Ciao! I'm Laura.
  • Journal
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Journal
  • Books
  • Podcast
  • About
    • Writing
  • Contact

Ciao Amalfi

TRAVEL · May 25, 2013

Wisteria in Positano

Under the wisteria pergola in Positano

Spring came late and all at once this year. The villages along the Amalfi Coast went straight from overcast wintry days to the buzz of activity rushing to prepare for the busy season seemingly overnight. The flowers loved all the rain and suddenly burst in bloom last month. Speaking of flowers, that’s precisely why I found myself in Positano one morning last month. With the blue sky and sunshine beckoning, I followed a whim and took the early boat from Amalfi to Positano to see the wisteria. And, my oh my, was it ever a show!

Ciao Amalfi Travel Wisteria Positano Ferry
Stepping off the ferry in Positano ... wisteria, here I come!

Positano is such a dreamy place and so very different from Amalfi. Even I feel like I’m on vacation when I step off the ferry and look up at the colorful houses stacked up the side of the mountain. With the restaurants overlooking the beach and the sun shining, there’s an air of isolation that adds so much charm when you’re on holiday. Boats come and go, but the rest of the world feels a million miles away. It was still pretty quiet when I stepped off the ferry and I didn’t meet too many people while heading to the center of the village just below the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.

Cascading wisteria in Positano

Just at the base of the staircase where you start the climb up toward the church there is a wall that is covered with wisteria vines. The few earlier rising tourists who were out exploring were sitting around the steps or enjoying coffee at a restaurant nearby. The air was filled with the sweet and spicy scent of wisteria along with freshly brewed espresso and morning pastries from a bar just a few steps away.

Wisteria vines meandering up the walls in Positano

The wisteria vines seem such a natural part of the buildings in Positano, like they’ve been delicately draped across the balconies and pergolas to make them even more captivating.

Ciao Amalfi Coast Blog Positano Wisteria
Wisteria cascading down a wall in Positano

The scent of these blossoms was simply intoxicating. I sat down nearby and breathed in deeply, wishing I could somehow capture and hold onto the scent. If you haven’t smelled wisteria before, it’s kind of like vanilla in that it is warm, sweet and spicy all at once. It somehow combines the sweetness of jasmine with the first sunshine after a gloomy winter into a delicate and spicy scent. It’s good for the soul, that’s what it is.

An intoxicatingly spicy and sweet scent - heavenly!

Close your eyes, take a deep breath and let your imagination carry you to Positano. The sea is moments away, the scent of wisteria fills the air and the sun is shining just for you …

Peeking over at the wisteria in Positano

I was so taken by the wisteria that it wasn’t until I got home and downloaded the photos that I realized this shot above had the Li Galli islands perfectly framed in the upper left. I tucked one of those purple blossoms right there into my notebook and smelled it all the way home.

Purple blossoms and red buildings

After tearing myself away from the wisteria blossoms near the beach I started to climb slowly up the narrow passageways of Positano. I could smell these incredible wisteria blossoms before I turned the corner! One deep red building was covered with wisteria, especially one balcony that must have been gorgeous from the inside. Just imagine how beautiful your house would smell!

A moment of balcony envy ...

I kept climbing and climbing until I reached a pretty little piazza with a gorgeous pergola full of wisteria blossoms. I happened to bump into a friend from Amalfi while wandering the streets with camera in hand and he asked what brought me to Positano. I pointed up to the pergola of cascading wisteria we just happened to be standing under.

Under the wisteria pergola

“Ah, the glicine.” That’s the Italian word for wisteria. He seemed a bit perplexed why I would come from Amalfi to Positano to see the wisteria, but when I pointed out that it’s simply more beautiful in Positano even the Amalfitano had to agree. It really is something!

Wisteria blossoms against the brilliant blue sky

Every little village on the Amalfi Coast has its own character, and even the weather can vary noticeably from village to village. Positano is nearly always warmer than Amalfi throughout the year and significantly warmer than Ravello and Scala, which are located 350-400 meters above sea level. When I went to see the wisteria and found it nearly in full bloom in Positano it was just beginning to blossom in Amalfi and Ravello. There’s just something about the climate difference that makes it grow better and bloom incredibly in Positano.

Even the parking area in Positano is gorgeous!

I was happy that the sun was shining and I had the chance to catch the wisteria at its peak in Positano. The petals were just starting to gentle fall, scattering in the sea breeze like a spring snowfall. Last year I missed the best time to see the wisteria because the weather turned bad just at the moment they were at their best. Two years ago I went and had fun discovering the Wisteria Wonderland in Positano. That time I had a picnic and soaked up the sun on the beach, but this time I sat and enjoyed a cappuccino while working on the outline for an exciting project I hope to be working on soon.

Wisteria with your morning cappuccino? Yes, please!

Yes, this is a yearly tradition that I hope to continue. If you come to the Amalfi Coast in the early spring, the water may still be chilly for a swim and the villages still coming to life after the winter, but if you happen to catch the wisteria blooming in Positano it makes up for everything else!

Wisteria and orchids in Positano

Like I said, it’s good for the soul.

