- Where
- Province of Salerno, Campania
south of Naples, Gulf of Salerno - Coordinates
- 40.63° N
14.60° E (Amalfi) - Towns
- 13 municipalities,
Vietri sul Mare to Positano - The road
- Amalfi Drive (SS163), 40 km
- World Heritage
- 1997
- Getting there
- Naples (NAP) or Salerno airports;
bus, ferry or car - Best visited
- Spring and early autumn;
landslide risk after heavy autumn and winter rain - Advisory
- Italy Level 2
exercise increased caution (terrorism)
The towns here are stacked up the cliff like teacups nobody is allowed to drop, and the streets are mostly stairs. Above them, lemons hung on terraces that looked carried up the mountain a basketful at a time. The bus took every bend with a long hoot, as a courtesy to the bend. I reached the sea twice, and climbed back up more slowly each time.
The short answer
The Amalfi Coast runs along the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula in the province of Salerno, in Campania, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Salerno, Wikipedia records. Its thirteen municipalities are Vietri sul Mare, Cetara, Maiori, Tramonti, Minori, Ravello, Scala, Atrani, Amalfi, Conca dei Marini, Furore, Praiano and Positano, and the 40-kilometre Amalfi Drive, Strada Statale 163, runs from Vietri sul Mare in the east to Positano in the west. UNESCO inscribed the Costiera Amalfitana as a World Heritage site in 1997, covering 11,231 hectares. The town of Amalfi had 4,611 inhabitants in 2025 and Positano 3,643 in 2026, by Wikipedia’s figures. Naples International Airport is the main international gateway; Salerno Costa d’Amalfi Airport is the nearest.
Why it's worth knowing
A sea republic in a ravine. Amalfi, wedged into the mouth of a gorge, was an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200, Wikipedia records, and first elected a duke in 958; at its height, around the reign of Duke Manso (966–1004), the article gives it some 70,000 to 80,000 people. Its maritime code, the Tavole amalfitane, was widely used by the Christian port cities of the Mediterranean and recognised until 1570. The town fell to the Normans in 1073 and was sacked by its rival Pisa in the 1130s; the article gives both 1135 and 1137. A tsunami in 1343 destroyed the port and the lower town. Amalfi still rows for its old title: the Regatta of the Historical Maritime Republics, against Genoa, Pisa and Venice, is held on the first Sunday in June and comes to Amalfi once every four years.
Paper and a legend. Amalfi was one of the first centres of paper-making in Europe, the skill having been learned from the Arabs, Wikipedia records; a thick hand-made paper called bambagina was used for private writings, legal acts and revenue stamps. A former paper mill owned by the Milano family became the Museum of Handmade Paper in 1969. The town also claims Flavio Gioia, who is “traditionally considered” the first to bring the mariner’s compass to Europe and “is said to have been” a native, in the article’s own careful words; this entry repeats it as the town’s tradition, not as a settled fact.
A coast made by hand. The slopes are so steep that the lemon groves stand on terraces, and the coast’s lemon, the sfusato amalfitano, grows in terraced gardens along its whole length, Wikipedia records: long, at least double the size of other lemons, with thick, wrinkled skin and sweet flesh. Limoncello is made from it, and the fruit can be seen on the trees from February to October. Positano’s beaches sit in coves at the foot of the cliffs, some reached only by footpath or boat. John Steinbeck wrote of the town in Harper’s Bazaar in May 1953 that “it is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”
The field notes
The Path of the Gods
The Sentiero degli Dei runs high above the coast from Bomerano, a hamlet of Agerola, to Nocelle, a hamlet of Positano, then down stairs to Positano in about half an hour, Italian Wikipedia records. Its own figures do not agree: the infobox gives 10.4 kilometres and the text “about 7.8 km”; it gives about four hours one way, and a high point of about 630 metres on the lower path. The name comes from a legend that the Greek gods used the route to rescue Ulysses from the sirens of the Li Galli islets, off Positano. No official 2026 entry fee or booking for the path was found when this entry was checked; guided walks are sold separately.
A church that asked to stay
Positano’s Church of Santa Maria Assunta, with its dome of majolica tiles, keeps a thirteenth-century Byzantine icon of a black Madonna, Wikipedia records. In the town’s legend, pirates carrying the icon were caught in a storm, sailors heard a voice say “Posa, posa!” (“Put down! Put down!”), and the storm abated once the icon was brought ashore. Amalfi’s own cathedral, dedicated to Saint Andrew, dates back to the eleventh century; the article gives two dates for the arrival of the saint’s relics, 1206 and 18 May 1208, without reconciling them.
Amalfi from the sea, May 2022.
Photograph: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY 4.0
Terraced lemon gardens above Amalfi under their pole pergolas, July 2008.
Photograph: Jensens · Public domain
Amalfi lemons in crates on a wall above the terraces, March 2024.
Photograph: Mihaela Claudia Puscas via Unsplash · Unsplash licence
The Path of the Gods above Positano, October 2017.
Photograph: Stiflele · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
- Walk the high path between the villages while it is still cool. The stairs down to the sea have opinions of their own.
