Amalfi Coast Road Trip Itinerary: The Complete Guide for First-Timers & Repeat Visitors

The Amalfi Coast road trip itinerary most travelers piece together on the fly is, honestly, a recipe for frustration — gridlocked on the SS163 at 10am, nowhere to park in Positano, and gelato eaten standing up on a crowded dock. We’ve driven this coast four times across different seasons, and what we’ve learned is that the difference between a magical trip and a stressful one comes down almost entirely to timing, sequencing, and knowing which stops are worth the battle.

This guide gives you our full itinerary — day by day, stop by stop — with honest driving advice, the hidden beaches nobody puts on listicles, and the exact restaurants we return to every time. The Amalfi Coast is one of Europe’s most spectacular stretches of road. Do it right and it’ll be the drive of your life.

Before You Drive: What You Need to Know About the SS163

The Strada Statale 163 — the Amalfi Drive — is a two-lane cliff road carved into vertical limestone above the Tyrrhenian Sea. It’s 40 kilometers of hairpin bends, one-lane tunnels, and passing situations that will test your confidence even if you’ve driven mountain roads before. Here’s what actually matters:

• Drive west to east (Sorrento → Salerno) in the morning: You’ll have the sea on your left, meaning better views from the driver’s seat and slightly easier passing with cliff on your right
• Start before 8am or after 4pm: Midday traffic in July and August turns the coast road into a 2-hour car park. Early morning is transformative — mist on the cliffs, almost no other vehicles, fishing boats still heading out
• Rent the smallest car available: A compact is dramatically easier than an SUV on the tight bends near Praiano and the single-lane sections approaching Furore
• Buses have right of way: The SITA buses are enormous and the drivers are experts. When one appears, pull over fully and let it pass — this is not negotiable
• Parking costs real money: Budget €15–25 per day in Positano and Amalfi town. Ravello and Atrani are cheaper but fill by 9:30am in peak season

Day 1: Sorrento — Your Ideal Base Camp

We always start and end in Sorrento. It sits at the western tip of the peninsula, has excellent ferry and train connections (the Circumvesuviana railway runs direct to Naples and Pompeii), and its old town has enough restaurants, bars, and character to fill evenings after full days on the road. It’s also significantly less hectic than Positano as a place to sleep.

Sorrento Essentials

• Walk the Villa Comunale gardens at sunset — free entry, panoramic Vesuvius views across the bay
• Buy limoncello directly from the family producers in the old town rather than the tourist shops on Corso Italia — look for unmarked doorways with handwritten signs
• Take the lift down to Marina Grande (the smaller, quieter fishing harbor) for dinner — avoid the tourist restaurants at the main Marina Piccola ferry port
• Book your rental car pickup for 7am the following morning to beat the heat and the traffic

Local Logistics

Sorrento connects to Naples Centrale by Circumvesuviana train in about 65 minutes — cheap, frequent, and direct from the airport (take Metro Line 1 to Garibaldi, then the Circumvesuviana). Ferries run from Sorrento’s Marina Piccola to Capri, Positano, and Amalfi town — useful for day trips when you don’t want to drive. The last ferry back from Amalfi town is typically around 6:30pm in summer; check current schedules before relying on it.

Day 2: Positano & Praiano — The Iconic Stop Done Properly

Leave Sorrento by 7:30am. The road east through Meta and Piano di Sorrento is unremarkable, but once you pass the tunnel at Colli di San Pietro, the coast opens up and the driving becomes genuinely spectacular. Positano appears suddenly around a bend — a cascade of pink and white buildings spilling down a cliff into an aquamarine cove.

How to Do Positano Without the Misery

• Park at the Internazionale car park (Via Cristoforo Colombo) — it’s the highest and cheapest, and the walk down through the village is the best introduction to Positano anyway
• The main Spiaggia Grande beach is crowded and expensive; walk 10 minutes south to Fornillo beach instead — quieter, cheaper sunbeds, better atmosphere
• Lunch at one of the terraced restaurants above the beach rather than at sea level — the views justify the slight premium and the crowds are thinner
• Be back at your car by 11:30am or accept that leaving will take an extra 45 minutes in traffic

Praiano: The Hidden Gem 8 Kilometers East

Praiano gets a fraction of Positano’s visitors despite being equally beautiful and dramatically less crowded. The village wraps around two headlands with jaw-dropping sea views and a genuine local community still intact — fishermen actually live here year-round. Marina di Praia is a tiny beach wedged into a narrow gorge; we’ve swum here in late June with fewer than 30 other people around. The Africana Famous Club, built into a sea cave below Praiano, is one of the most atmospheric evening spots on the entire coast if you’re there in summer.

Day 3: Furore, Conca dei Marini & Amalfi Town

Furore is technically a village, but there are barely 300 residents and the main settlement is scattered across a gorge so narrow it barely sees direct sunlight. The Fiordo di Furore — a fjord-like inlet at the bottom — has a tiny beach accessible by steep stairs and is genuinely one of the most dramatic swimming spots in Europe. World cliff diving championships have been held off the old bridge here. Arrive before 9am and you may have it to yourselves.

Conca dei Marini: The Emerald Grotto Alternative

Everyone goes to Capri’s Blue Grotto. Almost nobody goes to the Grotta dello Smeraldo at Conca dei Marini — an equally spectacular sea cave where the light turns the water a vivid emerald green. Access is by lift or stairs directly from the coast road, and entry costs around €5. The cave contains an underwater nativity scene at Christmas that’s been there since 1961. Go in the morning when the light angle is optimal.

