A Two Day Escape Inspired by Rebecca Serle’s Amalfi Coast

Rebecca Serle‘s One Italian Summer begins with a suitcase, two plane tickets and a trip that was supposed to be taken with a mother.

Katy Silver has just lost Carol, her mother and closest friend. The two had planned a holiday in Positano for years, partly because Carol had spent a summer there before she met Katy’s father and never stopped talking about the place. After Carol’s death, Katy decides to go anyway.

She arrives on the Amalfi Coast carrying all the things grief tends to bring with it, including memories, unanswered questions and the uncomfortable feeling that life is continuing without the person who made it feel familiar.

Then Positano does something rather unexpected.

Katy encounters Carol again, only Carol is thirty years old, healthy and entirely unaware that the woman standing in front of her is her daughter.

The rest of the novel unfolds between the present and the summer Carol once spent in Italy. Katy begins to know her mother as a young woman, with her own ambitions, friendships, romances and mistakes. The trip becomes a chance to understand Carol as a person rather than only as the mother Katy has always known.

That makes Positano more than a pretty backdrop. The town becomes part of the story itself, from its steep lanes and sea views to the restaurants, beaches and boat trips that Katy shares with her mother in their strange summer together.

Now Harry Bradbeer is bringing the novel to the screen, with Brie Larson attached to play Katy Silver and executive produce. Rebecca Serle is also an executive producer, with Paramount Pictures, Temple Hill Entertainment and TFC Productions behind the adaptation. The film is currently scheduled for theatrical release on 12 May 2028.

Positano in two days

There is one small detail to keep in mind when planning a film-inspired visit. Filming has yet to begin. The current production listing names Positano as the shoot location, but gives no filming dates.

So for now, this is a journey through the Positano of the book, with the places that make sense for the film when it eventually arrives.

And fortunately, you can do it without taking two weeks off work.

Day One

Check into Hotel Poseidon

There is one hotel that deserves to be first on the list.

Source: Tripadvisor

Hotel Poseidon (4.7 from 1.3k reviews in Tripadvisor) is where Katy stays in the novel, and the connection is unusually fitting because Rebecca Serle has spoken about visiting Positano with her own mother before writing the book. She photographed the town’s street signs on her final day there, and the experience helped inspire the novel.

The family-run hotel dates back to 1955 and remains in the hands of the Aonzo family. Its rooms have sea views or gardens, and the property has a swimming pool, restaurant and bar.

This is therefore one of those rare literary travel stops where the hotel isn’t simply similar to somewhere in the story. It is the hotel Katy stays in.

Leave the suitcase behind and give yourself a little time on the terrace before heading into town.

Follow the steps down to Santa Maria Assunta

Start at Piazza dei Mulini and make your way through Via dei Mulini towards the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.

The walk captures the Positano that makes the novel work so well. The town climbs dramatically up the hillside, with coloured houses, balconies, boutiques and stairways opening onto views of the Mediterranean.

Inside the church, look for the Byzantine icon of the Black Madonna beneath the famous majolica dome.

Then keep walking downhill.

Eventually, the stairways lead towards Spiaggia Grande, Positano’s main beach.

Source: Tripadvisor

This is the place to slow down.

Katy’s story is about grief and memory, but it is also full of the physical pleasures of being somewhere beautiful. The sea, the sun, the food and the simple business of walking around a town where almost every turn produces another view are part of what gradually brings her back into life.

Lunch at Chez Black

This is the literary pilgrimage.

Chez Black (3.9 stars from 3.4k Google Reviews) sits on Spiaggia Grande and is specifically mentioned in the novel. Carol remembers eating pasta and clams there during her own summer in Positano, and Katy later visits the restaurant herself.

Source: Tripadvisor

It is one of the easiest stops to connect directly with the book because Serle herself has spoken about Chez Black when discussing the novel.

Order seafood or pasta, sit near the marina and resist the temptation to rush.

This is supposed to feel like summer.

Walk towards Fornillo

Source: Tripadvisor

After lunch, follow the coastal path from Spiaggia Grande towards Fornillo Beach.

The route is known locally as the Lovers’ Path and follows the coast past one of Positano’s historic Saracen towers. Fornillo is quieter than the main beach and gives you somewhere to swim or sit for a while without adding another major excursion to the day.

This is also a good place to do absolutely nothing.

Read a few pages of One Italian Summer.

Have a swim.

Buy a lemon granita.

Watch the boats move across the water.

The itinerary is better when it leaves room for the same sort of wandering that makes the novel feel like a summer rather than a sightseeing programme.

Dinner at Da Vincenzo

Source: Tripadvisor

For dinner, head back into town for Da Vincenzo (4.5 stars from 2.3k) , a long-running Positano restaurant serving Italian and Campanian dishes.

It is an easier choice for a relaxed dinner than some of Positano’s more formal terraces, with current listings placing many dishes within a mid-range price bracket.

Try local seafood or pasta, then walk back towards the hotel.

If you have the energy, stop for gelato on the way.

Carol would approve.

A boat, a mountain and one very good excuse to stay out all day

Day Two

Breakfast at Hotel Poseidon

Start slowly.

The book’s Positano is a place where people sleep late, take boats and let the day unfold rather than marching from attraction to attraction.

Breakfast at the hotel gives you a chance to do exactly that.

Then choose your adventure.

Follow Katy into the mountains

The Path of the Gods is the more active option.

