I’ve been visiting the Amalfi Coast since 1995, maximum not too long ago in 2023, when Jess and I primarily based ourselves in Sorrento for the most efficient a part of per week and explored the coast from there. We’ve additionally accomplished it the wrong way, cramming the entire beach right into a unmarried day day out from Naples. I’ll prevent the suspense on that one: an afternoon day out is how you spot the Amalfi Coast, staying a couple of nights is the way you revel in it.
Maximum articles concerning the Amalfi Coast hand you a hard and fast plan and march you via it. The issue is that the 2 questions you in fact have while you get started making plans are other ones. What number of days does the coast in point of fact want? And which the town must you sleep in? No one turns out to wish to solution both, so let’s get started there.
For many first-time guests, 4 to 5 days is the candy spot, primarily based in a single the town, the usage of ferries and buses to day-trip alongside the coast. That’s lengthy sufficient to peer Positano, Amalfi and Ravello with out dashing, hike the Trail of the Gods, and are compatible in Capri, with out the day-to-day pack-and-move that ruins numerous Amalfi journeys.
The second one query, the place to sleep, issues extra right here than nearly any place else we’ve travelled in Italy, so it will get its personal segment beneath. After that comes the plan itself, daily, with variations for squeezing it into 3 days or stretching it previous per week.
A handy guide a rough little bit of context for any person new to the area: the Amalfi Coast is the stretch of cliff-edge beach at the southern facet of the Sorrentine Peninsula, south of Naples, and it’s been a UNESCO International Heritage web site since 1997 beneath its professional identify, Costiera Amalfitana. 13 cities dangle to its cliffs. You’ll consult with 3 or 4 of them. That’s the proper quantity, and no, you’re no longer doing it improper.

How Many Days Do You Want at the Amalfi Coast?
4 to 5 days is the correct amount of time for a primary consult with to the Amalfi Coast. That provides you with a complete day each and every for Positano, the Amalfi and Ravello pairing, and a Capri day day out, plus arrival and departure days that don’t really feel like a dash.
Right here’s how the other day out lengths in fact play out:
| Days | What suits | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (day day out) | A bus or boat glimpse of Positano and Amalfi. We’ve accomplished it. You spend extra time in transit than within the cities. | Folks with a spare day in Naples and no different possibility |
| 3 | Positano, Amalfi and Ravello, with one base and no Capri. Tight however workable. | Lengthy-weekenders who’d moderately come again than rush |
| 4 to five | The whole lot within the three-day model plus the Trail of the Gods, Capri, and room to respire. | Maximum first-time guests. That is the plan on this article. |
| 7 to ten | The coast at half of pace, plus Naples, Pompeii and the broader bay. | Somebody who can spare the go away. You gained’t feel sorry about it. |
In the event you’re weighing the day day out possibility as a result of that’s your whole Italy plans permit, I perceive the temptation, and it’s in fact imaginable. We booked ours via GetYourGuide years in the past and the logistics ran advantageous.
However the coast’s entire enchantment is the gradual bits, the early mornings earlier than the day-trippers arrive and the evenings when they go away, and an afternoon day out most effective presentations you the crowded center. If you’ll perhaps convert that day into two or 3 nights, do it.

The place to Base Your self at the Amalfi Coast
Select one the town and keep there for all your day out. The cities are shut in combination, the ferries and buses attach them smartly from more or less April to October, and transferring lodging each and every evening in this coast manner hauling baggage up staircases you’ll come to grasp for my part. One base, day journeys out. It’s the only superb resolution you’ll make right here.

