I rode in the first Uber -helicopter in Europe and felt like a Hollywood A -Lister -here is how you can do that too

“Welcome to Capri!” our pilot Alessandro announces over the Tannoy while we sail 1,000 ft above the coastline in our £ 5 million Twin-Motor Tracker helicopter, the first of its kind in Italy.

We are just high enough to avoid the whimsical limestone cliffs, but still close enough to spy the rich bronze holidaymakers who jump down from the fleet of yachts and speed boats, disappear while they swim in the hidden sea mottles.

Traveling around 150 km / h it took 15 minutes for the short hop from Sorrento in style on the Italian island, a notorious ghost for the global elite.

Last year, Amazon Boss Jeff Bezos – The third richest person in the world – flew in on a similar helicopter with his wife Lauren Sanchez.

Oh the glitter, the glamor!

It is fair to say that this is not your usual Uber to ride.

But this summer you can also exchange a grumpy driver in a Toyota Prius in the UK for our charismatic 50-year-old pilot here in Italy after the tech giant launched his first helicopter service in Europe (one started in New York in 2019).

“It’s so fast, it’s so easy!” Alessandro jokes while we land.

And also reasonable.

For only £ 210 each – or £ 1,260 if you are enough to fill all six seats – you can book a chair through the app for a return to and from the island.

It is quite a bargain.

Normally such a trip would cost more than £ 3,300 – and that is only one way.

But warning: with a record of five million tourists who are expected to hit the coast of Amalfi in July and August, space can be limited.

I am here this week to taste the two new extravagant transport offer from Uber on the coast of Amalfi, with not only the helicopter ride, but also a new four -hour cruise from Sorrento to Positano.

Somehow the boat trip will be free – heavily subsidized by Uber to enable everyone to experience what luxury journeys experience, I was told.

Maybe a publicity stunt, but still a friendly gesture.

Both are certainly an upgrade of travel by car.

It is not even the highlight of the summer and the cities are already rastered with aggressive taxi drivers who honk and young men jump on scooters who jump on the sidewalk, while you need a steel belly to feel a bit d like around hair spider bends that ran the coastline.

At one point, while we almost touch an approaching minibus, the driver tells us: “don’t worry, I just close my eyes.”

Also during the trip there are two dozen influencers and international journalists, whom we all stay two nights in the Boutique Five-Star Belair Hotel that does an impressive audition for the next series White Lotus.

In the cliffs of Sorrento, I step on Thursday morning the balcony of my £ 1,100-per night room to be greeted by a glorious panorama of the bay that was spread to me.

I feel like a Hollywood A-Lister, I’m just ready for my flight.

At 26 ° C and Clear Blue Skies they are perfect conditions – but there is tangible hesitation under the group while we go to the helicopter.

I admit, I am a nervous flyer – not helped in covering two helicopter crashes in my time as a daily e -mail reporter.

I am looking for reassurance as soon as we arrive.

“Don’t worry, I also have a family,” Valerio, the handsome co-pilot, jokes, while the loving father uses the opportunity to tell me about his one-year-old daughter.

Both he and Alessandro, both locals, have been flying for about two decades.

They tell me that the AW109 tracker we go on board is one of the best on the market, with only three in operation in Europe.

It has two powerful engines – a plus that I was told, not only in terms of power, but also in safety in the event that one looks out. The same can be said for the pilots, they make jokes.

It has the capacity to go as high as 19,600 ft and up to 193 km / h – although today we go with a more measured speed, flying around the height of the Eiffel Tower.

And it’s an incredibly smooth ride.

Fortunately we do not do the loop-de-runs that Alessandro suggests through his microphone while we are launching.

Instead, we get an incredibly smooth ride, with our heads pressed on the glass while listening to the commentary of our pilots about their favorite sights.

They run up to 18 flights a day on the length of summer, but they still sound as excited as we do.

While we dive across the Mediterranean Sea, the boats that curl below look like Lego, and in no time we float above the Faraglioni rocks, three gigantic sea stalls that mark the entry to Capri.

Although we cannot see here, they are the home of the rare blue lizard.

While the species of the Italian wall lizard mastor is greenish brown, this isolated population developed a camouflage instead to reflect the lively electric blue of the clear sky above and deep sea. “The Faragliona is the Capri symbol,” says Alessandro via the radio.

We float over the mansion villas, nestled in the citrus and olive trees, and we land too quickly on the Helipad.

For once nervous flyers, we are now hungry for more. Instead, we were brought to Lido del Faro Beach Club in a pink six-seater open-top jeep, last seen in the Barbie film.

It certainly gives a Hollywood atmosphere to the island, and next to my four female passengers I feel like Ken in Capri. The only difference is my rather pink sunscreen from the day before.

Unfortunately I was fooled by the cool breeze when we had raced on the four -hour boat trip around the peninsula.

We were givered by Mario, a handsome room – aren’t they all here? -Those boats started to control when he was 16 years old.

Now 24, he is clearly proud of his heritage – and rightly so.

We yawn the richness of color along the rugged with trees lined cliffs, the dream of an artist. It is no wonder that JMW Turner brought his donkey to a boat here in the early 19th century.

Our 13 -meter ship – worth around half a million pounds – has been dressed with plush cream cushions and the minibar filled with prosecco.

We quickly get in the extra dry vino spumante excellent cuvee.

It may be worth more than £ 8 in local shops, but for us, on this boat, with this view, it tastes like a vintage Dom Pérignon from 1976.

“Buonjiourrrnooo!” We hear Mario screaming in the background every time he sees a friend riding a different boat.

We accelerate along the wavy coastline, pass Roman ruins and lonely fishermen who throw their lines over the rocks. We can see the fish among us in the crystal water.

Our first stop near a small island, with two houses, a church and a helicopter platform, which Mario tells us, can be rented for £ 125,000 a week.

A refreshing dip later, and we continue with our journey to a chapier water while we see the bay all around, and see the colorful villas of Positano – a UNESCO world heritage location, and rightly – nestled in the cliffs.

A heavy lunch from the saltiest pasta, and too much aperol spriters and a chocolategelato later, and we are back on the boat.

It is a quieter return trip, now less a party atmosphere and more a peaceful loneliness while we enjoy a real experience of La Dolce Vita.