The trail runs between Agerola and Nocelle above Positano and is one of the Amalfi Coast’s best-known walks. The route is around 7.8 kilometres and takes roughly three hours, depending on the section and pace.

It also has a direct connection to One Italian Summer, where Katy hikes with both Carol and Adam.

You don’t need to treat it as a serious hiking expedition for the purposes of this itinerary, but proper footwear is essential. This is a mountain path, rather than a scenic pavement.

For an easier day, skip the full trail and take a shorter walk around Nocelle, enjoying the views without turning your literary holiday into an endurance event.

Or take to the water

The other option feels even more like the novel.

Hire a boat from Positano and spend several hours on the water.

The town’s marina has connections for boats and hydrofoils to places including Capri and other Amalfi Coast destinations, while private boat trips can take you along the coastline and towards smaller coves.

If you’re travelling with someone, this is probably the most fitting way to spend the second day.

There is something very One Italian Summer about being on the Amalfi Coast with nowhere urgent to be.

Lunch at Da Adolfo

Source: Tripadvisor

Make your way to Da Adolfo (4.4 stars from 654) at Laurito Beach for lunch if you are travelling by boat.

The restaurant is reached from the sea and is one of the places associated with the relaxed beachside atmosphere of the coast.

If you prefer to stay in Positano, Casa e Bottega is an easier daytime choice. It serves breakfast and lunch and is useful when you want something fresh and casual before continuing around town.

An afternoon at Spiaggia Grande

Return to Positano and spend your final afternoon at Spiaggia Grande.

This is where the trip should become deliberately unproductive.

Swim.

Read.

Order something cold.

Watch the boats.

Then climb back through the streets towards the centre as the sun begins to drop.

Dinner with a view

Source: Tripadvisor

For the final evening, book Da Gabrisa (4.7 stars from 1.4k).

The restaurant sits high on Viale Pasitea and offers southern Italian cooking with views over Positano.

It gives the trip a slightly more special ending without requiring a formal fine-dining experience.

After dinner, walk through the town one last time.

Positano looks different at night. The daytime crowds thin out, the buildings begin to glow and the sea disappears into darkness.

It is a good moment to think about what Katy learns during her strange summer here.

Sometimes a place can become part of a family story long before you ever visit it.

Can you do One Italian Summer in one day

Yes.

You can absolutely visit Positano in one day, particularly if you’re already staying elsewhere on the Amalfi Coast.

The town itself is compact enough to combine Piazza dei Mulini, Santa Maria Assunta, Spiaggia Grande, lunch at Chez Black and the walk towards Fornillo in a single day. Positano’s tourism guide even outlines a one-day Amalfi Coast itinerary centred around Positano and Amalfi.

But one day changes the character of the trip.

You will see the town.

Two days let you experience it.

For a One Italian Summer itinerary, I would choose two days and one night. It gives you enough time for Hotel Poseidon, Chez Black, the beach, a boat or mountain walk and a proper slow evening.

If Positano is one stop within a longer Amalfi Coast holiday, one full day is perfectly reasonable.

If Positano is the reason you’re going, give it two.

Where to stay

Hotel Poseidon

This is the obvious choice for a literary trip because it is Katy’s hotel in the novel and the property has a real connection to Serle’s inspiration for the book.

Hotel Casa Albertina

For another option in the upper part of Positano, Hotel Casa Albertina offers a smaller hotel setting away from the immediate beach crowds.

Pensione Maria Luisa

For a simpler stay, Pensione Maria Luisa is in the Fornillo area, giving you a quieter base close to the beach.

Where to eat

Chez Black

The essential book connection.

Order seafood or pasta and sit by the marina.

Da Vincenzo

A good choice for a more conventional Positano dinner, with Italian and Campanian dishes.

Da Adolfo

Best saved for the boat-and-beach day.

Casa e Bottega

Useful for breakfast or lunch when you want something lighter.

Da Gabrisa

A good final-night choice for southern Italian cooking and a high-up view across Positano.

The One Italian Summer route

Source: Amanda’s Book Corner

One night and two days

Day One

• Hotel Poseidon
• Piazza dei Mulini
• Santa Maria Assunta
• Spiaggia Grande
• Chez Black
• Fornillo Beach
• Da Vincenzo

Day Two

• Hotel Poseidon breakfast
• Path of the Gods or a private boat
• Da Adolfo or Casa e Bottega
• Spiaggia Grande
• Da Gabrisa
• One last evening walk through Positano

Waiting for the summer to arrive on screen

For now, One Italian Summer exists somewhere between the pages of Rebecca Serle’s novel and the production plans for Harry Bradbeer’s film.

Brie Larson is attached as Katy Silver and will also executive produce. Paramount has set the theatrical release for 12 May 2028, while the production remains in development and the shoot date is still to be announced. Positano is the listed filming location, so the town has yet to see the cameras arrive.

That makes this a slightly unusual film-location trip.

You are visiting the place before the film does.

And perhaps that is fitting for One Italian Summer. The story has always been about memory, the places we carry with us and the strange ways a trip can change what we thought we knew about someone we love.

For now, Positano is still waiting for Katy.

You can get there first.

Sources and useful links

• Paramount release information and current film reporting
• Current production status and planned Positano shoot
• Rebecca Serle on the real-life inspiration for the novel
• Hotel Poseidon and its history
• Chez Black and its connection to the novel
• Positano beaches and coastal walking route
• Path of the Gods walking information
• Positano boat and ferry information
• Positano one-week itinerary guidance