Find some va va voom on a Vespa

I am to motorised, two-wheeled transport what Mike Tyson is to ballet dancing. I once begged a friend for a go on his brand-new 50cc Honda - only to drive it into the wall of our local swimming pool. But ever since seeing Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow zipping around the Amalfi coast on a Vespa in The Talented Mr Ripley, I vowed to do it myself.

It was with trepidation that I entered a scooter rental shop in Sorrento to rent some wheels. Should I get a classic Vespa, a modern but stylish Piaggio Liberty or a bargain-basement Honda 50? The mere thought of a Honda 50 brought me out in goose bumps and the Vespas were all out, so the Liberty it was. The trip from Sorrento along the Amalfi coast to Vietri is ideal for scooters - it's a 25-mile stretch of crenellated bays and rocky outcrops that plunge into the clear waters of the Gulf of Salerno. The road is scarcely two cars wide in places - with four wheels you are constantly slowing to let traffic pass. On two, you can stop whenever you fancy without blocking the way.

My base for the trip was Sorrento's clifftop Excelsior Vittoria, a tranquil retreat from the touristy hubbub. I chucked a few bits into a rucksack and headed off, leaving my suitcase for collection on my return. I could have easily driven the whole coast in a day, but wanted to visit the Isle of Capri and stop at some of the family-run hotels along the coast.

The fashion-obsessed Isle of Capri is a 25-minute crossing from Sorrento by hydrofoil. I spent a day there, driving to the southern coast to see the faraglioni, a series of limestone stacks, before a lunch of pizza and Peroni on a sun terrace. Then I wandered around Capri's main town - all Ferragamo, Fendi and Krug champagne bars. Back on the mainland, I spent a night looking out over the Bay of Naples from the Excelsior before setting off next morning on the coast proper.

After an hour or so, I took a road up into the hills to the village of Montepertuso for the views towards Positano and across to the Siren islands that tempted Odysseus.

After an hour or two in the sun, I descended into Positano to check in at Le Sirenuse, an 18th century palazzo close to the town's cathedral, in a maze of wisteria-covered alleyways.

Next morning, I set off eastwards to Ravello for another stopover. All seemed to be going well, until I noticed that the fuel gauge was on empty. Unfortunately, my grasp of Italian is as weak as my scootering abilities. The word for "petrol station" just wouldn't come to mind.

After half an hour of freewheeling, I spluttered into a Q8 - not the Fifties fantasy filling station I'd imagined, but a welcome sight. "Fill it up" eluded me too, and, to help matters, a gang of Italian lads with their girlfriends riding pillion pulled up on scooters, giggling at my attempts to demand 10 euros' worth of fuel when it proved to be full on half that.

Half an hour later, I parked in the town of Amalfi and spent the afternoon taking in the tomb of St Andrew at the town's cathedral, and consuming a fresh tomato salad with juicy balls of mozzarella at a restaurant tucked away in the backstreets.

I had to give full throttle for a good 45 minutes to combat the twisting climb from Amalfi to Ravello, but the views along the last stretch of the coast, the marinated antipasti at Cumpa Cosimo - one of those unbeatable matriarch-dominated restaurants - and the rooms at Palazzo Sasso were well worth the detour.

My rucksack wardrobe was now exhausted, so the next day had to be the last. I rode to Vietri slowly, enjoying the gentle swaying as I took the curves around the last few bays. I did the journey back to Sorrento and clean clothes on full throttle, passing groups of locals sitting on their scooters chatting. Perhaps they were discussing whether I was Matt Damon, returning to film Ripley 2. Perhaps not - but at least my much-improved scooter handling wouldn't give the game away.

Get a 50cc Piaggio Liberty, or 150cc Vespa, e36 a day, from Sorrento Rent a Scooter (00 39 818 781 386) at 210a Corso Italia.

Inside guide to the Amalfi coast