By Stephanie Lichay, FORA-Certified Travel Advisor
Most Amalfi Coast guides tell you where to go. They don’t tell you how to actually survive it — and after enough trips there, the logistics are what I wish someone had told me before my first visit. Here’s what I tell every client before they book anything.
Skip the rental car. The coast road (SS163) is stunning and also genuinely stressful if you’re not used to narrow, cliffside switchbacks. Between the driving and the parking, a car creates more stress than it saves.
Take the ferry whenever you can. The public ferries connect the main towns, they’re scenic in their own right, and they skip the road traffic entirely. If you want to feel fancy about it, a private boat day is worth doing at least once.
Leave before 9am or after 7pm. The coast road becomes a parking lot mid-morning through late afternoon in high season. Early risers get golden light, empty streets, and the same views — minus the chaos.
Stay in Praiano instead of Positano. Positano is the postcard image of the coast, and for good reason, but it’s also the most expensive and most crowded town by far. Praiano, right next door, gives you a lot of the same views with a quieter, more local feel and better value.
Book 6+ months ahead. The best boat tours, restaurants, and beach clubs fill up well in advance during high season — sometimes weeks out. If there’s something you don’t want to miss, lock it in early.
Save your favorite beach clubs for summer. A lot of them only operate June through September, so if you’re going to splurge on a beach club day, that’s the window to plan around.
A few specific spots worth the detour: Fornillo Beach in Positano is about a 10-minute walk from the main beach and feels like a completely different, calmer experience. Ravello has no beach, which is exactly why it stays quieter than the rest of the coast — don’t miss the Terrace of Infinity at Villa Cimbrone. And Furore is a tiny beach tucked inside a dramatic fjord carved into the cliffs — one of the most photographed spots on the whole coast, but surprisingly few people actually make the trip down to it.
Trust me — the logistics can make or break this trip, especially during peak season. If you want a starting point, I put together a free 5-day Amalfi itinerary with hidden hotels, ferry routes, restaurant picks, and beach clubs. And if you’d rather I build the whole thing around your dates and your style of travel, that’s exactly what custom itinerary planning is for.
Want to book boat tours, skip-the-line tickets, or other activities along the coast? I recommend GetYourGuide for vetted local experiences.
Disclosure: the GetYourGuide link above is an affiliate link. If you book through it, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
