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Positano
Positano is beautiful and knows it. The village climbs a steep cliff above a small beach, with pastel-coloured houses and bougainvillea and a photogenic dome church — it has been producing the same photograph since at least the 1950s. The problem is that peak summer now brings a volume of visitors that the narrow streets and tiny beach cannot handle. The Amalfi coastal road becomes a car park. The beach is intensively managed and expensive. May or late September, when the light is still good and the crowds have reduced, is a different experience.
Crowd pressure
The beach and main square are extremely congested July-August. The coastal road can take 3+ hours to cover short distances by car. Cruise ship day visitors add to the volume.
Why visit
The cliffside village is legitimately beautiful — pastel houses stacked vertically against the Lattari Mountains, with the sea below. The ferry connections along the coast are excellent.
Best window
May or late September-October
Getting there
Road from Naples (1.5hrs) or Sorrento (45min). The coastal road (SS163) is notoriously congested in summer. Ferries from Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi.
The honest version
Very expensive and very crowded in peak season. The beach is small and heavily priced. Best visited by ferry to avoid the road.
Instead of Positano
Instead of
Positano
Italy
Try
Cetara
Italy
Cetara delivers Amalfi Coast character — seafood, coastal road setting, good restaurants — in a working fishing village format at lower prices. The colatura di alici alone is a reason to visit for food-focused travellers.
Instead of
Positano
Italy
Try
Tropea
Italy
Tropea has the same clifftop-above-turquoise-water combination that makes Positano famous, in Calabria rather than Campania, with Italian rather than international tourist numbers and prices that reflect the difference. The beaches are arguably better.
Layers
Region
At a glance
- Country
- Italy
- Region
- Campania
- Heat Score
- 89/100
- Cost level
- $$$
- Alternatives
- 2