Ciao! I'm Laura.
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Ciao Amalfi

About

A little bit about Laura

Ciao! I’m Laura, a writer, art historian, and photographer. I live on the Amalfi Coast, and I’m passionate about sharing an insider view of my home to help travelers discover and enjoy the most beautiful experiences on the Amalfi Coast.

The road to expat life in Italy for me was as twisty as the Amalfi Coast road. I was born right smack in the middle of America. Although I’ve had many adventures in my life, none was as big as moving to Italy. Fourteen years ago, I visited the Amalfi Coast and fell in love immediately – with the natural beauty … and my tour guide! I’m now married to that tour guide and a proud dual American and Italian citizen.

Ever since I set foot on the Amalfi Coast, I’ve been exploring every nook, cranny, and ancient stone pathway. I love my home and am passionate about sharing the beauty of the Amalfi Coast through my writing and photography.

I’ve shared all my local tips and more in Moon Amalfi Coast: with Capri, Naples & Pompeii published by Moon Travel Guides. Watch for the second edition and Moon Southern Italy coming soon!

About Ciao Amalfi

Ciao Amalfi started its journey as a personal blog for me to share my new life in Italy with family and friends. What I quickly discovered, however, is that there are many people around the world who love the Amalfi Coast just as much as me. Perhaps that’s you, too! Travelers come from across the globe to visit this very special place. And it is a place that bites deep, as John Steinbeck described Positano back in the 1950s. Once you’ve been bitten by the Amalfi Coast bug, it’s hard to recover.

That’s where Ciao Amalfi comes in! This website has transformed over the years to reflect my experiences living on the Amalfi Coast. From a personal blog it has become a trusted source of insider travel tips and a view into daily life. Here you’ll find inspiration for planning your holiday on the Amalfi Coast and beautiful moments throughout the year to keep you dreaming until you can return!

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The Ciao Amalfi Newsletter

Need a little bit of Amalfi Coast sunshine and beauty delivered to your inbox? That’s surely better than yet another work email! The Ciao Amalfi Newsletter brings the best of the Amalfi Coast right to your email in monthly doses of insider travel tips, local experiences and more. Be the first to find out about upcoming events, new openings and all there is to see and do.

The Ciao Amalfi Newsletter is also the place to sign up to be the first to hear about new Amalfi Coast book and photography projects I have in the works. If you love the Amalfi Coast and believe there’s no such thing as too much Amalfi Coast, this is the newsletter for you!

Find out more and sign up for the Ciao Amalfi Newsletter here.

Can’t Get Enough of the Amalfi Coast?

I know how you feel! If you need a daily dose of Amalfi Coast beauty, you’ll find me online posting regular updates via Ciao Amalfi on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Please do comment and share since I enjoy hearing about what you love about the Amalfi Coast and your favorite travel memories!

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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

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What a moving experience yesterday morning to see What a moving experience yesterday morning to see the Olympic torch in Amalfi. 🔥 One of the many many reasons I love living right in the center of Amalfi is that in one minute I can be in the middle of making pasta with artichokes and the next watching a historic moment happen. I never take that for granted! @milanocortina2026 @olympics
Well that was unexpected but fun! 🎄#amalfi #christ Well that was unexpected but fun! 🎄#amalfi #christmas #natale
Lovely new Christmas ornament created by @illustra Lovely new Christmas ornament created by @illustrationbyjonathan of Jane Austen’s House in Chawton and her tiny 12-sided writing table. It looks exactly like the beautiful spring day when I was there in April this year. Such a beautiful memory! I think this will have to stay out all year.
Happy 250th birthday to Jane Austen! One of the de Happy 250th birthday to Jane Austen! One of the definite highlights of my year was visiting @janeaustenshouse in Chawton on a beautiful spring day. I still think of her tiny writing table and what it felt like to stand there and take it all in. I’ve enjoyed the book “A Jane Austen Year” throughout the year - pulling it off the shelf at the start of each month. While at Chawton, I picked up the embroidery kit by @abigailrosecreative made to celebrate the 250th celebration. I’ve been wanting to learn to do embroidery for years, so this was the perfect souvenir from Jane Austen’s House. Still a work in progress, but I’m nearly there! 🧵🪡
I don’t know how to begin describing Naples, which I don’t know how to begin describing Naples, which is how I felt seeing “Partenope - Musica per la sirena di Napoli” at the @teatrosancarlo yesterday. This opera in one act was written by the great Ennio Morricone 30 years ago, and it was finally performed for the first time this weekend. Just in time for the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of Naples. Mary Oliver wrote: “A town cannot live on dreams.” I was thinking about that line yesterday and wondering if maybe a town could live on mythology. 2,500 years later, Naples might just be proof that it can.
A beautiful and very festive Christmas tree lighti A beautiful and very festive Christmas tree lighting at the @anantaraconventodiamalfi tonight! Always love hearing the beautiful voice of my sweet friend @lucykielymusic. Now it feels like Natale in Amalfi! ✨🎶🎄
As 2025 winds down, I’ve been making my way throug As 2025 winds down, I’ve been making my way through some of the books sitting unfinished on my bedside table. I usually finish a book once started, but occasionally I come across one that is so good I can’t let myself rush through it all at once. I want to hang on to that first read as long as I can, slowly savoring the way it changes the geography of my mind.

This autumn that has been “Upstream” - a selection of essays by Mary Oliver. If “attention is the beginning of devotion,” as Oliver writes in the first essay in the book, I am deeply devoted to her writing. Few writers capture my attention and hold it the way she does. This will be a book I know will return to again and again. And, even though I’ve finished, it might be a long time before it leaves my bedside table. I’ll just leave you with a couple of Oliver’s magical lines:

“You must not ever stop being whimsical.

And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.”
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