Amalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast, nicknamed “The Divine Coast”, will absolutely take your breath away. With its steep inclines rising directly from the Mediterranean that are covered in narrow, winding roads, colorful, terraced homes and orchards that are perched on the hillside, you would be hard-pressed to find a more jaw-dropping location anywhere. Add to that its renowned cuisine and proximity to some really impressive natural wonders… and we have a winner!
Getting There
The nearest airport is Naples, which is about 90 minutes away by car, and Rome is around 5 hours away.
If you do not rent a car, there are some public transport options. Both Naples and Rome have train departures for the town of Salerno, which is just east of your final destination. Then, once in Salerno, there a few ways to complete the last part of your journey:
Take the 5120 SITA bus to Amalfi (departs about every 3 hours from the square outside the Salerno train station and takes about 1hr and 15 mins). If your destination is Positano, you can then either take the ferry or the bus.
If your accommodation is near the beach area in lower Positano, the ferry (a 30 minute trip which departs every three hours) could be a good option for you. However, be aware that, since you will be starting at sea level, anywhere you have to walk to will be uphill from where you disembark!
- Alternatively, you can change to the 5070 bus in Amalfi, which is a 40 minute ride to Positano and departs hourly. There are two stops in Positano – the first is La Sponda on the lower eastern part of town, where the SS163 (the main Amalfi Coast road) and Via Cristoforo Colombo meet. The second stop, Chiesa Nuova, is higher up the hill and on the west end, where the SS163 joins Viale Pasitea. After disembarking, you can either walk, take a taxi, or jump on one of the local buses to your final destination.
Another means of transport from Naples to Positano is to travel by ferry the whole way. To do this, you would first take a ferry from the Beverello Port (right next to Castel Nuovo) to the Island of Capri (approximately 45 minute journey). For the second leg, there are several companies operating ferry services to the Amalfi Coast and they all take approximately 40 minutes to get to Positano.
One other option for those who don’t want to rent a car is to arrange a private transfer or ride the “Positano Shuttle”, which departs from both Rome and Naples. Learn more at www.positanoshuttle.com.
All things considered, in order to have some flexibility and spend the least amount of time on the road, our preference was to rent a car and drive ourselves. As an added bonus, we stopped to visit the Pompeii archaeological site on the way (which was quite amazing!). However, if you do choose to rent a car, make sure it’s small! The roads around the Amalfi Coast are extremely narrow and it would be quite “hair-raising” trying to drive anything larger than a micro-sized car! We had a Fiat Panda and it still felt huge!
Where to Stay
There are roughly 25 small towns that make up the Amalfi Coast, but by far the most popular to visit is Positano, nicknamed “The Vertical City”, which also happens to be the first town you reach when arriving by car from Rome or Naples. Since we chose to stay in the Positano area and travel out from there for day trips, I will center this post around my experience there.
When it comes to Positano, it’s important to know that there is an upper town and a lower town and, although pretty much everywhere involves walking up stairs, if you stay in the upper town you will have a lot more stairs to climb from the beach area, unless you choose to ride the small public bus. That said, if you have a rental car, it may be easier to get parking for your vehicle in the upper town, away from the crowds and pedestrian-only areas.
In addition, if you are inclined to hike the “Path of the Gods” or do any rock climbing, the upper town will be much closer to those activities. Plus accommodation tends to get a little cheaper the further away from the beach you get!
With a simple search in www.booking.com you will find lots of boutique hotels – and many with views because of the terraced hills. There are also plenty of apartments and Bed & Breakfasts to choose from, however, because we are always drawn to spectacular views, we chose to go a little higher up into the hills on both of our visits.
Colle dell'Ara
The first time we chose a bed and breakfast called Colle dell’Ara (www.colledellara.it) which was in a fantastic location, high up on the hill above Positano, with parking closeby for our rental car. To get down into town we simply caught the bus, which had a stop very closeby. This place had phenomenal views out over the town and sea from its main terrace, where breakfast was served each morning.
Like many of the homes in the hills, Colle dell’Ara had an orchard and they made their own Limoncello, among other things! They also offered a magnificent home-cooked multi-course dinner for an additional fee, where we not only ate amazing food but also had the opportunity to meet other people.
One thing to note, as with many places in Positano, is that Colle dell’Ara is located about 300 steps from the main road, so you will need to be prepared to do a little walking! However, one of the unique things about this place is that they actually have an electric conveyor cable to transport your bags to & from the road, so at least you won’t have to carry those up the 300 steps! To be honest, it didn’t feel like that many steps and it wasn’t all uphill so it really wasn’t very difficult.
I have to mention something else that we found intriguing… the doorbell for the house is actually located in a rock face on the main road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere! We pressed this magic doorbell and someone answered and then showed up to load our bags onto the conveyor line within a few minutes! Presto!
