How I fell in love with Praiano
After living in Praiano for more than three years and spending every summer here from when I was young, I can honestly say I still get emotional every single time I return. And no, I’m not just being dramatic. I’m being vulnerable here, hehe. Praiano was my first true love. Well.. besides the first Praianese guy that came with it, lol.
But why Praiano? It’s the energy.
Yes, really. It’s not just the views, the people or its understated luxurious vibe. There’s a calmness here that is hard to explain until you experience it yourself. Surrounded by beautiful nature, Praiano sits quietly between two of the busiest and most famous places on the coast: Positano and Amalfi. And somehow, right in the middle of it all, it feels like its own little world.
Why Praiano feels different
Praiano has always felt a little mysterious to me. My mother often describes it as a village wrapped in mountains, and somehow, that is exactly what it feels like. The higher you go, especially towards the trails above the village and the Path of the Gods, the more you start to feel it. There is something almost impossible to describe about Praiano. A certain stillness, a charm, an energy that you cannot really capture in a photograph or explain in a travel guide. You simply have to feel it.
And then there are the views. Praiano looks towards Positano on one side and the dramatic Capo di Conca on the other, with the sea stretching endlessly in between. At its heart sits the beautiful Church of San Gennaro and the little piazza that has witnessed countless ordinary moments of local life. And perhaps that is exactly where the magic of Praiano lies: in those ordinary moments.
Praiano is having a cappuccino at Bar del Sole in the morning with your best friend, preparing yourselves for the 500 steps down to La Gavitella beach. It is stopping at the supermarket Tutto per Tutti for a panino from the salumeria counter, filled with mozzarella and tomato, the kind of simple food that somehow tastes better here than anywhere else.
Praiano is coming across a boy with his horse high up in the mountains, while you’re wandering up to the old vineyard grandparents left behind years ago.
It is the fisherman leaving Marina di Praia at two in the morning.
It is un bagno di notte, floating in the warm sea with your friends while looking up at a sky full of stars. Then jumping on a Vespa towards Positano, stopping at one of those little panini spots in the middle of nowhere along the road, for the panino you’ve been thinking about all day.
It is life, but somehow without the rush. Of course, Praiano holds some of my most precious memories. It is where I found my first love, where I met my best friend and where a younger version of me saw one of her biggest dreams come true: actually living here. Over time, all those little memories became one beautiful whole. Nostalgia, love, friendship and a little bit of magic. But those memories are not what made Praiano special. Praiano was special long before any of that happened.
There was something about this little village that spoke to me from the very beginning. Praiano has always occupied its own little place in my heart. Maybe it is the mountains. Maybe it is the sea. Maybe it is the people, the food, the traditions or the feeling of being tucked away between two of the busiest destinations on the coast.
Or maybe it is all of it.
Praiano gives you the beauty, the food, the views and the unmistakable Southern Italian way of life, but leaves enough space to actually breathe it all in. And I think that is why, after all these years, I still cannot fully explain Praiano.
I can only feel it.
I want you to feel it too.
That's why I created Let's Amalfi Coast. 🤍
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