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Even if you can't afford your own farmhouse in Campania, you can up close with the rural heart of Italy by staying on an agriturismo—sort of like a B&B on a working farm.
The narrow defile of Amalfi itself doesn't really have any farms, but the gorgeous Furore Valley has more than a dozen agriturismi just above the coast around the Agerola hamlets of San Lazzaro, San Michele, and Pianillo—that's just a mile to the west toward Praiano as the crow flies (but about 8–10 actual miles on the twisty Amalfi Coast roads).
Agriturismi offer the experience of the Italian farm life for a fraction the cost of a hotel; double rooms run anywhere from €40 to €300, but usually average around €70 to €120.
Some agriturismi require a two– or three-night minimum stay (very occasionally, it's a week minimum).
Roughly half accept credit cards—though it is becoming more common.
Agriturismi range from vineyards to mozzarella farms, barns amid olive groves to frescoed villas surrounded by lemon trees.
By law, an agriturism establishment has to be a working farm, taking no more than 30 paying guests and earning no more that 30% of their income from hospitality (the rest from honest farm work).
Accommodations range from four-star luxury to something a straw's-width from sleeping in a stall, but are usually along the lines of a country-comfy and rustic room that looks exactly like what you'd expect to find staying with an aunt and uncle in the countryside.
Being on a farm, breakfasts can be phenomenal (and ultra-fresh).
Many are increasingly opening on-site restaurants featuring wonderfully huge, cheap, and hearty home-cooked dinners (the standard: about €30–€45, including wine, for four or five courses).
Of course, by definition there aren't any agriturismi right in the center of town. But Sorrento is a small city and the countryside starts right at its doorstep, so you can still find some farm stays quite close—or at least within a 15 minute drive.
Planning your time: You could see every official "sight" in the town of Amalfi in 60–90 minutes—though it is a lovely place to relax for a while, maybe take a cappuccino on the piazza overlooking the steps up to the Duomo.
Amalfi also makes an ideal place to spend the night. It has several good restaurants, and the town is just large enough to keep the feeling that there's a bit of local life beyond the tourism, making it a joy to wander (the others—Positano and Ravello especially, may be more postcard-quaint and pretty, but Amalfi feels more real).
Besides, it is the one place on the Amalfi Coast where you have to switch buses—either to return west up the coast toward Postiano and Sorrento, to made a side trip up to pretty Ravello, or to continue east along the coast to Salerno.
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This article was written by Reid Bramblett and was last updated in May 2015.
All information was accurate at the time.
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