Villa Cimbrone and the Belvedere of Infinity
The gardens of Villa Cimbrone occupy a spur of clifftop at the far end of Ravello, a ten-minute walk through the village from the main square. The Belvedere of Infinity — a terrace lined with classical busts looking out over a 300-metre drop to the sea — is among the finest viewpoints in Italy. Virginia Woolf called it the most beautiful place she had ever seen. Greta Garbo retreated here in 1938 to escape the press. Come in the afternoon when the day-trippers have returned to the coast road and the terrace is quiet.
Villa Rufolo and the Ravello Festival
Villa Rufolo, at the top of the main piazza, was the inspiration for Klingsor's magic garden in Wagner's Parsifal — a connection the village has traded on ever since. The Ravello Festival, held each summer from June to September, stages orchestral concerts on a cantilevered stage above the sea in the villa's gardens. The programme leans classical and the setting is unmatched anywhere in Italy. Tickets sell out months in advance for the main concerts; the garden itself is worth visiting year-round for the Norman-Arab architecture and the views alone.
Why Ravello Works as a Base
Unlike the coast towns below, Ravello has hotel capacity relative to its visitor numbers, genuine restaurants serving the town rather than tourists passing through, and silence after 6pm. The main villages — Positano, Amalfi, Atrani — are all accessible by bus down the hill or by ferry from the coast below. Staying in Ravello and making day trips down rather than staying on the coast and making day trips up is the better arrangement by most measures.
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