Cilento Coast with Just You

Italy is a country I like but had only been a couple of times many years ago so after reading so excellent reviews on the Just You website forum I decided to go to the Cilento Coast at the end of April 2013.

Its and area to the south of the popular Amalfi Coast a very unspoilt area.

Our flight from Gatwick to Naples was on Sunday morning and although i often stay over the night before i made the decision to drive down overnight, actually had a very good run and arrived an hour before i anticipated.
Actually had to wait for the desk to open but got booked in as soon as I could and straight through security. Never saw any other JY travellers at that time.

Decided to get something to eat after security and a little tip here for those using airports and just want a cheap snack meal get your food from Boots. They are the only store in the airports that dont jack up their prices from the high street, a meal deal of sandwich, snack (crisps or cocolate) and drink is only around £3.00.

It was quite a long transfer from Naples and think we were all glad to get there but it allowed a few to introduce themselves. 4 or 5 of us had chatted on the forum so it was good to put faces to the names even if some do use their middle name Gail.

One thing I'll say is it was a real mixed bag of charactors but think it worked well and we had a good time.

We also met our tour manager Jan and what a lovely lady she was, very good at her job and easily approachable, think everyone got on with her. Would love to get her as manager on a future holiday.

The hotel in Castellabate was fantastic and I've never had better food on a holiday in fact at times thought we were tasters for masterchef. The presentation was superb and one regret is i didn't take photos of the meals. Think we were the 1st group of the year and those following actually had buffet style meals but reports say it was still excellent.
The staff were very friendly and we had lots of banter with them and they had a great system for paying for drinks and stuff, it all went on a swipe card but each time you got something they gave you an update so couldn't overspend.

The village/town itself was quite small so if you want a lively holiday its not for you, nightlife basically consisted of a few jokes in the hotel bar and Phil signing My Way, was some entertainment one of the nights and think we all got up dancing once.

Did I mention the cake shop at the top of the hill, best to avoid if you are on a diet, luckily I wasn't at the time.

Nice big beach nearby and the hotel had a good swimming pool area.

When I go anywhere for the first time I like to see the area so went on all the excurrsions which were a bit of a mixed bag.

Amalfi & Ravello are a must, really enjoyed that trip very pretty area.

Again thing the ruins at Paestum and the Mozzerella tasting are a must do but to be honest its a cheese that really divided opinion, basically you either love it or hate. I stood with the "give me a nice piece of mature chedder anyday" group.
I remember will at the tasting another lady from JY head office turned up and was asking our opinions on the holidays, of course us northerners asked the usual about more flights from our area trather than having to get to Gatwick.

Salerno was also a nice day out which I enjoyed.

We visited someother Roman ruins, not sure it was worth the drive out and the local guide made a bit of a mess getting us lost. To be fair to her the origional guide had cried off and it was dumped on her with no preparation.

The last day it was a long drive around the Cilento countryside, great scenary but a long time on the coach if its not your thing.

A couple of ladies in our group were from Yorkshire so was able to offer them a lift back up north after the trip for which they were grateful, it was good to have the company as its a long way driving on your own after a holiday when you can be quite tired.

Nice holiday and well worth doing if you fancy souther Italy.