Just click on the image below or on the banner at the bottom of this article to download a free guide with all my notes and practical tips to help you plan your dream trip to the Amalfi Coast when the time comes:
Every year, visiting the Amalfi Coast tops the travel wishlists of thousands of travelers from around the world, who often identify this little corner of Italy as the land of La Dolce Vita. And with good reason. This dreamy stretch of coast just south of Naples is sprinkled with quaint fishing villages, glamorous coastal towns, and picturesque beaches that make us all literally stand in awe. And what about that stunning background of scented lemon groves and endless blue sea? Just pure magic!
Challenges of visiting the Amalfi Coast
Despite all this beauty, traveling to the Amalfi Coast is not all sunshine and rainbows, trust me. In fact, it requires preparation and lots of patience to be able to thoroughly enjoy the trip. Driving will most likely be a nightmare, buses will often be late and most of the time you’ll have to elbow your way through hordes of other tourists looking for the ultimate photo opportunity or a like-grabbing selfie.
There’s no doubt that one of the biggest challenges is figuring out where to base yourself since the Amalfi Coast consists of 13 towns and villages, each with its own unique characteristics. From glamorous locations to rustic mountain hamlets, knowing the pros and cons of each of them is crucial to be able to choose the right place for you.
Other major sources of stress when planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast are choosing which month to go and, above all, how to move around. Since there are no train stations along this stretch of coast (the only exception is Vietri sul Mare), your options are limited to renting a car (only for the brave ones), praying for a bus to arrive, or enjoying a ferry ride (but only in high season).
A practical guide to the Amalfi Coast
With all these challenges in mind, I’ve finally put together my personal travel guide to Amalfi Coast. Inside you’ll find notes from my trip there last year, as well as precious tips I got from locals.
Here’s what you’ll find inside the guide:
- HOW TO GET TO THE AMALFI COAST, with indications for traveling from Rome, Naples, and Naples
- THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR to visit the Amalfi Coast
- THE 13 TOWNS AND VILLAGES of the Amalfi Coast, including recommendations on places to stay and eat (no, you won’t find Sorrento in this guide, as it’s not part of the Amalfi Coast)
- HOW TO GET AROUND the Amalfi Coast
- TOP EXPERIENCES to try on a trip to the Amalfi Coast, from cooking classes to adrenaline-filled adventures
- THE BEST SOUVENIRS to bring home from the Amalfi Coast
Despite being a hot topic when discussing Amalfi Coast travel plans, I didn’t include any budget breakdown because travel expenses are very personal and vary greatly based on one’s travel style. In any case, I think that you can get an idea of how much it would cost by navigating the links available inside the guide.
Download the free guide
It took me quite a while to put everything together in both a textually and visually appealing format, but hopefully you’ll like it. There are no affiliate links nor commission-based suggestions inside, just my notes.
I sincerely hope that this guide will help you plan your dream trip to the Amalfi Coast and have the best of time there. Feel free to contact me with your questions and doubts, I’m always happy to help. Oh, and any feedback on the guide will be much appreciated!
A super hug from Italy,
24 Comments
Great post! I love that you shared the negatives about visiting the Amalfi Coast. Planning a trip to any destination can be stressful and brings it’s own unique challenges. It is always great having knowledge of potential difficulties with a destination so that preparations can be made ahead of time to reduce stress while traveling. The Amalfi Coast looks like a dream destination and has long been on my bucket list.
Thank you Melissa! The Amalfi Coast is a dream but hides quite a few challenges that one has to be aware of in order to fully enjoy the trip 🙂
We can’t wait until we can get Amalfi Coast back on our travel plans. I understand your point about picking a spot. We have been back several times and have used a variety of towns along the coast as our base. But then, we do love the coastal bus with its amazing views to get around. One year we rented a boat to explore the coast instead. I will certainly check out the guide for our next visit. Especially interested in the top experiences!
Renting a boat is a great way to explore the coast, as buses can be a real nightmare sometimes. Hope you find the guide useful! x
We have visited the Amalfi coast twice but not for baby Tata. But you captured the difficulties well, the crazy driving, late buses and how crowded roads and key villages are. But the beauty is well worth it!
Yep, that’s true 🙂
Wonderful guide to the Amalfi Coast. Ah, if you could only imagine how I miss visiting this part of Italy these days, when we can’t travel anywhere! We’ve spent two weeks here some years ago for one of our wedding anniversaries. I’ll never forget how beautiful this place is.
Thanks so much Anda, I’m glad you had such happy memories of Italy!
A wonderful guide to amalfi coast.This part of italy is not known to me and loved reasing about it.The towns are so colorful and beaches looks amazing..The driving here seems crazy. Can u tell me does vespas are available for rent here?
Thank you, I’m going to send this link to my Mum and Dad who have a trip planned to the Amalfi Coast in November. They are looking forward to it some I’m hoping it won’t be cancelled. I think they were planning to use the buses to get around so it’s useful to know that it might not be the most reliable option. I’d love to visit, I visited Naples on a cruise last year but chose to visit Pompei. Next time we’d definitely like to go to the Amalfi Coast.
I hope they will be able to travel to Italy in November, fingers crossed!
Thanks for this awesome post! I’m hoping to visit Amalfi next year. I’m considering one trip to cover Naples for Pompeii and Amalfi Coast. Thanks for taking time to compile this awesome guide. Downloading right away so I can spend the lock-down time dreaming of my next trip!
I visited there on a backpacking trip through Italy a few years back and I can attest to your list of challenges when planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast. It is indeed not easy to get around and packed with tourists. It’s fantastic to have tips from locals about visiting the Amalfi Coast, thank you!
A backpacking trip through Italy sounds wonderful Christin, I hope you have some great memories of it!
I spent a nice day trip from Naples driving along the Amalfi Coast. Positano was probably my favorite place. But all this was in winter (less crowded but probably not as beautiful as in the warmer seasons), so I’d like to maybe go back some day. Thanks for putting together this guide!
Thank you Nina, I hope it will inspire you to go back and explore more 🙂
Italy is hands down one of my favorite destinations in the world! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to visit the south as I went in winter, but I’m definitely going back again and your guide will come in handy 🙂
The south is truly magic, you should come back and visit it! x
Seems like a well rounded guide that covers all that you need for Amalfi coast. The places to visit definitely makes me wonder how many days I would need here. Hoping that this situation dies down soon and I can get to this sooner than later. Bookmarking it so that I can download it at the right time. cheers
Thank you Ami!
Nostalgic memories reignited. Reminded me of our trip to Italy three years back including Amalfi coast. We had stayed in Sorrento and did a day trip from there and just loved it. Next time we plan to stay in Amalfi for at least three days.Your guide would be so useful.
Thank you, I hope you’ll be able to come back soon x
OH I was there in September last year and it’s one of my favorite places in the world! Hopefully we can return to Italy soon <3 Loved this guide and some info i didn't know about!! definitely saving it for my future trip
That’s great Paloma, thank you xx
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