Posted In: TRAVEL · Tagged: Amalfi Coast, Amalfi Coast Seasons, Amalfi Coast See & Do, Flowers, Positano, Spring, Wisteria

You’ll Also Love

A New Season Begins – March 2024
La Rondinaia – Visiting “The Swallow’s Nest” in Ravello
Amalfi Coast Autumn Festivals & Events

Comments

  1. Denise Givens says

    May 26, 2013 at 01:40

    Hi Laura, the newsletter is great and brings back all of my memories of beautiful Amalfi – I’m still determined to get back one day! All the best to you!

    Reply
  2. Laura says

    May 26, 2013 at 16:40

    Hi Denise, so happy you enjoyed the newsletter and the photos! I hope you’ll be back to the Amalfi Coast very soon. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

    Reply
  3. Ann says

    May 26, 2013 at 20:02

    Laura the newsletter is a great way to get excited about our visit in just under 4 weeks! Can’t wait event though today the weather has been very kind in the uk and at long last we have been able to sit in the garden and enjoy a BBQ.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 27, 2013 at 07:31

      Hi Ann, so happy you enjoyed the newsletter and it helped you get even more excited for your upcoming visit. Time to count down the days! Happy holiday weekend to you!

      Reply
  4. Debra Kolkka says

    May 27, 2013 at 12:22

    I love wisteria! I remember standing under a wisteria covered pergola in Positano…heaven!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 27, 2013 at 14:44

      Hi Debra, that’s just the word to describe it … heaven! 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Next Post >

When Life Gives You Lemons …

Ciao!

My name is Laura and the Amalfi Coast is my passion and my home. I’m a writer and photographer who is endlessly inspired by the incredible beauty of the Amalfi Coast. Welcome to Ciao Amalfi!

Ciao Amalfi

  • Journal
  • Moon Amalfi Coast
  • Newsletter
  • Contact

Amalfi Coast

  • Amalfi
  • Positano
  • Ravello
  • Amalfi Coast

Explore

  • Travel
  • History & Culture
  • Food & Drink
  • Shopping

Laura Thayer

  • About
  • Writing
  • Book Reviews
  • Work with Me

Latest on Instagram

Celebrating Independent Bookstore Day with a newsl Celebrating Independent Bookstore Day with a newsletter inspired in part by this beautiful song by @samantha_whates & @mgboultermusic. While I could never decide on just seven bookshops for my whole life, I’m sharing about seven remarkable indie bookshops I visited earlier this month in Bath and London. The link is in my bio, but swipe through the photos here for a look inside - each bookshop is tagged if they’re on Instagram. But definitely give them all a follow: 
@persephonebooks 
@mrbsemporium 
@toppingsbath 
@sherlockandpages 
@huntingravenbooks 
@hatchardspiccadilly 
@lrbbookshop 

Long live the independent bookshops! 📚
Thanks Amalfi … I needed a little reminder of th Thanks Amalfi … I needed a little reminder of that this morning. 🩶
Magic to watch the reflections dancing on the wate Magic to watch the reflections dancing on the water. Magic when they’re frozen in time. Just so much magic all around. I could spend a long time in moments like these. ✨
While it’s been a beautiful Easter Sunday in Ama While it’s been a beautiful Easter Sunday in Amalfi, I’m still processing all of the incredible experiences from my trip to England last week. And, thanks to “Square Haunting” by @francescawade, I am still very much haunting the streets and squares of London. Her book opens with this marvelous quotation from Virginia Woolf’s diary written 100 years ago today on April 20, 1925 (photo 1). It captures just what it felt like I was doing days ago - including a saunter through Bloomsbury Square (photo 2). Diving into this book over the weekend has felt like I’ve been able to linger even longer in those rare April days of spring blooms and blue skies in London. 

This book caught my eye immediately at the ever so charming @sherlockandpages in Frome (photos 4 & 5). How could it not when it was surrounded my one of my all time favorite books (“Letters to Camondo” by @edmunddewaal) and one of the best books I read last year (“All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me” by @patrickbringley)?

Hope that your Easter weekend has been a lovely one - with a little bit of “street sauntering & square haunting” wherever you may be!
Just had an unforgettable spring day visiting the Just had an unforgettable spring day visiting the Jane Austen House in Chawton as an early birthday present for myself.(Quite a bit early as it’s not until June.) But earlier this year I decided to have a Jane Austen theme for the year, especially since 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in 1775. I do love a theme! Seeing the place where she wrote all of her novels, her tiny twelve-sided writing table, a quilt she made, and sitting in the garden listening to the birds sing is altogether something I’ll never forget. ✍️
Watching the colors of the sea and the fish swimmi Watching the colors of the sea and the fish swimming and thinking of the deep connections of old friends. And this poem by Mary Oliver. Hold tight to the friends who always find a way to say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment.

Mysteries, Yes 
— by Mary Oliver

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.
Mary Oliver wrote in a poem that “happiness isn’t a town on a map.” But when the little bit of wisteria blooms in Amalfi, I’m not so sure. 💜
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Disclosure

Copyright © 2025 Ciao Amalfi · Theme by 17th Avenue