Which base? Right here’s how the 4 practical applicants evaluate:
| The town | Persona | Stairs and terrain | Price | Delivery connections |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positano | The postcard. Glamorous, romantic, busiest of the lot | Relentless. Town is largely a staircase with constructions hooked up | Best possible at the coast | Just right ferries in season, buses replenish rapid |
| Amalfi | Operating the town with the nice cathedral, much less polished, extra actual existence | Flat centre, a rarity right here | Mid | The coast’s shipping hub: ferries and buses in each and every path |
| Ravello | Quiet, subtle, up within the hills with the most efficient perspectives of all | Hilltop, however stage if you’re up | Mid to prime, skinny on the finances finish | No ferry (it’s 350m up), bus all the way down to Amalfi for the entirety |
| Sorrento | Energetic full-sized the town simply outdoor the coast itself, with the most efficient infrastructure | Most commonly flat and walkable | Maximum fluctuate, superb cost | Direct teach to Naples, ferries to Positano, Amalfi and Capri in season |
In 2023 we primarily based ourselves in Sorrento. We had our personal vehicle on that day out, and Sorrento is the only position within the area the place arriving with a vehicle doesn’t really feel like a mistake, since parking exists and the roads in are sane.
Purists will indicate that Sorrento isn’t technically at the Amalfi Coast, and so they’re proper, it sits at the different facet of the peninsula. It’s nonetheless the bottom I’d suggest to numerous first-timers: costs are noticeably kinder, the eating place scene is deeper, the Circumvesuviana teach connects you instantly to Naples, and in season the ferries put Positano about 40 mins away.
That mentioned, the correct base is dependent upon what you’re optimising for:
- If it’s your first day out and you need the whole romance, make it Positano, finances permitting. Waking up throughout the postcard is value one thing, and evenings there after the day-trippers go away are pretty. Pack mild. Each resort warns you concerning the stairs; imagine them.
- If any person for your birthday celebration has knee hassle, heavy baggage or a pushchair, base in Amalfi. It’s the one coast the town the place you’ll survive the flat, and being the shipping hub manner you’re by no means at the remaining bus house.
- On a 2d consult with, or if crowds deliver you out in hives, make a selection Ravello. It empties superbly within the night time and the perspectives down the coast are the most efficient on be offering. You’ll trip the Amalfi bus so much.
- For cost, households, or any person arriving by means of vehicle or teach, it’s Sorrento. What it lacks in cliff-edge drama it makes up in practicality, and also you’re completely positioned for Capri and Naples in addition to the coast.
I’ve put explicit resort suggestions for all 4 cities, throughout finances, mid-range and comfort, additional down this text.
Getting Across the Amalfi Coast And not using a Automobile
You don’t want a vehicle at the Amalfi Coast, and for the coast itself I’d actively suggest in opposition to one. Right here’s how the 3 choices in point of fact evaluate, and methods to mix the 2 nice ones.
The Ferry: Perfect Approach to Commute, When It’s Operating
The ferry is the best way to see this beach. The cities have been constructed to be admired from the water, the boats are widespread in season, and also you skip the visitors solely. A number of operators run the routes, together with Travelmar and NLG, so it’s more effective to consider it as one community.
As a information to 2026 costs, Sorrento to Positano runs round €12 to €14 a technique, Positano to Amalfi round €10 to €13, and maximum operators upload a €3 baggage fee. Purchase on-line an afternoon forward in summer season, or on the pier kiosks round 20 mins earlier than departure.

The catch is seasonality. The ferry community runs more or less from April to October, or even in season boats get cancelled when the ocean is tough. Don’t construct a plan the place a overlooked ferry manner a overlooked flight, and at all times have the bus as a psychological backup for any leg that issues.
The SITA Bus: Affordable, Dependable, Snug
The blue SITA Sud buses run the coast highway year-round and price little or no: €1.80 for a brief hop between neighbouring cities (Positano to Praiano, say) and €2.60 for longer runs like Positano to Amalfi or Positano to Sorrento. There’s additionally the COSTIERASITA day cross at €10 for limitless coast shuttle over 24 hours, or €12 together with Positano’s little native buses, which is worthwhile on any day with 3 or extra legs.
Two items of hard-won bus knowledge:
- Purchase tickets earlier than you board, from a tabacchi (tobacconist), newsstand or bar close to the give up, as a result of drivers don’t promote them. Validate on board.
- In summer season the buses between Positano and Amalfi are packed by means of mid-morning. Board originally of a direction the place you’ll, shuttle early, and deal with the middle-of-the-day departures as a squeeze.
The street is slim, winding and impressive in more or less equivalent measure, so clutch a seat at the sea facet in case you get the selection!
Using: Most commonly Don’t
We arrived within the area by means of vehicle in 2023, and the most efficient factor I will be able to say about that call is that we parked it in Sorrento and most commonly left it there. The SS163 coast highway is a gorgeous power within the summary. In apply it’s a unmarried slim lane each and every means shared with buses, scooters and 10 million different guests’ rent automobiles, and the cities actively discourage you on the different finish.
Storage parking in Positano runs €30 to €60 an afternoon in height season. In summer season the centre operates get admission to restrictions, together with another quantity plate gadget at the busiest days (bizarre plates on bizarre dates, even on even), and fines get started round €150. It’s numerous admin for a worse view than the ferry provides you with for €13.
The place a vehicle does make sense is the broader area: traveling extra of Campania or Italy earlier than or after, as we have been. If that’s your day out, base in Sorrento, park it, and evaluate rent costs on Uncover Vehicles. For the coast itself, ferries and buses win.

