With breathtaking panoramas, aquamarine seas and an endless supply of limoncello, it’s no wonder the Amalfi Coast has long been the vacation destination of choice for the Italian elite. Indeed, the Costiera Amalfitana, as it is called in Italian, has long enraptured visitors with its beauty. Homer imagined it as the home of the alluring Sirens in “The Odyssey,” and writers like E.M. Forster, D.H. Lawrence, John Steinbeck and Virginia Woolf have lived and worked in its hills.
The Amalfi Coast consists of a string of small villages lining the cliffs of the Sorrentine Peninsula, from Positano to Vietri sul Mare. The resort town of Sorrento, further north, is often considered part of the coast and can be a good base from which to explore the area. The legendary islands of the Gulf of Naples – Capri, Ischia and Procida – are also popular destinations.
The coast is most commonly explored by bus, car or the ubiquitous motorino (scooter). The drive is not for the faint of heart. From Positano down, the narrow roads meet the steep cliffline without so much as a road barrier, and Italian motorists have a tendency for speed. If you’re in the driver’s seat, be sure to proceed with caution. Alternately, you can navigate the coast by boat. Ferries and high-speed hydrofoils depart from the main port cities regularly, and prices are reasonable.
The Amalfi Coast is temperate year-round, but like most of Italy, the best times to explore are in June and September. Italian and foreign tourists flood Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, Ravello and the islands in July and August, but it is still possible to find a peaceful respite in smaller villages like Praiano and La Marina di Furore. Regardless of which spot you choose, the coast is sure to enchant you. And who knows? Like so often before, it may inspire a masterpiece.
The author of this post, Jessica Arriola Marati, is a freelance writer based in Rome, Italy. Born in San Francisco and raised in the Pacific island of Guam, she caught the travel bug early and has spent most of her life immersing herself in the study of her two heritages, Chamorro and Italian. Jessica has written for several magazines & traveled extensively. She can be reached at jessica.marati@gmail.com.
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Nice post! Pretty amazing how much history & beauty is packed into such a small area. ~Tui
Despite my interest in limoncello it’s a place I’ve never been. I need to make a pilgrimage there one day soon. It looks fantastic!
Hello Jessica,
Your blog is so helpful!! My 3 friends and I are coming to Italy in late September for 2 weeks. We are planning to stay 2-3 nights in the Amalfi area. Do you have any suggestions for villa’s or hotels? Thanks so much for your help!
Danielle
Hi, Danielle:
You can search for hotels in Amalfi (the city, not the entire coast) here:
http://hotels.italylogue.com/Europe-Italy-Amalfi.html
And there are other Amalfi Coast towns listed on the hotels pages here:
http://hotels.italylogue.com/
For villa/apartment rentals, here’s the selection for the Amalfi Coast:
http://vacationrentals.bootsnall.com/vacation-rentals/italy+amalfi-coast+4+290
My friend Laura of Ciao Amalfi recommends making the city of Amalfi your homebase, as it’s an actual town and not just a tourist town - in other words, no matter what time of year you’re there, there’s life! For more Amalfi Coast tips, hop on over to her blog, too:
http://ciaoamalfi.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the help on the Amalfi area. I actually found a cute hotel called Hotel Margherita in Praiano. Have you heard of this hotel and do you recommend this town?
Thanks,
Danielle
PS… I’m Dawn W’s friend. She’s the one that told me about your blog that’s been EXTREMELY helpful.
I haven’t heard of that hotel, Danielle, but I looked at the website - and WOW, it looks nice! I’ve also not been to Praiano - I’m going to see if Laura from Ciao Amalfi can stop by & help you out.
And I’m glad Dawn sent you my way!
Ciao Jessica! Ciao Danielle! I’m happy to stop by and help out. I am not familiar with the Hotel Margherita, but I agree with Jessica that it looks very lovely! I know a lot of people stay in Praiano and go back again and again. I just like to tell people in advance that you can’t really get to a beach without a bus ride either to Positano or to Marina di Pria (which is lovely). So if you are planning a lot of beach time on your trip, Praiano might not be the most convenient for you. Also, there isn’t a port in Praiano, which also means a bus ride to Positano or Amalfi if you want to take a boat to other cities on the Coast, Sorrento, or the islands. That being said, there are regular public bus connections through Praiano for a very affordable price. It does make a nice base on the Amalfi Coast, and the sunset views toward Positano and the tip of the Amalfi Coast are the best! Hope that helps. Please feel free to ask any other questions that may come up during your travel planning!
Ciao ciao! Laura
See? I knew Laura could help.
Thanks, Laura!
