If you are one of those travelers who don’t know what to choose between mountains and sea, this article is for you since it covers the best places on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, which has both.
In fact, this article is for you regardless of your choice; I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t fall in love with this fascinating part of Italy.
It’s a spectacular combination of green mountains, the turquoise Tyrrhenian Sea, the intense yellow of the lemons grown in terraces, narrow streets, and multicolored houses.
Writing about the best places on the Amalfi Coast, I realize that no matter how hard I try to describe it, it’s difficult for me to portray the natural beauty of the landscapes that will impress even the most pretentious traveler.
It’s the place you see and admire in pictures, and you want to visit it as soon as possible, but it’s so beautiful that it seems surreal.
Therefore, you are afraid not to create too high expectations and be disappointed.
There is nothing to see on the Amalfi Coast that could disappoint you. Exploring the most beautiful towns in Amalfi Coast is a fascinating journey. These places will go directly to the top of your favorite destinations of all time.
What I use every time I travel:
- To book hotels: Booking.com
- To book tours: GetYourGuide.com
A few words about my experience visiting the best places on the Amalfi Coast
I visited the most beautiful places on the Amalfi Coast in mid-June on a 9-day excursion that included the Cote d’Azur and several other Italian cities, like Rome, Florence, and a few others.
We organized everything in such a short time. It was more like a spontaneous journey rather than one planned long ahead.
Therefore, I recommend you organize everything a few months in advance, especially if you want to travel to Amalfi Coast on a budget. During Summer, most of the best places to stay in Amalfi Coast are fully booked.
The Amalfi Coast comprises 13 small towns, but you would probably need at least two weeks to visit them.
If your time is limited and you spend only a few days here, you should know the best places on the Amalfi Coast to know where to stop. Let’s take them one at a time…
Best options for a last-minute trip to Amalfi Coast
If you are on the last hundred meters with planning a vacation on the Amalfi Coast, then this list is your main help to do it quickly and efficiently:
Best experiences and tours in Amalfi Coast:
♦ Amalfi Coast: Boat and Snorkeling Tour – perfect for all adrenaline junkies out there
♦ Day Trip to Capri by Private Boat – one of the best ways to explore this stunning island
♦ Path of the Gods Private Walking Tour – fantastic experience
♦ Ravello walking tour – discover the gorgeous villas in Ravello
Best hotels to stay in Amalfi Coast:
♦ Hotel Le Terrazze – stunning views of the sea
♦ Tramonto d’Oro – great design, rooftop pool
♦ Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa – luxurious adult-only, amazing spa
The best places on the Amalfi Coast
Ravello | Most beautiful towns on Amalfi Coast
Let’s start with the place that will give you an overview of the coast from the height. Ravello is a city full of history but also very chic, a hidden gem, and one of the best places on the Amalfi Coast.
Different nations have occupied it throughout history, so you will see a harmonious mix of Greek, Roman, and even Arabic influences in some places.
Although resembling the other cities on the Amalfi Coast, Ravello is distinguished by its unique sea panorama and the sumptuous villas you can visit here.
⇒ Book your 2-Hour private walking tour in Ravello
Once you have visited the Dome, the lively town center, and made your souvenir stock from craft shops, it’s time to cross the threshold of the two famous villas, Rufolo and Cimbrone. I think they are one of the best places on the Amalfi Coast.
After I briefly review them, I will reveal to you which one is my favorite. Now, you must know that both are gorgeous and close to each other.
Best hotels in Ravello:
- budget: La Luna di Cristina– Wifi, parking, excellent view
- mid-budget: Villa Piedimonte– pool, free parking, great breakfast, fantastic view
- luxury: La Dolce Vita Ravello– spa, parking, gorgeous view, beautiful rooms
Villa Rufolo
In one of the best towns in Amalfi Coast you can also visit Villa Rufolo. Villa Rufolo was built by a wealthy family of merchants sometime in the 13th century and is probably the most visited of the two.
A significant contribution comes from the Ravello Festival, a music festival held here every summer since 1953.
The festival is dedicated to the famous German composer Richard Wagner, who fell in love with Villa Rufolo and even got inspired to finish an opera on which he worked for a very long time.
From the villa’s terrace, you can admire one of the most beautiful views of the Amalfi Coast, situated at the height of about 400 meters above the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Also, you can see the upper part of Santa Maria Delle Grazie church.
READ ALSO: Day trip to Capri from Positano
The villa is charming, with many long terraces and many gardens with multicolored flowers and palm trees. Its Arabic details often compare it to the famous Alhambra castle in Spain. It’s, without a doubt, one of the best places on the Amalfi Coast.
You’ll need about two hours to explore each corner, as the construction is like a maze.
Villa Cimbrone
Situated just a few hundred meters from Villa Rufolo, the Cimbrone Villa is older, more mysterious, and even more beautiful, but that’s just my opinion.
The villa’s construction dates back to the 11th century, but in the 20th century, it underwent a complete renovation and now functions as a hotel.
Fortunately, the gardens and parts of the building are open to the public for visitation.
If at Villa Rufolo there is a music festival, here, there are various ceremonies. If Rufolo was Wagner’s favorite, Cimbrone was the favorite of the actress Greta Garbo.
Even between the views offered by the two villas, it’s hard to choose. Both will reveal a dreamy panorama of the sea, which can easily be confused with a postcard.
My favorite is, however, the panorama from the Infinity Terrace of Cimbrone Villa, where, as soon as you pass by the statue of Ceres, you can admire an artistically and dramatically aligned series of marble busts.
It was hard to leave this place, and you will probably find it difficult to say goodbye to such a view.
