Positano

The Spiaggia Grande is the beating heart of Positano, a black volcanic-pebble beach framed by the village's colorful amphitheater rising up the cliffside, and by the multicolored fishing boats pulled up on the sand in the early morning. Loungers and umbrellas are set up from May to October, with free public areas at both ends of the beach for those who'd rather not rent one. The most spectacular view of the village cascading down to the majolica-domed church is from the sea, by boat or paddleboard — the image that made Positano world-famous.

At the bottom of the village, reachable on foot via the Via Positanesi d'America or directly from the ferry dock.

Boat excursion

The Santa Maria Assunta Church, rebuilt in its current baroque style in the 18th century atop the foundations of a 10th-century Benedictine abbey, is Positano's visual symbol, with its majolica dome of glazed yellow, green and blue tiles visible from the sea for miles around. Above the high altar it houses a 12th- or 13th-century Byzantine icon of a Black Madonna and Child, which legend says was rescued from a shipwreck by Saracen sailors guided by a mysterious voice crying 'Posa, posa!' ('set it down'), giving the village its name. Its small side terrace, often overlooked by hurried visitors, offers a stunning, free view over the Spiaggia Grande.

Right in the village center, on the Piazza Flavio Gioia just above the Spiaggia Grande.

Positano audio guide

Ravello, perched 350 meters above the Amalfi Coast on a rocky spur removed from the noise and bustle of the shoreline, is considered the most refined and aristocratic village on the coast, having drawn Wagner, Boccaccio, Virginia Woolf and Greta Garbo over the centuries in search of peace and quiet. The terraced gardens of the Villa Rufolo, a 13th-century palace blending Norman, Moorish and Byzantine influences, directly inspired Richard Wagner's enchanted garden of Klingsor for his opera Parsifal in 1880. The Ravello Music Festival, held every summer since 1953 on the Villa Rufolo's terrace suspended above the sea, is one of Italy's most prestigious classical music events. The neighboring Villa Cimbrone, with its famous Terrace of Infinity lined with marble busts, offers one of the most dizzying panoramas on the entire coast.

SITA bus from Amalfi (about 25 min, winding road) — no direct bus from Positano, go via Amalfi.

Book Villa Rufolo

Amalfi, which gave its name to the entire coast, was between the 9th and 11th centuries one of Italy's four Maritime Republics alongside Venice, Genoa and Pisa, controlling for a time a vast Mediterranean trade network reaching all the way to Constantinople and Egypt, before being eclipsed and largely swallowed by a tidal wave in 1343. Its Saint Andrew's Cathedral, fronted by a monumental 62-step staircase, blends a striking Arab-Norman striped facade, a Moorish cloister of Paradise planted with palm trees, and a flamboyant baroque interior; it holds the relics of the apostle Andrew, brought back from Constantinople in 1208 after the Fourth Crusade. The Museo della Carta, housed in a former 13th-century paper mill, is a reminder that Amalfi was one of Europe's earliest papermaking centers and claims — without absolute historical certainty — the invention of the modern nautical compass.

SITA bus from Positano (about 40 min, scenic coastal road) — or ferry in summer.

Book Amalfi tour

The Fiordo di Furore, a narrow gorge where a mountain stream flows into the sea between two sheer 100-meter cliffs, is one of the most photographed natural sites on the Amalfi Coast despite its modest size. A genuine miniature fishing village, with a handful of colorful houses clinging to the rock and boats pulled up on a tiny beach, nestles at the bottom of the fjord beneath a road bridge built in 1949, which has since become a landmark venue for international high-diving competitions (Red Bull Cliff Diving). The village of Furore itself, scattered across several hamlets with no real center, is nicknamed 'the village that doesn't exist' and hides an open-air gallery of contemporary murals in its lanes.

SITA bus on the Positano-Amalfi line, Furore Fiordo stop — then a staircase cut into the rock down to the beach.

Furore Fjord excursion

The Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods), said to be named for the legend that the Greek gods once walked it to come to Ulysses' rescue from the sirens' song offshore, is considered Italy's most spectacular hike. This ancient mule track, suspended between 400 and 600 meters above the sea, links the hamlet of Agerola-Bomerano to the tiny village of Nocelle, offering vertiginous panoramas over the entire Amalfi Coast, Positano below, the island of Capri, and the Gulf of Salerno. Its most iconic and popular stretch, roughly 7 km one way (3 to 4 hours' walking), requires good hiking shoes and decent fitness, but poses no major technical difficulty.

Start from Bomerano is recommended (SITA bus from Amalfi), finishing at Nocelle, then descend by bus or on foot to Positano.

Path of the Gods hike

Praiano, just 5 km from Positano but worlds apart in feel, was the summer retreat of the Dukes of Amalfi in antiquity, before becoming a quiet fishing and pasta-making village that has largely escaped the mass tourism that transformed its neighbor. Its two historic quarters, San Gennaro and San Luca, look out over the sea from bougainvillea-covered terraces, offering the same spectacular panoramas as Positano at a fraction of the price. Marina di Praia beach, tucked into a narrow cove reached by about a hundred steps cut into the cliff and surrounded by sea caves and old fishermen's huts turned into restaurants, is one of the most authentic and beautiful beaches on the whole Amalfi Coast.

SITA bus from Positano (about 20 min) — the coastal line links every village on the Amalfi Coast.

Praiano excursion

Fornillo beach, the wilder and far less crowded little sister of the Spiaggia Grande, is reached via the picturesque Via Positanesi d'America, a coastal path cut into the rock that reveals a different view of the village and sea at every turn. Two 16th-century watchtowers built against Barbary raids, the Torre Trasita and the Torre di Fornillo, frame the bay and recall the coast's turbulent past. A handful of family-run beach restaurants, less expensive than those on the Spiaggia Grande, serve freshly caught grilled fish and chilled limoncello cocktails facing a sunset that's usually far less crowded.

10 min on foot from the Spiaggia Grande via the Via Positanesi d'America coastal path.

Positano beaches tour

Nocelle, a hamlet of a few dozen residents perched 450 meters above sea level directly above Positano, wasn't connected to a proper road until 1970 — until then, only mule tracks and hundreds of steps led there, which explains its remarkable, well-preserved authenticity. The natural finish line of the Sentiero degli Dei on the Positano side, this stone hamlet offers a striking bird's-eye panorama from its tiny square, over Positano below and the island of Capri in the distance. A few agriturismos and a single small family restaurant keep alive a rural way of life almost vanished elsewhere on the coast, amid terraced lemon groves and vines clinging to the slope.

Local bus from Positano (narrow winding road, about 20 min) — or descend the 1,500 steps on foot from the Path of the Gods.

Nocelle hike

Capri, the legendary island where Emperor Augustus and later his successor Tiberius settled permanently from the year 27 AD, ruling the Roman Empire remotely from their twelve lavish villas, is reachable by hydrofoil from Positano in about 45 minutes. The Villa Jovis, Tiberius's main residence perched 334 meters above sea level on the island's eastern tip, still holds impressive remains despite the centuries. The Blue Grotto, a sea cave where sunlight filtering underwater creates a surreal, electric blue, is visited by small rowboat, lying flat in the hull to pass through the narrow entrance. The Faraglioni, three limestone rocks rising from the sea that have become the island's emblem, and the Via Krupp, a vertiginous switchback path cut into the cliff, round out a memorable day.

Direct ferry from Positano's harbor (April to October, about 45 min crossing).

Capri day trip