We drove through the area in 2004--very picturesque. We stayed in a town near Sorrento called Sant'Agata sui due Golfi. We were going to stay a few days but DH wasn't feeling well so we just stayed there instead of going to Sicily.
We drove all over southern Italy over the two weeks we were there. The Amalfi Coast is fabulous of course. We drove through Puglia towards the end and swore we would go back and spend more time there. We also went to Capri and Anacapri and swore we'd go back and spend a few days there. Not yet.
In Sant'Agata we stayed at a little hotel and learned that there was a Michelin starred restaurant a couple of blocks away, called Don Alfonso 1890. We got right in and had a fabulous meal. We sat next to a young English couple and started talking. She was a solicitor and said wherever she went people asked her if she was one of the Bush daughters. DH and I are both lawyers. He was the head of a trucking company.
We stayed and talked until everyone else left, the the owner came out and invited us on a tour. We met the husband, the chef, who was rather shy and left it to his wife to do PR. We saw the kitchen, then they took us down a narrow cement winding stairway to see the wine cellar. (It had been and escape tunnel under the road during WWII.) Then we went down even farther--down a metal stairway to see the cheese-curing tunnel. Our English friend was wearing a straight dress and extremely high-heeled slides and although I feared for her, she negotiated the stairs with aplomb. And nary a slip.
We had wonderful food wherever we went, and the people were friendly. On Capri, after we walked up the hill, DH wanted to come down a shortcut that was somewhat hazardous--ran behind people's gardens. We ended up at a furniture store of all things, and bought $5000 worth of Italian tables. We realized we should have negotiated a bit when the owner tossed in a free table with a music box that plays Isle of Capri.
We were afraid because we'd never bought furniture abroad, but several months later carefully padded and wrapped boxes were delivered to our house.
And the Limoncello!
We went in October and the only bad thing was that because we were in the country and people were clearing gardens and burning them and at times it the smoke was annoying.
I don't have our Italy photos on my computer. I can track them down later if you like. Maybe others will chime in.
