Perched on a rocky promontory overlooking the Amalfi coast in Ravello, Villa Cimbrone is a splendid noble residence managed for 5 generations by the Vuilleumier family.

While the earliest records of the villa date back to the 11th century, its golden age began during the Grand Tour in 1904, when the British banker Ernest William Beckett, heir to Lord Grimthorpe, purchased it in a state of abandonment and transformed it into one of the most extraordinary residences on the Amalfi Coast. The property has, in fact, a stunning park that blends Italian and English garden styles, thanks to the help of Beckett’s friend, English writer and botanist Vita Sackville West (famous for curating the park at Sissinghurst Castle, the most visited garden in England).

The villa’s history as a hotel, however, began in 1975 with Marco Vuilleumier, the third generation of a local hotelier family whose epic story began in 1874 when Pasquale Palumbo, the founder on his mother’s side, opened the doors to the village’s first hospitality business, calling it Pensione Trattoria Palumbo.

Incomparable […] which rises among the roses and oleanders on a plateau from where the gaze sweeps out to sea.

(Ferdinand Gregorovius, historian, 1835)

His daughter Jessica would marry Edwin Aristide Vuilleumier, and his son Marco would fall in love with the villa, deciding to leave the family hotel run by his brothers and sisters to embark on this new adventure, now continued by the fourth generation, with their children Paola and Giorgio, and the fifth generation.

Villa Cimbrone was a beloved retreat for the entire European aristocracy during the Grand Tour and remains a landmark for international high society – the divine Greta Garbo famously stayed there – thanks to the care and attention of the Vuilleumier family, who have preserved the intact charm of this period residence with frescoed ceilings, artwork, and precious furnishings.

Villa Cimbrone, named after the rocky ridge on which it stands, known as “Cimbronium”, is located in a beautiful panoramic position overlooking the sea, a 15-minute walk from the center of Ravello. This view can be enjoyed from its fine-dining restaurant, Il Flauto di Pan, and the cocktail bar, V Lounge Bar, both open to external guests.

The Michelin-starred Il Flauto di Pan restaurant is headed by chef Lorenzo Montoro, who creates refined cuisine that speaks of the region, using carefully selected local ingredients, sourced wherever possible from the Villa’s organic vegetable gardens, where extraordinary dinners and events are also host.

The Gardens of Villa Cimbrone, with the famous Terrazza dell’Infinito viewpoint lined with classical statues, extend over approximately six hectares and are among the most important examples of Anglo-Saxon landscape and botanical culture in southern Europe (they can be visited independently of the Villa).

And to enjoy the view, you can book a table at Lucille’s Balcony, a bar located within the park, right next to the Terrazza dell’Infinito, with a charming panoramic balcony (it closes around 7:00 PM, like the Gardens).

The Secret

In the early 1900s, Violet Keppel, Vita Sackville-West, and Virginia Woolf frequented Villa Cimbrone. It is to these three incredible talents who changed the history of Europe that Villa Cimbrone’s cocktail bar, V Lounge, owes its name.

Useful Info

Villa Cimbrone
Via Santa Chiara 26
84010 Ravello, Napoli
Tel. +39 089 857459

Rooms: from €450 with breakfast
Tasting menu: from €140
A la carte: first courses from €36, second courses from €38
Cocktails: from €23

Gardens visit: ticket €10