Villa Casola
On our second visit, we had our young adult children with us, and we found a slightly cheaper option, but with even grander views, by going further out of town, all the way to the end of the upper road. Villa Casola B&B is located in Nocelle, about 5 miles out of Positano, right next to where the “Walk of the Gods” path begins. The views are to die for, and even my 18 year old daughter gasped when we arrived and started snapping pictures!
Fortunately there is a public parking lot in Nocelle, if you have a rental car, and the public bus line also ends at the parking lot, so it is easy to get to and from the Positano beach area… although I have to say that riding a bus (albeit a short one) down those very narrow, winding cliffside roads is quite an experience… especially when the driver religiously crosses himself at every turn!!
The hosts at Villa Casola were wonderful and we had a gorgeous breakfast out on the terrace in the mornings. They even made us some pre-dinner cocktails when we arrived home in the evening after a day out, before we walked down to get dinner at the local restaurant.
I should mention that there are over 100 stairs to walk up when going from the parking lot to the B&B. However, we arranged in advance for them to meet us with a “porter” to transport our bags for a modest fee so we didn’t have to lug those up the stairs with us! What I didn’t expect, though, was for the “porter” to be a mule! It really was quite impressive to watch, and we even saw a group of them transporting building materials to a building site on the hill. It makes sense when you realize there is no way to drive vehicles out on the hills, but it still feels like you have traveled back in time!
Where to Eat
Seafood is obviously going to be high on the menu in a seaside town like Positano and, if you’re anything like me, you can’t go wrong with real Italian food!
I searched on Trip Advisor for “best restaurants in Positano” and it gave me a great breakdown based on style (e.g. fine dining, casual) and price. We really liked the look of Da Vincenzo, so decided to pre-book it for dinner while we were there, since it is apparently in high demand. It was most definitely worth it and we had an absolutely delicious meal! Check them out at www.davincenzo.it.
We also ate at Blu Bar Positano, right on the edge of the beach under a lovely canopy of green vines and arbors. Great location and a very enjoyable meal.
Outside of the main town, we dined at La Tagliata, which has fantastic views from Monterpertuso and was only a short walk from our Colle dell’Ara B&B.
When staying at Villa Casola, we walked down a few flights of stairs to Santa Croce where we enjoyed a lovely meal with more of those breathtaking Nocelle views.
What to Do
Just hanging out in Positano is a treat, but there are some really great things to see and do, so I would be remiss if I didn’t share them.
Go to the beach
It depends on the time of year you are visiting of course, but it’s worth spending the 20 Euro to rent a deckchair on the sandy beach. A swim in the clear, salty Tyrrhenian Sea (part of the larger Mediterranean) is something you just have to experience!
Walk the “Path of the Gods”
This roughly four mile path, often dubbed the best hike in the world due to its spectacular views, runs between the villages of Nocelle to Bomerano. It will take a little more than two hours each way, so make sure you pack drinks and snacks! The path is a fantastic way to watch a sunrise or sunset too, and obviously you don’t have to do the entire hike to enjoy it! There is a great deal of serenity found in being out in the middle of nowhere while surrounded by the most magnificent scenery!
Take the ferry to Amalfi for a day trip
It only costs about 8 Euros and you’ll get to see more of the Amalfi Coast towns on the way. Amalfi itself is a gorgeous spot which you will find altogether charming!
Take a day trip to Capri Island
The Island of Capri has been a vacation destination for the rich and famous for centuries – even Roman Emperors had vacation homes there! We chose to go there in a little bit of style with www.bluestarpositano.it, and we couldn’t recommend them more highly! (In fact we have done the tour twice with them now, because we loved it so much!) The boats are luxurious with no more than 12 people aboard and they take you to see a few special sights along the way and allow you some free time to go swimming and snorkelling around the boat. They give you around 4 hours on Capri, which is plenty of time to see the main sights (you can read more about that in my Capri blog), and on your return journey, they give you shots of homemade Limoncello! This is truly one of our all-time highlights of any trip we’ve been on!
Shop in Positano village
.The pedestrian area of the town, which you have to walk through to get to the beach, is filled with boutique shops where you will find all things “lemon” (the people of Positano really do take lemons seriously – which works great for me, being a big fan of lemon myself!), colorful ceramics (lots of blue & yellow), designer clothing and gorgeous artwork.
Final Word
After visiting the Amalfi Coast, it is easy to see why so many people flock there each year. It truly is breathtaking in every sense of the word, and even the things we would normally consider to be inconvenient (such as walking 300 steps to our accommodation from the road!) take on a romantic charm in this magical place. Beauty, and the preservation of it, seems to take precedence over convenience here, and I found that to be very alluring.