Our 5 Day Amalfi Coast Itinerary
Right here’s the plan I’d hand a chum doing this for the primary time. It assumes you’re basing in a single the town consistent with the recommendation above, travelling in ferry season (more or less April to October), and arriving by means of Naples like nearly everybody. Take it as a framework moderately than a script, and naturally you’ll change days round freely, with one exception I’ll flag on Day 2.
Day 1: Arrive in Naples and Get to Your Base
On the other hand you succeed in Naples (in case you’re coming by means of rail from Rome or somewhere else, you’ll ebook Italian teach tickets on Trainline), your first process is attending to the coast, and the usual direction is the Circumvesuviana teach from Naples to Sorrento. It leaves from Porta Nolana and Piazza Garibaldi stations more or less each and every half-hour, takes about 70 mins, and prices €5. It’s a commuter teach, so suppose useful moderately than scenic, and stay your baggage shut.
From mid-March to mid-October there’s additionally the Campania Categorical, a limited-stop vacationer provider at the identical line with assured seats and baggage area. It prices greater than the common €5 price ticket and is worthwhile with baggage; take a look at present fares at the operator EAV‘s GoEAV app, which could also be one of the best ways to shop for common tickets.
From Sorrento, attach onwards for your base: ferry to Positano or Amalfi in season, or the SITA bus alongside the coast highway. In the event you’re basing in Sorrento itself, you’re already accomplished, which is considered one of its quiet benefits. Spend no matter’s left of the afternoon settling in, then have a gradual first night time: a wander, an extended dinner, an early evening. The itinerary correct begins day after today.

One sensible caution from enjoy: in case your flight lands in Naples within the night time, simply in a single day in Sorrento without reference to the place you’re basing. The remaining ferries and buses move previous than you’d hope, and completing a shuttle day with a taxi negotiation at the coast highway is no one’s concept of a vacation.
Day 2: Positano and the Trail of the Gods
That is the day with the fixed-ish plan, as it’s constructed round a hike you need to start out early, preferably strolling by means of 10am and previous in prime summer season, as the path has little colour.
The Trail of the Gods (Sentiero degli Dei) is the coast’s well-known clifftop stroll, and it earns the popularity. It runs about 7.8km from Bomerano, up within the hills, all the way down to Nocelle above Positano, takes 3 to 4 hours, and is loose, being an peculiar public mountain path marked with the purple and white CAI stripes (routes 327 and 331).
Stroll it in that path, Bomerano to Nocelle, so the direction tendencies downhill and the perspectives of the coast and Capri keep in entrance of you the entire means. Attending to the trailhead is a bus process: SITA to Amalfi after which the native bus as much as Bomerano in Agerola.
Two caveats earlier than you place off. That is an uncovered cliff trail, no longer a walk: you need actual footwear, water, and a head for edges.
And whilst the path is open as of 2026 (with one brief signed detour the place the trail was once stabilised after a landslide), it does shut after storms and isn’t good in rainy stipulations, so ask in the community or take a look at contemporary evaluations earlier than you devote the day, particularly outdoor the April to October window.
If a self-guided hike appears like too many transferring portions, there are guided variations with transfers taken care of, like this half-day guided hike from Sorrento.
From Nocelle, you’ll stroll down the (many, many) steps into Positano or catch the native bus. Then give Positano the remainder of the day. Have a overdue lunch, wander By way of dei Mulini, poke your head into the church of Santa Maria Assunta with its majolica dome.

Then get to grasp the coastline scenario. Spiaggia Grande, the principle coastline, is most commonly paid loungers from the 2 coastline golf equipment, however there’s a loose public segment too, and the smaller Fornillo coastline, a 10-minute trail west alongside the cliff, is a little bit quieter and likewise has a loose house.

