a road high, high above the blue sea, that hooked and corkscrewed on the edge of nothing. A road carefully designed to be a little narrower than two cars side by side.  And on this road, the buses, the trucks, the motor scooters and the assorted livestock. In the back seat my wife and I lay clutched in each other’s arms, weeping hysterically, while in the front seat Signor Bassano gestured with both hands.

Once during the war I came up this same lovely coast in the American destroyer Knight. We came fast. Germans threw shells at us from the hills and aircrafts splashed bombs at us and submarines unknown tried to lay torpedoes on us. I swear I think it was much safer than that drive with Signor Bassano.

This is how John Steinbeck described the wonders of the Amalfi coast road,which reduced him to a quivering wreck, back in 1953.

Forty-four years later that same road – yes, a road – was declared a World Heritage site  by UNESCO, as….

an outstanding example of a Mediterranean landscape, with exceptional cultural and natural scenic values resulting from its dramatic topography and historical evolution.

We are made of sterner stuff than Steinbeck, and thought it was a perfect place to blast around in Charlie Charleston and on a couple of scooters . The sun shone, the views are stunning and the cliff-clinging towns are gorgeous. Drive it, ride it, walk or take the bus – above all, enjoy the ride!