In a 1953 Harper's Bazaar essay, John Steinbeck drew back the curtain on Positano, most likely changing the course of history for the most picturesque town on the Amalfi Coast. This romanticized 30-mile stretch of Italian coast on the southern edge of the Sorrentine Peninsula still impresses with cliffs towering above pebbled coves and villages hugging improbably steep slopes.

And famed Positano, now oppressively overcrowded, continues to monopolize the attention of most travelers. But seek out less-heralded towns — from neighboring Praiano, in the west, to the central coast's twin beach towns of Maiori and Minori, to the hilltop hamlet of Ravello and the eastern fishing village of Cetara — to discover the untrammeled charm and enduring beauty that exist all along the Amalfi Coast. Decades later, Steinbeckian awe awaits anew.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/