Amalfi Coast

Amalfi Coast: How to Actually Manage the Traffic, the Buses, and the Cost

The Amalfi Coast road (SS163) is a single carriageway road cut into a limestone cliff above the sea, with sharp switchbacks, buses that occupy the full width of the road on corners, and no passing opportunities for several kilometres at a stretch. In July and August, this road backs up for hours. Driving it yourself in a standard car is inadvisable in peak season; taking the SITA bus from Sorrento or Salerno (around €2.50 per journey, frequent service) is both cheaper and faster on bad days. The bus drivers know the road in a way that rental car drivers do not, which is reassuring.

The coast itself is 50 kilometres of cliffs, terraced lemon groves, fishing villages, and sea views that have been generating tourism since the 19th century. It is genuinely extraordinary and genuinely crowded from June through September. The Italian word for lemon grown here is sfusato amalfitano, a specific variety, longer and more tapered than supermarket lemons, and the limoncello produced from them is the regional product everyone takes home.

The Towns

Positano is the most photographed: pastel-coloured houses stacked against the cliff face, a beach at the bottom, the 16th-century Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta with its maiolica dome. It is also the most expensive. The SITA bus drops on the main road above; everything else is stairs. Going down to the beach at Spiaggia Grande is straightforward; going back up is the reality check. The beach charges for sun lounger hire (€20-30) or you can use the public section without charge.

Amalfi town is the original Republic of Amalfi, once a powerful medieval maritime power that traded with the Arab world and maintained its own legal code (the Tavola Amalfitana) that influenced maritime law across the Mediterranean. The Cathedral of Amalfi with its Arab-Norman bronze doors is the main monument; the Cloister of Paradise attached to it (entry around €3) has a garden of ancient columns and marble sarcophagi from the 13th century that is one of the quieter beautiful things on the coast.

Ravello is inland, 350 metres above the sea, and significantly quieter than the coastal towns. Villa Rufolo has a terrace that overlooks the entire coast from a garden full of exuberant planting; Wagner was so affected by the view in 1880 that he said it had revealed the magic garden of Klingsor. Entry around €7. The Ravello Festival runs classical music concerts on the Villa Rufolo terrace in summer.

The Path of the Gods (Sentiero degli Dei)

The 7km walk from Praiano to Positano along the ridge above the coast is the serious hiker’s version of the Amalfi Coast experience. The trail follows a path 600 metres above the sea, with views that are more extended than anything available from the road. It takes about 3 hours in one direction; take the bus back. Best done in the morning before the heat peaks. Trainers are sufficient; walking poles useful on the descent.

Where to Eat and Stay

Le Sirenuse in Positano is the reference luxury hotel at around €600-1,200 per night; La Fontelina beach club in Capri-style setting is worth knowing for lunch. For something more manageable: Nonna Rosa (Vico Equense, slightly outside the main circuit) is the kind of serious Campanian cooking that the coast’s tourist infrastructure often obscures. Sorrento, at the western end of the coast before the road becomes the Amalfi Drive, has better value accommodation and ferry connections to Capri and Positano.

When to Go

May and October are the weeks when the coast is beautiful and not impassable. September is the local sweet spot: warm water, lower prices, reduced traffic.