Amalfi

Amalfi was once one of the most powerful maritime republics in the Mediterranean — a city-state whose merchant fleet rivaled Venice and Genoa. Today, this small town wedged into a cleft in the Lattari Mountains above the Tyrrhenian Sea gives its name to the most celebrated coastline in Italy, possibly the world.

The Cathedral of Sant'Andrea, its Arab-Norman facade a riot of polychrome marble, dominates the Piazza del Duomo. The Cloister of Paradise — a thirteenth-century garden of interlaced arches and palm trees — provides a meditation space that seems to exist outside time. Below the cathedral, the town cascades to the sea through narrow streets and white-and-pastel buildings that have made the Amalfi Coast the definitive image of Italian coastal beauty.

Amalfi's paper-making tradition, inherited from Arab traders in the twelfth century, continues in the Museo della Carta — a working paper mill producing handmade paper using medieval methods.

Azamara, Emerald Yacht Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Star Clippers, and Windstar Cruises anchor in Amalfi's harbor. The coast road connecting Amalfi to Positano and Ravello provides one of the world's great scenic drives.

April through June and September through October provide the best conditions.