Keep for the golden hour, when town’s well-known stacked view is at its superb, and consume dinner earlier than the remaining ferry or bus house. If you need the vintage waterfront desk, Chez Black has been doing precisely that on Spiaggia Grande since 1949; ebook forward.
No longer a hiker? Skip the path, take the morning slowly, and do Positano at half of pace as an alternative: town rewards aimlessness, and a morning espresso there earlier than the day-trip boats arrive is a unique position from the 2pm model. However, that is the day to change in a ship day out; extra on that within the Day 5 choices beneath.
Day 3: Amalfi, Atrani and Ravello
3 cities, one bus trip, and the coast’s superb cultural attractions. Get started with the ferry or bus into Amalfi and provides it the morning. The Duomo di Sant’Andrea, the cathedral whose striped facade towers over the principle piazza on a frankly over the top staircase, is the sight.

Access to the cathedral itself is loose right through services and products, and the Huge Advanced price ticket, which is the way you consult with the remainder (the Cloister of Paradise, the basilica museum and the crypt, coming into throughout the cloister), prices €4. Hours run seasonally, more or less 9am to six.45pm in spring stretching to 7.45pm in summer season.

The cloister is small and quietly stunning, and at €4 it’s one of the vital higher cost tickets within the area. If you need a sit-down lunch earlier than transferring on, Da Gemma has been feeding Amalfi since 1872.
Ahead of lunch, even though, take the 15-minute stroll throughout the pedestrian tunnel east to Atrani. It’s the coast’s smallest the town, a tangle of arches and stairs round a tiny piazza and coastline, and as the excursion buses can’t give up there it feels just like the coast did earlier than mass tourism. It’s additionally, for my cash, the most efficient picture give up on all the beach; extra on that within the images segment beneath.
Within the afternoon, catch the bus from Amalfi as much as Ravello, 25 to half-hour of switchbacks to a the town 350 metres above the ocean. Ravello is the coast at its maximum composed, and its two villa gardens are the explanation you’re right here.
Villa Rufolo (€8, open day-to-day 9am to 5pm with remaining access 4.30pm, later right through the summer season competition) is the only with the well-known terrace view over the coast that looks on half of the area’s postcards.
Villa Cimbrone (€10, open 9am till sundown) is the larger, wilder lawn, and its Terrace of Infinity, a belvedere covered with marble busts placing over a 350-metre drop, is the only superb point of view at the Amalfi Coast. Do each; they’re a 10-minute stroll aside and the €18 mixed is cash smartly spent.
In the event you’re visiting between early July and early September, night time live shows run at Villa Rufolo as a part of the Ravello Competition (the 2026 version runs 4 July to five September), and listening to an orchestra on that terrace at nightfall is a sturdy argument for rearranging your week.
Thoughts the remaining bus down, which fills up in season, then ferry or bus again to base for dinner.

Day 4: Capri Day Shuttle
Capri will get disregarded as overrun and overpriced, and by means of 11am in August each fees stick. The repair is equal to in every single place in this coast: move early. Catch one of the vital first ferries out, round 8am, and also you’ll have a few hours of the island at its superb earlier than the day-trip fleet arrives.

Ferries run from Sorrento year-round (20 to twenty-five mins at the hydrofoil, round €15 to €25 a technique) and from Positano in summer season most effective (30 to 40 mins, more or less €20 to €25). Timetables and operators are all on capri.com.
From Marina Grande, the place you’ll land, take the funicular as much as Capri the town (€2.40, 4 mins) and stroll out to the Gardens of Augustus for the view over the Faraglioni sea stacks and the switchbacks of By way of Krupp. That view earlier than the crowds is definitely worth the early alarm on its own.

The Blue Grotto is the Capri resolution folks maximum regularly get improper. The ocean cave with its electric-blue water prices €18 (€4 admission plus €14 for the obligatory rowing boat that takes you in), and that’s on most sensible of having to the doorway within the first position, both by means of excursion boat from Marina Grande or by means of bus by means of Anacapri. You’ll be able to’t pre-book the cave itself, most effective boat journeys that queue on the front.
And as the front is most effective about 80cm prime, it closes on every occasion there’s any swell in any respect, regularly at brief realize, and prerequisites have a tendency to irritate after about 3pm.
So: deal with the Blue Grotto as an advantage moderately than a plan, move within the morning in case you move, and feature a backup. Our urged backup is a great one anyway: the bus to Anacapri, the quieter most sensible half of of the island, and the chairlift up Monte Solaro for the most efficient landscape within the bay.