Thanks Laura! I found your comments to be very helpful. I wonder though if staying in Praiano “would” be limiting us to visit closer beaches and Capri island as easily. We simply chose Hotel Margherita because it looked so beautiful and for the price we loved the ocean view and swimming pool. Also the owners have already been extremely helpful.
Do you recommend any 3star hotels in Amalfi or Positano that would be closer to beaches and a port? ….Well, lets start here, Positano or Amalfi? Which would you suggest should be our main hub for our 3 days.
Thanks for your help!!
Danielle
Ciao Danielle! Glad to help! I think the Hotel Margherita looks really lovely, and if the owners are friendly and helpful it sounds like you would have a wonderful stay. I just wanted to give you a heads up that you would need to take a bus to get to a beach nearby, or to Positano where you can catch a boat to Capri. Praiano and Positano are very close! And the hotel staff sounds like they will be ready to help you make any connections to go where you want to go.
If you decide to look in Amalfi or Positano, I think either would make a wonderful place, too. To decide between them, I would ask … What do you want to see in your three days? Do you want to go to Ravello? You mentioned Capri. Ravello can be a nice half day, but Capri deserves an entire day. If you really want to move around a bit during your three days, I would consider Amalfi, because it is the major bus transfer point on the coast. You can hop on a bus and be in Ravello in 20 minutes, and get any number of boats to Positano and Capri from the port. It has plenty of beaches right in the city. That being said, you can certainly do all those things from Positano and Praiano as well! (You just have to transfer buses in Amalfi for Ravello, which is easy to figure out.)
I certainly don’t mean to turn you off from Praiano! It is certainly a lovely location. I just like to get as much information out there to help with your travel planning. If you are still interested in 3 star hotels in Amalfi or Positano, please do let me know!
Ciao ciao! Laura
What city is pictured in the article (with the orange-ish) dome/church and the ocean?
I believe it’s Positano, Lara, but I’m not 100% sure on that.
Jessica: your website is really informative; thank you. We are a family of five adults looking to spend a week in Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi coast in late May 2010. We are thinking of spending three days in Rome (either at the beginning of the week or the end) and the other four days and nights divided up between Naples and the Amalfi coast. I was not thinking of spending all that much time in Naples, mostly because of the crime, until I read your “Top Ten Things to Do in Naples” article. I know my son will love the Archaeological Museum and underground Roman market, and of course, we must eat pizza! We also definitely want to see Pompei but I also want to take in some of the scenery on the coast, maybe take a few hikes, perhaps even do the day trip to Capri. Would you suggest trying to do all this based in Naples, or would it make more sense to spend two nights in Naples and another two in Sorrento or along the Amalfi coast? If the latter, where do you think is the best place to base ourselves? Also, since we are five, whatever accommodations we get need to be somewhat economical, so any suggestions there would be appreciated. (I’ve got guide books and have looked on the Internet, and after a while it gets really overwhelming!) We don’t plan to rent a car, so we’ll be dependent upon public transportation or possibly a driver. And here’s something I never see anyone ask: what is the best way to get your laundry done in Italy?
Hi, Jognjan:
Thanks for your note, and I’m glad you’re finding the website helpful. Now, for your questions…
* With one week total, and three days in Rome, I’d say you could split the remaining four days between Naples and a town on the Amalfi Coast (two days each) - but you might be happier staying in one spot for such a short time and making more day-trips.
* There are organized trips to Pompeii from Naples and are run by Context Travel, my favorite tour company - they don’t run the tours every day because there isn’t always demand for them, but with a group of five you’d be enough to fill the tour. http://www.contexttravel.com/naples/tours/half-day-pompeii/PTR3491/
* There’s reason to be careful when visiting Naples, but the crime shouldn’t keep you away entirely. Did you see my article about things you should know about Naples? It addresses some of your concerns.
* I don’t do much in the way of specific hotel/accommodation recommendations, but I would say that with a group of five you might want to look into renting an apartment instead of a hotel. There are short-term rentals you can do (for a few days, even), and in addition to saving money overall on your accommodation you’d also have a kitchen in which to make a few lighter/simpler meals (which saves even more money). Cross-Pollinate is a website that has some short-term apartment rental listings for Rome, you might check there. (They don’t have Naples or the Amalfi Coast, though.) http://www.cross-pollinate.com/
* You’ll be able to get around without renting a car in that area, no problem, between the trains, buses, and boats.
* Doing laundry in Italy is the same as anywhere else - they have public laundromats, you just have to find them. They’re not always in the touristy areas, but decent guidebooks tend to mention them. But if you’re only going to be there for a week, I can’t imagine that you’d need to do laundry during your trip!
Hope that helps,
Jessica
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