Amalfi Town: More Than a Piazza Photo

Amalfi town was one of the great medieval maritime republics — it had its own legal code, trading routes to the Levant, and a navy that rivaled Venice. The Duomo di Sant’Andrea is genuinely magnificent and free to enter in the morning before tour groups arrive. Walk up the Valle delle Ferriere behind the town — a gorge trail through lemon groves and fern forests that almost nobody does — for complete escape from the harbor crowds.

• Try sfogliatella riccia from the bakeries on Via Lorenzo d’Amalfi — the local version is flakier and richer than the Naples version
• The Paper Museum (Museo della Carta) tells the story of Amalfi’s medieval paper industry — fascinating and almost always empty
• Book dinner in Atrani (literally a 5-minute walk around the headland from Amalfi) — same views, half the prices, and a village square where local families actually eat

Day 4: Ravello — The Coast’s Most Underrated Stop

Ravello sits 350 meters above the sea on a ridge between Amalfi and Minori, and it operates at an entirely different pace from the coastal towns below. There are no beaches, no ferry ports, and no reason to rush. Wagner composed part of Parsifal here. Gore Vidal lived here for decades. The Villa Cimbrone gardens, hanging over a cliff with views stretching to Calabria on clear days, are among the most beautiful in Italy.

Ravello Essentials

• Villa Rufolo hosts the Ravello Festival (classical concerts on a cliff-edge stage) in July and August — book tickets months in advance
• The Terrace of Infinity at Villa Cimbrone is the single best viewpoint on the Amalfi Coast — arrive at opening time (9am) before day-trippers arrive
• Lunch at one of the trattorias on Piazza Duomo — the local pasta is fusilli al ragù, not the tourist spaghetti alle vongole served everywhere on the coast below
• Ravello has some of the best small hotels on the entire coast at prices well below Positano — worth considering as an overnight base

Getting There

From Amalfi town, take the SP1 road up through tight switchbacks to Ravello — about 6 kilometers and 20 minutes but requiring full concentration on the bends. Alternatively, the SITA bus from Amalfi runs regularly and removes the parking headache entirely (Ravello’s car park fills completely by 10am on summer weekends).

Day 5: Minori, Maiori & the Drive to Salerno

The eastern half of the Amalfi Coast — from Minori to Vietri sul Mare — is dramatically less visited than the western stretch and all the more rewarding for it. Minori has a proper town beach used by locals, a Roman villa (Villa Marittima) with intact mosaics free to visit, and a pastry tradition centered on ndunderi — ricotta gnocchi that predate any other pasta shape in Italian culinary history.

Maiori has the longest beach on the coast (about 1 kilometer of free sand), a normal working town behind it, and prices that are roughly half of Positano’s. Cetara, just beyond, is famous for colatura di alici — an anchovy sauce that descends directly from ancient Roman garum and is used in local pasta dishes with an intensity of flavor unlike anything else we’ve eaten in Italy.

Packing Essentials for the Amalfi Drive

• All seasons: Comfortable walking sandals (the cliff-side steps are uneven), a compact day bag, reef-safe sunscreen, cash (many smaller restaurants and parking attendants don’t take cards)
• Summer (Jun-Sep): Lightweight clothing, a light layer for evenings in Ravello where it’s cooler at altitude, reusable water bottle (free drinking fountains throughout)
• Shoulder (Apr-May, Oct): A waterproof layer — spring and autumn bring short intense rain showers; the coast is dramatically less crowded and equally beautiful
• Winter (Nov-Mar): The coast road stays open but some restaurants and hotels close. Ravello in January with no tourists is extraordinary

Practical Tips: Surviving and Loving the Amalfi Coast

When to Go

• Late May & early June: Our top pick — wildflowers on the cliffs, warm enough to swim, 40% fewer visitors than July
• September & early October: Sea temperature peaks, summer crowds drop sharply after the first week of September, local life returns to normal
• Avoid July 15 – August 20: Peak Italian holiday season — the coast is genuinely overwhelming and accommodation prices double
• April: Unpredictable weather but spectacular light; the lemon blossoms are out and the terraces are fragrant

How to Avoid Tourist Traps

• Any restaurant with a photographed menu board in four languages outside the door is priced for tourists — walk one street back from the waterfront in every town
• The ferry between Positano, Amalfi, and Salerno is often faster than driving and removes parking stress — use it on days when you plan multiple coastal stops
• Limoncello sold in shaped bottles (lemon-shaped, boot-shaped) is for tourists; the serious stuff comes in plain bottles and is made from Sfusato Amalfitano lemons grown on the coast itself
• Book accommodation in Ravello, Praiano, or Furore instead of Positano — you’ll spend less, sleep better, and still be on the coast

For up-to-date road conditions, ferry timetables, and official tourism contacts across the Campania region, the Italia.it official tourism portal is the authoritative source for current information.

Planning Your Trip with Get Your Trip 24

The Amalfi Coast road trip itinerary is one of those journeys that rewards preparation and punishes improvisation. Knowing which towns to linger in, which roads to avoid at which hours, and where to eat without paying tourist prices makes the difference between an exhausting slog and a trip you’ll talk about for years.

At Get Your Trip 24, we build personalized southern Italy itineraries combining the Amalfi Coast with Pompeii, Capri, Cilento, and beyond — customized to your pace, your budget, and what you actually want from a trip. Browse our full Europe Itineraries collection or reach out to our team to start planning your Amalfi Coast drive today. The road is waiting — let’s make sure you’re ready for it.