Anacapri rewards a wander in its personal proper. The little Church of San Michele hides a outstanding majolica-tiled ground, an 18th-century hand-painted scene of Adam and Eve being became out of a Lawn of Eden filled with animals, which you view from a raised walkway across the edge in order to not put on it away. And the gardens at Villa San Michele, the previous house of Swedish physician Axel Munthe, include one of the vital best perspectives at the entire island for the cost of a price ticket.

Take a mid-afternoon ferry again moderately than the remaining one; the overdue boats are the crowded ones, and if the ocean will get up you need a crusing or two of slack earlier than your dinner reservation. In the event you’d moderately have the logistics treated and upload swimming stops across the island, a boat-tour model of nowadays works smartly too, one thing like this full-day Capri boat day out from Sorrento.
Day 5: Gradual Morning, Flex Slot and Departure
Stay the remaining day free. Have the gradual breakfast, stroll the nook of your base the town you haven’t reached but, or declare a few coastline hours.
In case your departure is overdue, that is the slot for the object your day out has been lacking to this point, and my pick out could be seeing the coast from the water in case you haven’t but: a morning boat run alongside the cliffs, both the peculiar ferry ridden purely for excitement or a devoted day out with swim stops like this full-day boat excursion from Positano. A lemon grove consult with with granita is the low-effort choice, and no one has ever regretted it.
Then permit actual time for the adventure out: two and a half of to a few hours from a coast base again to Naples station or airport, and I wouldn’t ebook a flight out of Naples any tighter than 4 hours after leaving the coast. The SS163 crawls in afternoon visitors, and it’s in point of fact no longer value chopping it advantageous.
Best Have 3 Days? Were given a Week? Scaling the Plan
The three Day Model
Base in Amalfi for the flat logistics and central place.
- Day 1: arrive, settle, night time in Amalfi.
- Day 2: morning ferry to Positano early sufficient to overcome the crowds, afternoon again via Atrani, night time loose.
- Day 3: morning bus as much as Ravello for the 2 villas, backtrack for departure.
Capri doesn’t are compatible, and the Trail of the Gods turns into an non-compulsory half-day for quick walkers who’d industry the Positano morning for it. 3 days is sufficient to fall for where; it’s simply no longer sufficient to additionally are compatible the island and the hike.
The 7 to ten Day Model
Don’t upload extra coast cities; upload the bay. With per week or extra, put two or 3 nights in Naples at one finish for the town and the pizza, give Pompeii the whole day it merits (it’s proper at the Circumvesuviana line you’re already the usage of), and drop an absolutely empty coastline day into the coast keep.
That rhythm, town then coast, is how our 10 day Italy itinerary works too, in case you’re folding the Amalfi Coast into an extended first day out that still takes in Rome, Florence or Venice.
The place to Keep at the Amalfi Coast
Amalfi Coast lodging is pricey for what you get in prime season, and the good-value puts promote out months forward, so ebook as early as you perhaps can. Listed below are our selections consistent with base the town at 3 budgets. Costs clearly swing wildly by means of season; the tiers beneath are relative to one another.

