Itineraries
The five-day Amalfi Coast, from Salerno to Positano
A slow itinerary that uses the ferry when the SS163 is wrong, and the SS163 only when it's right.
The plan, in one sentence
Fly into Naples, train to Salerno, sleep on the Amalfi Coast for four nights, ferry back to Salerno on day five, train to Naples airport. No rental car, no SS163 traffic at 16:00 on a Saturday in July.
If you must drive, do it between Tuesday and Thursday in May or October. Otherwise the ferry is faster, calmer, and ends with a Negroni on a deck.
Days one and two — Salerno and Vietri
Most travellers skip Salerno entirely and lose two days of the coast. Don't. The Lungomare Trieste is one of the loveliest seafront walks in Italy, the Duomo holds Saint Matthew's relics in a 12th-century crypt, and dinner at Casa Mia means you're sitting where the locals sit.
Spend the morning of day two in Vietri sul Mare — six minutes by bus from Salerno. It's the start of the ceramics tradition that runs the whole coast. Solimene's factory is open to visitors; the building itself is a Paolo Soleri original from 1955 and worth the trip alone.
Days three to five — Amalfi, Ravello, Positano
Day three is Amalfi town and Ravello. Take the SITA bus up to Ravello (25 minutes, 1,300 hairpin curves, sit on the right). Villa Cimbrone's belvedere is the photo you've seen a thousand times and still surprises you in person. Lunch at Villa Maria, then back down for the Duomo and the Paper Museum.
Day four — Positano. Stay the night. The town empties out at 18:00 when the day-trippers leave; what's left is the Positano people came to love. Eat at Da Vincenzo or the perpetual-favourite Chez Black.
Day five is the slow morning swim, an espresso on the Spiaggia Grande, and the 11:25 Salerno ferry. You'll be at the airport by 16:00 with most of the day still ahead.
Where to stay
Our homes in Positano
Pastel houses tumbling down a cliff to a pebble beach — arguably the most photographed village on the Mediterranean, and the postcard Amalfi Coast image.
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