The Amalfi Coast of Italia: Positano, Amalfi, Atrani, Ravello, & Vietri

The Amalfi Coast of southern Italy is a destination many people have a desire for their whole adult lives to see. Sweeping vistas, gorgeous cliffs, incredible hiking, views for days, and lemons the size of your head. The Amalfi coast is such a gorgeous place, but there are some things about the area that cause many tourists to feel disappointed after actually experiencing it.  By reading this blog, you'll have a leg up on experiencing an incredible, well informed vacation!
 
For one, the Amalfi Coast is a series of Cliffside towns.....this means that to get there, you will be going up and down huge hills, mountain sides, and all along the edge of a cliff. The hairpin turns are truly something to behold!!  So breathtakingly beautiful, but be sure to keep your eyes on the horizon to prevent motion sickness, stop and enjoy the views at the many viewpoints along the way, and know that the roads are very narrow at points. However, public buses make it by every day.  Driving in a car, or a hired driver, you will make it! It’s worth it, trust me!  

Choose your lodging wisely
Choosing your lodging is a big deal in the Amalfi coast. There are cliff top towns and cliff bottom towns. The drive will be heinous to get there and views will not be quite as spectacular (but still amazing), but I highly recommend a cliff bottom town.  If you stay at a cliff bottom town, you can ferry between the other cliff bottom towns and avoid the over-full bus system and you can enjoy the beach.  Imagine.....you get to your beautiful cliff top property, enjoy gorgeous views....then, you decide to go to the beach! So, you take the gazillion stairs to get to the cliff bottom to the gorgeous beach and have a wonderful time. Guess what? You have to get back to that gorgeous cliff top location!! EVERY time I'm in the Amalfi coast, I see the face of disillusioned tourists that didn't realize that by staying on a cliff top and going to the beach......they would have the workout of their life heading back. No matter where you stay, expect stairs and uphill/downhill walking.  Pack light, wear comfortable clothes and shoes, and know what to expect. 

Don’t get caught waiting for a full bus
The bus system......these bus drivers work hard. They take those cliff side roads with ease.  It’s truly incredible to witness, but they also have to fit tons and tons of tourists on their routes, year round. The buses get full. I’ve experienced this in May, October, and June. It doesn’t matter the time of year. When the busses are full, they will not stop or pick anyone up. The bus driver won’t even acknowledge you! We’ve gotten stuck in Positano twice.  Once, we had to take a cab for €70 for a 30 minute drive to the location of our parked car. It’s not fun and it’s not cheap AT ALL. €70 was a negotiated discount for our cab fare from a hotel owner that felt sorry for us being stranded by full buses for over 2 hours.  It was supposed to be €100.  If you stay cliff bottom, your life will be much easier taking a ferry.
 
Towns I recommend
Atrani is the crowned jewel of the Amalfi coast, crowned by me!  It’s a small town with a gorgeous beach, a fraction of the crowds, a fraction of the prices at the restaurants, and that small-town touch.  I'm going to clarify the small town touch by saying that the restaurants seemed to be family owned, the food was excellent, and the little shop has coin fed rides for children outside. It's a small town, but big in charm. The people are extremely friendly and everything is so easy to access. Best of all, it's not well known......so it will be much less crowded. Parking is reasonably priced in a garage in town. It’s a 10 minute walk through a paved pedestrian tunnel  (notice, no cobblestone in the tunnel!)  to the town of Amalfi.  There are ferries out of Amalfi every day to the different towns along the coast. 
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This, my friends, is how you enjoy your vacation and that beautiful coast. Not breaking the bank, your feet from walking, and getting to see it all. 

Enjoying the view from our Airbnb

Atrani

The beach in Atrani

​Maiori is another favorite of mine. It’s a larger town with a HUGE beach, so plenty of room on the beach for everyone. There are daily ferries to Amalfi and Positano. It’s a bigger town than Atrani, by far, but is a great location to see all that the coast has to offer AND it’s mostly all flat.  We only had to take the stairs once and it was to our parked car.  Our room, restaurants, beach, and shops were all on flat ground.

A fun rental contraption in Maiori

Maiori town

Maiori Beach

​Just make sure that you stay IN a town, not outside of one. You’ll not want to drive everywhere on the crazy roads. You’ll want to drive to your room, and not drive until it’s time to depart.  Make sure your room is walk-able to restaurants, shops, and public transport for you to have the best experience on your vacation, unless your desire is to have more privacy and, in this case, you can rent a vespa to get around!

A spritz with a view in Amalfi

A procession in Amalfi

A wall plate from Ravello

​Amalfi Coast Pottery
Ravello is a cliff top, medieval town, with gorgeous, panoramic views for days. It’s a great location to spend the day exploring. The pottery in this area is high quality, with custom artistic touches, and with many different types to choose from. I have my eye on a set of plates and every time we go there, I negotiate the price, and then still can’t commit!!  It’s not cheap, but it is BEAUTIFUL.  Each of the pottery shops have signs that request that you not take pictures of their pottery, so I will respect their request and only post pictures of the pottery I have purchased.

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A limoncello set from Vietri Sul Mare

A cafe set from Vietri Sul Mare

Vietri Sul Mare is another cliff top town with numerous pottery shops scattered throughout. The pottery in Vietri is more of your basic Amalfi pottery with lemons, olive trees, and grapes. It’s a great place to get a limoncello set, café set, pitchers, or vinegar and olive oil pottery.  The quality is not quite as sublime as Ravello, but for the simpler items it’s perfect. Prices are VERY reasonable. A full café set for 6 is about €40 for 6 cups, a sugar bowl, and a tray.  ​

Enjoying the view in Ravello

A cafe surrounded by beauty in Ravello

Ravello

​Positano: the beauty and the beast
Everyone dreams of Positano. The most remembered pictures that people take on the Amalfi coast are in a gorgeous cliff side town called Positano.  Positano is all that and more!!  Everyone knows it.....that’s the problem!!  It’s crowded every dang day.  I would not choose to stay there....the prices at restaurants are high, views are breathtaking (of course!), there’s shopping that could take days to enjoy, and the beach is small, but gorgeous. The town is up and down the cliff and to get everywhere, you have to walk around the road that winds back and forth up the cliff....this same road that is shared by cars, buses, and people. It’s narrow and a constant struggle for everyone to fit along the road. It’s a beast in my opinion. However, all along that cliff-side walk, your eyes are treated to the most incredible views. The food is excellent, even though it’s pricey, and the shopping is eclectic and unique.  I greatly enjoy a day trip to Positano and I think that’s truly the best way to do it! 
 

Positano

Lunch in Positano

The road in Positano

I have to pinch myself sometimes, when I realize that the Amafli coast is an hour from where we live. I hope these travel tips help you with planning your own trip to the Amalfi coast. #labellaamalfi #atrani #maiori #ravello #vietri #labellaitalia #ladolcevita #porratatribetravels

Next blog post:  Stuttgart Germany:  Volksfest with the kids and without, Tubingen, Hohenzollern Castle, the Porsche Museum,  & more!