Positano
Finances: Pensione Maria Luisa is the vintage finances mattress in Positano, over within the quieter Fornillo district with sea perspectives from the shared terrace. It’s numerous stairs from the principle coastline, which at those costs is strictly the industry you’re making.
Mid-range: Albergo California has large rooms in an previous palazzo at the major highway with the balcony perspectives town is legendary for. Luxurious: Le Sirenuse is likely one of the well-known resorts of Italy, and if there was once ever a spot to devote a financial savings account to a view, that is it.
Amalfi
Finances: Lodge Lidomare is a family-run 18-room spot in a 14th-century construction simply off the principle sq., steps from the flat centre that makes Amalfi such a very easy base.
Mid-range: Lodge Aurora sits proper by means of the harbour with its personal bathing house, so the ferry community begins at the doorstep. Luxurious: Lodge Santa Caterina, in artwork nouveau villas at the cliff simply outdoor the town, with glass lifts all the way down to a non-public sea deck, is the grande dame of the coast.
Ravello
Ravello doesn’t in point of fact do reasonable, so deal with mid-range because the access level. Mid-range: Lodge Parsifal is a transformed Thirteenth-century convent with a view terrace that outperforms its charges, and it’s our price pick out for the entire coast. Luxurious: Palazzo Avino is the five-star possibility up right here, with a Michelin-starred eating place and that inconceivable Ravello outlook from the rooftop pool.
Sorrento
Finances: Ulisse Deluxe Hostel is that uncommon factor, a hostel with hotel-grade non-public rooms, 10 mins’ stroll from the centre. Mid-range: Lodge Antiche Mura is simply off Piazza Tasso with a pool in a citrus lawn, which after an afternoon of coast buses is strictly what you’ll need. Luxurious: Grand Lodge Excelsior Vittoria has topped the cliff above the port since 1834, with a boost instantly all the way down to the ferries. Caruso stayed; you’ll see why.
The place to Consume at the Amalfi Coast
We primarily based ourselves in Sorrento, in order that’s the place maximum of our dinners took place, and it seems that’s additionally the place the coast’s best-value consuming is. Eating places in Positano and Amalfi are regularly priced for the view up to the plate, whilst Sorrento has the intensity of a correct running the town: the first step boulevard again from the water and also you’re paying customary southern-Italy costs once more. A couple of puts we’d luckily ship you to.
In Sorrento itself, Chantecler’s Trattoria is the pick out, tucked down a quiet lane close to Piazza Tasso inside of a Fifteenth-century villa, family-run and refreshingly reasonable for the way nice it’s; the bruschetta and the fish of the day are what we went again for. Zi’Ntonio, a few mins from Piazza Tasso, is the unswerving all-rounder, robust on pasta, seafood and a correct wood-fired pizza. And down at Marina Grande, Porta Marina Seafood is a relatives fish eating place proper at the waterfront, first come first served, the place the grilled catch is definitely worth the queue that builds maximum evenings.



Out at the coast we’ve pointed you at our two favourites within the itinerary already: Chez Black on Positano’s beachfront for the vintage waterfront lunch, and Da Gemma in Amalfi, which has been feeding town since 1872. Upload yet another for Ravello: Cumpà Cosimo, a relatives establishment for 70-odd years, the place the object to reserve is the piatto misto, seven sampler-sized parts of the day’s pasta. You gained’t want a lot of a day plan afterwards.
No matter you’re consuming in season, ebook forward, in particular any place with a view, a name, or each.
When to Discuss with the Amalfi Coast
Would possibly, June, September and early October are the months I’d ebook. The ocean is swimmable, the whole ferry community is operating, the entirety is open, and the crowds, whilst actual, are lovely manageable with early begins.
July and August paintings in the event that they’re what you’ve were given, however know what you’re signing up for: highs of 29 to 31°C with actual humidity, height costs, and the type of crowd densities that flip Positano’s lanes right into a shuffle. The trick in prime summer season is to reside on the edges of the day, out by means of 8am, lengthy shaded lunch, again out at 5pm. It’s additionally no longer the window I’d make a selection for the Trail of the Gods.
Iciness is the quiet possibility, and for a primary day out I wouldn’t suggest it. The coast is at its maximum native from November to March and resort costs drop difficult, however lots of the ferry community stops, a nice chew of eating places and resorts shut, and the elements is a coin turn. If a car-free day out is the plan, and it must be, the ferry season units your calendar: April to October, shoulders most well-liked.
What Catches Folks Out at the Amalfi Coast
A couple of issues we’ve discovered throughout our visits, introduced so that they don’t catch you out:
The center of the day belongs to the day-trippers. Positano and Amalfi between 10.30am and 4pm in season are a unique, worse enjoy than the similar cities at 8am or 7pm.
The only greatest improve to be had in this coast is loose: rise up early. Staying in a single day manner the most efficient hours are yours, which is lots of the argument in opposition to day-tripping the coast within the first position. However simply know that the Amalfi Coast isn’t a spot you return to flee folks, no matter time of day it’s.

