregnancy, I had no idea how I’d be feeling by the third trimester or how much energy I’d have. However, I figured somewhere probably more relaxing would be better over a busy city break.

After deciding on Italy, we thought about somewhere near the Amalfi coast as it’d still be warm but not scorching hot in October, and it seemed like the perfect place to relax whilst pregnant. However, it actually took us ages to figure out where to stay because this region pretty much covers everywhere from Salerno to Sorrento. Prices also vary massively depending on where abouts you are.

After reading a fair bit online and getting recommendations, Sorrento and Positano seemed to be the places we kept hearing about — both beautiful coastal villages not too far from each other. However, I wasn’t too keen on staying in the centre of either of these places which turned out to be the right choice.

Even in October, both Sorrento and Positano seemed quite busy. Despite this, because we weren’t going to be hiring a car, we still wanted to be able to get around OK, so didn’t want to be too much in the middle of nowhere.

Where we chose to stay in Italy

We stayed at the very reasonably priced four star Villa La Ventana in the Italian mountains close by to Sorrento and Positano. Here’s Husky cat a great model.

We chose Villa La Ventana in the end which is just outside of Sorrento up in the mountains, but also about a 20 minute drive from Positano. Depending on how we felt, we wanted the freedom to be in a place that felt really tranquil, where we could just relax by the pool or or in the garden, and enjoy being in beautiful surroundings, rather than just picking a place to sleep.

This has to be one of the first times staying anywhere where this place actually looks as good and in many places better than the pictures. The building is an art deco inspired work of art designed in the 60’s and surrounded by mountains and views of both the Amalfi and Sorrento coasts. You could actually see right across to the ocean on both sides from the garden and our room.

Beautiful view from Villa La Ventana

View from our room of the Amalfi coast and mountains.

We didn’t have a car, and although you’re on the doorstep of a famous hiking trail (Path of the Gods), you can’t actually walk to Sorrento or Positano from here. However, the owners Elena and Michele were amazing and were happy to drive guests each day to Sorrento, Positano, and also local restaurants. In many ways, we really did have the best of both worlds — being in magical countryside with extremely easy access to local villages, which is perfect when you’re pregnant.

More pics from Villa La Ventana

Spot the kittens.

Welcomed with tea, snacks and local wine. Sadly couldn’t drink the wine.

Entering the beautiful Villa La Ventana

Don’t know the artist but I liked this painting because it reminded me of the three of cups tarot card which is all about celebration.

Every angle of Villa La Ventana has a great view!

What have you got in there? Relaxing with a kitten at Villa La Ventana

Enjoying a day in the pool at 29 weeks pregnant.

Early evening on the villa roof.

Getting to Sorrento from Naples

It took about an hour and 30 minutes to get the train from Naples to Sorrento, which was such an easy journey, we could have done it straight away once we’d arrived into Naples airport. Instead, we’d decided to book a B&B in Naples on the first and last nights of the holiday which gave us some time to explore Naples a bit.

I have no idea how busy it’d be in peak season, but even in October the train did fill up pretty quick. We got seats on the there as we’d arrived in plenty of time. But on the way back to Naples, the train did fill up pretty quick so I had to sit on my suitcase. If you’re pregnant, this might not be the comfiest place to sit, so give yourself plenty of time.

Local areas to visit

Visiting Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi

In our short stay, as much as we loved the villa, we did venture out and visited Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi, which all had their unique charms. I loved just wandering around all of these places, rather than having a list of ‘must see’ things.

Sorrento in pictures

Stopping for a drink at D’Anton design — cafe, cocktail bar and design shop in Sorrento.

Concept shop in Sorrento. Lots of Frida Kahlo inspired things here if you’re into art and bright colours.

Walking into the ‘magical garden’ of Parrucchiano restaurant in Sorrento. This place is like a jungle — filled with so many plants and a huge tree inside.

I love a dramatic sky.

Positano in particular has to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing villages I’ve ever been to. This place is like a work of art — thought had gone into everything, from the way people displayed flowers outside their shop, to the steps leading down to one of the beaches, and even the wild cats lounging on rooftops seemed like they’d positioned themselves to look as purposefully cute as possible.

Positano in pictures

Positano coast

Walking the almost 300 steps to Arienzo beach. Positano

Sunset and paddling on Arienzo beach.

From Positano, we took a river taxi to Amalfi for around eight euros per person. You don’t need to book these in advance, at least this was the case in October.

Amalfi in pictures

Cathedral in Amalfi

Tourists and gelato.

Despite all of these picturesque postcard villages being beautiful, it was nice to return back to the tranquility of the mountains at the end of the day though, so don’t feel like you have to stay in the heart of one of these places in order to experience the Amalfi Coast properly.

Visiting Pompeii (It’s free on Sundays)

We made a short train ride from Sorrento to Pompeii on a Sunday only to discover it was free to get in which was an added bonus. It was crazily busy though, with lots of queues and it didn’t open until the afternoon.

We were, however, able to book onto one of the many guided group tours as soon as we’d arrived, so don’t feel like you have to book in advance. It was good to get some context as I knew very little about the history of Pompeii.

For me, the most interesting part was visiting the Villa of Mysteries (not included in the tour) which we walked around alone as we had free time to wander after the tour. This is where you’ll be able to find frescos and other works of art possibly showing a mysterious cult.

Villa of Mysteries

Path of the Gods

On our second day staying at Villa La Ventana, we decide to go exploring on foot. Just to the side of the villa is a small footpath that we decided to walk down to see where it led to. We had no idea where we were going but we kept walking along footpaths which turned out to be part of one of Italy’s most magical hiking trails called Path of the Gods, which was marked with red and white paint.

I remember reading a bit about the hike and the various guided tours you could get prior to this, and it was only after the walk that we realised we’d walked a good section of it which was such an amazIng experience (even if we did get lost a few times, scratched and bitten a bit).

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but this for me was definitely a highlight and if you don’t venture too much off track and you bring plenty of water, it’s still appropriate when you’re pregnant — at least I thought so.