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Amalfi Coast & Capri

Italy · Europe · northern hemisphere

SwimmingLakes & CoastlineHikingCity & Culture

Amalfi Coast & Capri is at its best for city & culture in May to June and September to October. Good but not prime in April and November. Crowds peak in July and bottom out in December.

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Swimming
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Lakes & Coastline
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Hiking
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City & Culture
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Crowds

Swipe the table sideways for the rest of the year.

primegoodpossibleoff-seasoncrowds, on this place’s own scale

The short version

One road serves the whole coast, and it replaced the mule tracks rather than following them. In July and August the drive from Sorrento to Positano can take hours for 16 kilometres — May, June and late September are the same coast with less of the traffic

What the walking is like

Half-day cliff and ridge paths, often stepped rather than graded. No guide needed, but the drops are real.

When not to come

Driving it yourself in August or September — on roughly half the days you legally cannot. ANAS runs targhe alterne daily from 10am to 6pm on the 40km between Vietri and Positano: odd and even number plates are barred on alternate dates. On top of that the SS163 is single-lane and cut into a cliff, and there is nowhere to park at the other end — the SITA bus and the ferries exist for a reason.

Busiest

July and August, and every day the Naples and Sorrento ferries run — Capri has no cruise berth, so the crush is day-trippers

With children

Vertical. Positano is a staircase with buildings attached, most beaches are pebble and reached by steps, and pushchairs are close to useless. Older children love the boats.

Where to stay

Positano charges the most and has the worst parking. Praiano is twenty-five minutes away on the same bus route, though not dramatically cheaper. For Capri, staying the night is the trick — the island empties completely once the day boats leave.

What can go wrong

Extreme heat

The ridge paths are exposed limestone with no water. By eleven in August the Path of the Gods is genuinely unpleasant.Jul · Aug

Kept out of the score on purpose. Averaging a rare catastrophe into a monthly number would tell you something false; the warning is the honest form.

Dates that matter

  • Ravello Festival (Jul–Sep) — concerts on a terrace above a 300m drop
  • Ferragosto (15 Aug) — the Italian holiday peak; everything is full and much of it is shut
  • Lemon harvest on the terraces (roughly Feb–Apr and again in autumn)

Walks

  • Sentiero degli Dei — the Path of the Gods, Bomerano to Nocelle, about three hours along the ridge with the sea a long way below
  • Valle delle Ferriere above Amalfi — a shaded ravine with waterfalls and ferns, and the coolest walk here in summer
  • Il Sentiero dei Fortini on Capri — the old gun emplacements along the western shore, flat and largely empty

The ridge paths are exposed limestone with no water and no shade. Start early; by eleven in August the Path of the Gods is genuinely unpleasant.

Crowds, month by month

26243271758910090765250

0 is this destination’s own quietest month and 100 its busiest. The scale never compares one destination to another. Source: Wikipedia — Positano

See everything else at its best in Oct

Organised trips

Multi-day trips to the Amalfi Coast

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