The steps don’t seem to be a metaphor. Positano particularly is vertical in some way pictures don’t put across, and “sea view room” regularly interprets as “you’ll earn this view a number of occasions an afternoon”. If stairs are an issue for any person for your birthday celebration, this adjustments which the town you keep in (Amalfi) and it’s higher to grasp earlier than reserving. Comparable: pack footwear you’ll stroll in. The lanes are steep, cobbled and polished clean by means of a century of holiday makers.
The bus trip impacts some folks greater than they be expecting. The coast highway is 40-odd mins of constant hairpins. If any person for your staff is vulnerable to movement illness, take a seat close to the entrance, stay eyes at the horizon, and favour the ferry anyplace the selection exists. Even if in fact it will introduce sea illness. No-one mentioned shuttle was once simple.
Instagram is doing numerous heavy lifting. The well-known pictures are actual and the perspectives ship. What the pictures crop out is the queue for the point of view, the coastline membership charges, and the €9 spritz that includes the postcard desk.
The seashores are advantageous, no longer impressive. The beach is the draw right here, the seashores themselves are small, crowded, and the sand isn’t image postcard white. Gray or pebbley is the vibe. However the water is lovely, and the perspectives (particularly from the water as bob round) are value it.

Cross anyway! Cross figuring out, and finances accordingly: after flights and resorts, that is considered one of Italy’s priciest corners, even though the €2.60 bus and the loose public coastline sections imply it doesn’t must be ruinous day after day.
Sea and climate run the time table. Ferries cancel on swell, the Blue Grotto shuts on it, and the Trail of the Gods is a nasty concept in rain. Construct one versatile day into any plan (that’s Day 5 above) and hang plans frivolously. The coast rewards individuals who can shrug and reshuffle.
Photographing the Amalfi Coast
I’ve been a qualified shuttle photographer since 2010, and this beach is ready as beneficiant an issue because the process gives. A couple of location notes for benefiting from it:
- The vintage stacked-Positano view is superb from the trail that climbs west against Fornillo coastline, in overdue afternoon and golden hour, when the sunshine comes around the sea and the pastel constructions transfer on. From the water, the ferry arrival provides you with the similar composition for the cost of your price ticket, so have the digital camera out on deck.
- Atrani is the sleeper pick out. The point of view from the coast highway footpath above the town provides you with the huddle of whitewashed properties, the arches and the coastline in a single body, without any of Positano’s point of view queue. Well worth the Day 3 detour by itself.
- In Ravello, the Terrace of Infinity at Villa Cimbrone is the well-known body, superb photographed within the morning earlier than the haze builds over the ocean beneath. At Villa Rufolo, use the umbrella pines to border the beach and Wagner’s tower.
- On Capri, the Gardens of Augustus view over the Faraglioni is why you stuck the 8am ferry. Via overdue morning the sunshine flattens and the terrace fills.
On package: this can be a wide-angle-to-short-telephoto beach, and a polariser is the only clear out value packing right here, chopping the ocean haze and deepening that well-known blue, even though ease it off when taking pictures around the water otherwise you’ll get asymmetric skies. Warmth haze is the enemy of long-lens pictures by means of noon in summer season, which is yet another argument for the early begins this text helps to keep prescribing.