- Go along the coast by boat, and turn round to see the towns from the water, where they look most like themselves.
- Eat something made with the big knobbly lemons, then something else made with them, to be fair to both.
- Stay on the steps meant for walkers. The terraces and doorways beside them are people’s gardens and front steps, and somebody is usually at work in them.
- Count the stairs down to the sea. (The list lost its place on a landing, started again, lost it again, and reached the sea out of breath and with no figure at all.)
An Amalfi lemon. The coast’s own lemon, the sfusato amalfitano, grows in terraced gardens cut into the slopes along the whole Amalfi Coast, Wikipedia records. It is long and pointed, at least double the size of other lemons, with a thick, wrinkled skin and sweet, juicy flesh with few seeds, and it hangs on the trees from February to October. It is the lemon behind the coast’s limoncello.
Tally, in the marginI had it down as an ordinary lemon that had simply kept going. Then I cut it open at the table and the whole hillside came in with it, terraces and all, and my notebook has smelled of it all week.
Getting there
How to get there. Naples International Airport (NAP) is the main gateway, and Salerno Costa d’Amalfi Airport the nearest, Wikipedia records; from either, shuttle buses run to the coast. On the coast, SITA buses link Positano with Amalfi and Sorrento, and ferries connect Positano and Amalfi with Capri, Naples, Salerno and Sorrento. By road, the coast is reached on the SS163, the Amalfitana, or the SP425.
When to go. Spring and early autumn avoid the hottest weeks; lemons hang on the trees from February to October. Canada’s travel advice (updated 29 September 2026) warns that heavy rain, especially in autumn and winter, can cause floods and landslides that make roads impassable; landslides closed the coast road near Maiori on 7 January 2026 and between Vietri sul Mare and Cetara on 6 February 2026, ANSA reported (indexed).
What to arrange ahead. Driving is restricted: as of 20 October 2026, Canada’s travel advice (updated 29 September 2026) says campervans and large recreational vehicles are prohibited on route 163 between Positano and Vietri sul Mare, and on days that ANAS, the state road agency, sets each year under its standing orders of 2019 for the SS163, cars may use the road between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. only on alternate days, by whether the last digit of the number plate is odd or even, with residents exempt (ANAS ordinance 340/2019, indexed; ANAS publishes each year’s dates). The buses and ferries are the alternative. Rooms in Positano and Amalfi fill early for summer. The Path of the Gods needs no ticket that this entry could find.
Safety. The State Department’s advisory for Italy is Level 2, “Exercise Increased Caution”, dated 10 September 2026, because of terrorism; it names no region, and warns that petty crime is common in tourist places and on public transport, including trains. Canada says to exercise a high degree of caution for the same reason. On the coast itself the hazards are the road, the cliffs and landslides after heavy rain, which have closed the coast road more than once in 2026 (above).
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Common questions
Where is the Amalfi Coast?
The Amalfi Coast is on the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula, in the province of Salerno in Campania, southern Italy, overlooking the Gulf of Salerno. Its 40-kilometre coast road, the SS163, runs from Vietri sul Mare to Positano.
Which towns are on the Amalfi Coast?
The Amalfi Coast has thirteen municipalities: Vietri sul Mare, Cetara, Maiori, Tramonti, Minori, Ravello, Scala, Atrani, Amalfi, Conca dei Marini, Furore, Praiano and Positano, Wikipedia records. The best known are Positano, Amalfi and Ravello.
Is the Amalfi Coast a World Heritage site?
Yes. UNESCO inscribed the Costiera Amalfitana, Italy’s Amalfi Coast, as a World Heritage site in 1997, covering 11,231 hectares of the coast in the province of Salerno.
How do you get to the Amalfi Coast from Naples?
From Naples International Airport, shuttle buses run to the Amalfi Coast; ferries also connect Naples with Positano and Amalfi, and SITA buses link Positano, Amalfi and Sorrento along the coast, Wikipedia records. Salerno Costa d’Amalfi Airport is the nearest airport.
Can you drive the Amalfi Coast road?
Cars can drive the Amalfi Coast road, the SS163, but campervans and large recreational vehicles are prohibited between Positano and Vietri sul Mare, Canada’s travel advice says (updated 29 September 2026), and on days ANAS sets each year its standing orders of 2019 allow cars on the road between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. only on alternate days, by the last digit of the number plate, with residents exempt.
What is the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast?
The Path of the Gods, the Sentiero degli Dei, is a footpath high above the Amalfi Coast from Bomerano in Agerola to Nocelle above Positano. Italian Wikipedia gives about four hours one way and two lengths, 7.8 and 10.4 kilometres, without reconciling them.
Why is the Amalfi Coast known for lemons?
The Amalfi Coast’s lemon, the sfusato amalfitano, grows in terraced gardens along the whole coast, Wikipedia records; it is long, at least double the size of other lemons, with thick wrinkled skin, and it is used to make limoncello.
What was the Republic of Amalfi?
The town of Amalfi, on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, was an important Mediterranean trading power between 839 and around 1200, Wikipedia records, with a maritime code, the Tavole amalfitane, recognised until 1570. A tsunami in 1343 destroyed its port and lower town.