Amalfi Coast - 1 Day Travel Tour

The Amalfi Coast is undoubtedly a famous destination, more and more promoted and known to tourists from everywhere. In October 2022 we did a one-day tour through the 3 towns of the Amalfi Coast, namely Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello, as part of our 5-day trip through Naples and Bari.

I already told about the city break spent in Naples here, so in this article, I will tell exclusively about the trip to the coast.

How do you get to the Amalfi Coast?

Because we had accommodation in Naples, this was also the starting point for the trip to the coast. The route was as follows:

1. Circumvesuviana train taken from Naples station to Sorrento. Price 4.8 EUR per person return. The train runs quite often, about every 30 minutes, with the mention that the schedule differs depending on the weekend versus Monday-Friday, legal holidays, school holidays, etc. The duration of the trip is 1 hour and 20 minutes.
2. The SITA bus on the route Sorrento - Positano - Amalfi - Ravello and return. Some important details related to bus transport on the coast, to give you a clearer idea of how it works.

• The one-day ticket with an unlimited number of trips costs 10 euros per person. You can buy an individual ticket for each trip to a certain destination, the ticket costs around 2 euros.
• Tickets can be bought from the newspaper kiosks near the stations, called Tabaccheria. In Sorrento, the kiosk is right at the exit from the train station towards the bus station (inside the train station),
• The bus schedule can be found here. Apart from the morning buses, which respect as much as possible the last hour in the schedule, during the whole day we did not have any bus arrive on time. In the morning, the bus that was supposed to leave Sorrento at 9:00 left at 8:45 because it was already full, given that we were not in full tourist season. Probably in the months of May-September, it is pure chaos because of the multitude of tourists who use these buses to visit the cities on the coast.
• The Sorrento - Positano road takes about an hour, and it takes an hour and 45 minutes to reach Amalfi.
• For Ravello you take a different bus from Amalfi, there is no direct Sorrento - Ravello bus. The ticket is also valid for this route.

3. Boat. Although the train and the bus would have been enough for us to travel on this trip, we also tested the boat route between Positano and Amalfi. If you prefer the boat, it is good to know that:

• you can do the route Sorrento - Positano - Amalfi and return
• the costs are much higher than those paid for the bus (for example Positano-Amafi cost us 18 eur for 2 people and the journey took 20 minutes).
• departures are less frequent (4-5 departures per day) but the duration of the journey is also shorter than that by bus.

I would also mention here that if you are tempted by the option of renting a car to explore the Amalfi Coast, you should consider the following:

• In Italy, driving is chaotic anyway, including in this area which is super crowded, a continuous anthill
• The road on the coast is very narrow in many parts, barely having room for 2 cars to pass one next to the other. Often there is only room for one car, which is why you will inevitably end up backing up every now and then.
• Parking spaces are difficult to find and may be charged.

Positano - the most famous town on the Amalfi Coast

Positano was the first stop we made on the Amalfi Coast. The bus has 2 stops here, the first is located at the height, from where you go down a lot of steps down to the sea level but enjoy a superb view. The second station is closer to the beach and generally from there is the point of departure further towards Amalfi.

We chose the first station and went down to the beach in peace for about 15 minutes, enjoying the sun and the view. The houses looked gorgeous on the hill, and the sun reflected very nicely in the sea, so the road was a real pleasure.

The beach in Positano is wide, beautiful, and surrounded absolutely wonderfully by the hills interwoven with houses, which are more picturesque. Next to the waterfront, there are terraces and souvenir or clothes shops, and the road to the road is also full of shops and tourists.

Of course, if you want to eat at the terraces near the beach, the prices are steep, as are the products in the shops. At least compared to Naples, they were at least 2 times more expensive, but it's understandable given the reputation of the place and the rather difficult access up here.

We spent about 2 hours in Positano, then took the boat to Amalfi, as I told you above. I can say that the panorama here is the one that makes all the money, all the Instagram pictures, and the one that stays on your retina when you think of the Amalfi Coast. Positano is also the most famous city among the 3 located on the coast, probably the most visited by tourists. In my personal top, it is in 2nd place after Ravello, but I will explain why at the time :)

Amalfi

The journey from Positano to Amalfi by boat took 20 minutes and was particularly pleasant, especially since it was lunchtime and it was quite hot outside. Amalfi is a picturesque town, with decorated streets, terraces, shops, and hotels everywhere in the central area (at least where we walked). A real pleasure to take this town for a walk, to enjoy an ice cream, some delicious seafood, or a cold cocktail.

The elements that caught my attention in Amalfi are the beach with black sand and the cathedral of Saint Andrew, located just a few minutes away from the beach. The cathedral can be visited for the sum of 3 euros per person, with a very nicely maintained inner courtyard.

We stayed in Amalfi for around 2-3 hours and we didn't realize when the time flew by. We enjoyed the view from the beach, and limoncello and charged our batteries from the sun for the next stop, Ravello.

Ravello – our favorite town on the Amalfi Coast

Ravello was the surprise of the trip, the least famous town on the Amalfi Coast, but the most beautiful in our personal top. I arrived in Ravello with the Sita bus from Amalfi, after a 30-minute journey (I used the same one-day ticket bought in Sorrento). As soon as we arrived, we were impressed by the view, this small town is located at a high altitude compared to the level of the beach (it is also the only one of the 3 towns that do not have direct access to the sea).

The center is also very chic, with an impressive Dome located in Piata Mare and with many inviting terraces from which you can quietly enjoy the bohemian holiday atmosphere. Before arriving here, I had read about a wonderful place that we had to see, Villa Cimbrone. It is a luxury hotel with some impressive gardens, which can be visited for a fee by tourists even if they are not hotel guests. The entrance costs 10 euros per person, but it's worth all the money!

The gardens are spread over a fairly large area, with beautiful paths where you can walk at will, in an absolutely dreamy landscape. The most beautiful point seemed to me to be the one with a full view of the sea, so I kept it in my heart and in pictures with great love.

As I said at the beginning, for us Ravello is our favorite town on the Amalfi Coast (although I love beaches and I couldn't find one right here). The landscapes are truly unique, so I advise you that if you end up on the Amalfi coast, save time and energy to get to Ravello as well. You will clearly understand the magic of the place once you step here.

In conclusion, if you just want to get an idea of what the Amalfi Coast has to offer, a one-day marathon is perfect. If you stay in Naples, it will be a full and very long day, especially if you plan to visit all 3 cities. We left the house at 6:30 and got back at 11:00 p.m., but we had a great day, so we would have done it all over again anytime,

A good accommodation option as a starting point for the Amalfi Coast is the city of Sorrento. We didn't visit it due to lack of time, but we put it on the list for the next time, when we want to explore a little more these places, including the island of Capri.

From here we continued our journey to Bari and Alberobello, so a new post will follow soon. Until next time, enjoy beachin'!