Amalfi Coast Itinerary Map
The map beneath has each and every give up on this itinerary marked, together with the cities, the Trail of the Gods trailheads, the villa gardens in Ravello, the ferry ports and our beneficial resorts, so you’ll see how the times are compatible in combination geographically.
Ceaselessly Requested Questions In regards to the Amalfi Coast
What number of days do you want at the Amalfi Coast?
4 to 5 days is correct for a primary consult with: an afternoon each and every for Positano, the Amalfi and Ravello pairing, and Capri, plus shuttle days. 3 days covers the core cities from one base with out Capri or the massive hike. With per week or extra, upload Naples and Pompeii moderately than extra coast cities.
Are you able to consult with the Amalfi Coast with out a vehicle?
Sure, and it’s the simpler solution to do it. From April to October, ferries hyperlink Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Capri, and the SITA bus runs the coast highway year-round for €1.80 to €2.60 a hop. Using manner slim roads, summer season get admission to restrictions and €30 to €60 an afternoon parking, so I’d most effective deliver a vehicle in case you’re traveling the broader area, after which I’d go away it in Sorrento.
Must I keep in Positano or Amalfi?
Positano in case you’re right here for the romance and will have the funds for it, and also you’re glad on stairs. Amalfi if you need flat streets, higher shipping connections and kinder costs, because it’s the hub the ferries and buses radiate from. For a primary day out I’d additionally weigh Sorrento, which isn’t technically at the coast however has the most efficient cost and infrastructure of the lot.
Is the Amalfi Coast too touristy?
In the midst of a summer season day, within the well-known cities, sure, it may well really feel that means. The repair is staying in a single day and the usage of the early mornings and evenings, when the day-trip crowds are long past and the cities really feel like themselves once more. Shoulder season (Would possibly, June, September, early October) is helping so much, and Atrani and Ravello keep calmer than Positano even in height weeks.
Is Capri value visiting?
Sure, at the proper phrases: catch one of the vital first ferries throughout, see the Gardens of Augustus and trip up Monte Solaro earlier than the day-trip fleet lands mid-morning, and take a mid-afternoon boat again. Deal with the Blue Grotto as a weather-dependent bonus moderately than the purpose of the day, because it closes on any swell.
What’s the superb month to consult with the Amalfi Coast?
June and September are the pick out: heat sea, complete ferry timetables, lengthy days, and crowds a notch beneath the July and August height. Would possibly and early October are the worth performs with fairly cooler swimming. From November to March maximum ferries give up and lots of resorts shut, so iciness fits just a quiet, car-assisted day out.
How difficult is the Trail of the Gods?
It’s a reasonable hike: about 7.8km, 3 to 4 hours, most commonly downhill in case you stroll Bomerano to Nocelle, on an uncovered cliff trail with asymmetric footing. Any rather are compatible walker in first rate footwear can do it. It’s no longer one for vertigo victims, summer season middays (no colour) or rainy climate, and it’s loose, with out a reserving wanted.
Is the Amalfi Coast nice for youngsters?
It may be, with the correct base. Make a choice Amalfi or Sorrento for flat streets and simple logistics, favour ferries over the winding buses, and plan round coastline time and boat journeys moderately than lengthy sightseeing days. Positano’s stairs and a pushchair are a nasty aggregate, and the Trail of the Gods fits assured older children most effective.
How do you get from Naples to the Amalfi Coast?
Take the Circumvesuviana teach from Naples (Porta Nolana or Garibaldi) to Sorrento: about 70 mins, €5, departures more or less each and every half-hour, with the extra comfy Campania Categorical operating at the identical line from mid-March to mid-October. From Sorrento, proceed by means of ferry in season or SITA bus to Positano or Amalfi. Direct summer season ferries and buses from Naples and Salerno additionally exist and are value checking on your dates.
Is Sorrento at the Amalfi Coast?
Technically no. Sorrento sits at the north facet of the peninsula going through the Bay of Naples, whilst the Amalfi Coast correct is the southern shore from Positano to Vietri sul Mare. In apply it’s essentially the most handy base for visiting the coast, with the Naples teach, seasonal ferries to Positano, Amalfi and Capri, and higher cost resorts.
How pricey is the Amalfi Coast?
Accommodations are the painful bit, particularly in Positano in season, and a beach-club lounger or waterfront cocktail is priced for the view. The on a regular basis prices are gentler than the popularity suggests: €2.60 buses, €12 to €14 ferry hops, €4 for Amalfi’s cathedral complicated, €8 for Villa Rufolo, and pizza and pasta at customary southern-Italy costs if you the first step boulevard again from the water.
Are you able to do the Amalfi Coast as an afternoon day out from Naples?
You’ll be able to, and we’ve, on an organised bus excursion. You’ll see Positano and Amalfi from their crowded noon facet and spend numerous the day in transit. It really works as a taster if an afternoon is all you’ve, however even two nights at the coast is a unique and significantly better day out.
Making plans Assets and Additional Studying
A couple of issues we’d level you at for the remainder of the making plans:
And that’s the Amalfi Coast as we’d plan it: 4 to 5 days, one base, early begins, ferries the place imaginable, and a spare day for the ocean to do its factor. In the event you’ve were given questions on your personal day out that the FAQ didn’t quilt, drop them within the feedback beneath, we learn and solution they all. Secure travels!