Positano | Amalfi Coast best towns
Every time I think about Positano, I spell the name with an Italian accent, and that’s because Positano is practically a small authentic Italy, compressed in this fairy-tale town with colorful houses.
It’s one of the most beautiful towns in Amalfi Coast, but also the favorite of celebrities and millionaires, and rightly so.
Why? Because in Positano, you will walk along cobbled streets covered with flower ceilings leading you to the beach or hotels and restaurants overlooking the sea.
Here you can admire handmade, gorgeous artwork in the shape of intense colored paintings or pottery that deserves to be taken home and placed on the shelf with memories from your best vacations.
Why visit Positano
You must come to Positano for the beaches studded with umbrellas in perfectly straight lines, as colorful as the houses on the cliffs.
Another reason to visit one of the best places on the Amalfi Coast is the panorama of the Tyrrhenian Sea, crossed by all sorts of boats.
Lastly, visit Positano for the stalls where lemonade is sold, made from the most immense lemons you’ve ever seen. There are countless reasons to see one of the best towns in Amalfi Coast and one of the most beautiful in Italy.
Best sea view hotels in Positano:
- budget: Villa Maria Antonietta – Wifi, good view, terrace
- mid-budget: Alcione Residence – Wifi, good breakfast, terrace, beautiful view
- luxury: Hotel Palazzo Murat – pool, spa, delicious breakfast, parking, bar, gorgeous view
Positano in the past
But Positano wasn’t always like this. In the past, more precisely between the 15th and 17th centuries, it was an extremely prosperous port where trade was the main activity.
Unfortunately, the city experienced a significant regression later in history when nearly half of the population emigrated to America.
And later, John Steinbeck was inspired enough to publish, in 1953, an essay dedicated to Positano in Harper’s Bazaar. He described the place very nicely, saying, “It is a dream place that is not quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you’ve gone. “
Since then, Positano has gradually earned his well-deserved celebrity and has appeared in various cinematographic productions and is now one of the most popular destinations in Europe and one of the best places on the Amalfi Coast.
Indeed, most tourists come here to enjoy its superb beaches, Marina Grande, Li Galli, or Fornillo, but Positano has much more to offer.
But if you only have one day to explore it, sit down on a terrace with a beautiful view and enjoy a lemon-based cake alongside a limoncello, a famous liqueur in the area.
To conclude, when you say Positano, you say lemon.
Simple as that. That is why you must go home with a refrigerator magnet like the one in the picture below.
When to visit Positano
Positano can become very hot and extremely crowded during the peak season since it’s one of the best towns in Amalfi Coast.
So I recommend avoiding the months of July and August, maybe even June, and getting here in spring or early autumn when the air is more breathable and the crowd is not so big.
Amalfi | Best places on the Amalfi Coast
If there were no red roofs, the houses in Amalfi could have made the city look like Santorini. Things in common? Mountain, white houses staged in the cliffs and the sea.
If you are confused about Amalfi, you must know that there is an Amalfi town on Amalfi Coast, and it is somehow a capital city.
If we consider its name because otherwise, it is just a small and cozy city in the center of which stands an impressive cathedral.
We didn’t explore Amalfi very much, but from here, we took the ferry to Capri Island and the bus to the town where we were staying, to Agerola.
⇒ Book your Day trip to Capri
Best sea-view hotels in Amalfi:
- budget: Amalfi Old Square room & apartments– parking, free Wifi, sea view
- mid-budget: Hotel Marina Riviera– pool, restaurant, bar, fabulous breakfast, beautiful view
- luxury: Hotel Santa Caterina– pool, free parking, great breakfast, amazing view
Capri Island
If your bank account is not made up of at least 6 digits, then, like most tourists, you’ll probably come to Capri just for a one-day trip.
I’m saying this because the luxury stores and the prices of night accommodation here are easily comparable to those on Rodeo Drive.
It is an island dedicated to the rich, but it will not cost you much to visit for only a day.
Capri is charming but also extremely crowded at the same time. So, the same advice I will give you this time.
⇒ Book a boat excursion to Capri Island
When to visit Capri Island
Try to come here in May, June, or September, and you will have a much more enjoyable experience.
Once you get off the ferry, go and hop on the funicular, climb to the city of Capri, quickly cross its narrow streets, and head towards Augustus Gardens. For just one euro, you will have a paradise view.
You can admire the Faraglioni cliffs on one side and the other the crooked road that leads to the sea.
Do not forget to sit on a terrace and savor a pizza as only the Italians know how to prepare, and you have to visit the island’s perfume with lemon flavors, Carthusia.
Most beautiful hotels in Capri:
- budget: Affittacamere Capri Dolce Vita– Wifi, nice view
- mid-budget: La Baia di Napoli– Wifi, beach proximity, beautiful view
- luxury: Capri Tiberio Palace– 2 pools, spa, delicious breakfast, restaurant
Fiordo di Furore | Best places on the Amalfi Coast
Instagram brought me here, I could say honestly. Definitely, is a place you can easily skip if you didn’t see it on a social network first.
Fiordo di Furore is practically a bridge, behind which is a semi-hidden beach and a small bay in which a small part of the Tyrrhenian Sea withdraws.
Depending on the period of the year and the day you arrive here, you can be lucky to be the only person on that beach or to be filled with other equally enthusiastic tourists.
In my case, it was somewhere in the middle, so I managed to sneak in and take some pictures in which the whole place seemed to belong to me. It just seems.
Other places where you can randomly stop and admire the Amalfi Coast
This part is mainly for travelers going on the Amalfi Coast with their car or a rented one. Beautiful views are everywhere, and you will want to stop and stare.
If you have enough time, you can venture up close to Salerno, where the altitude will descend gradually.
For example, we drove up to Erchie town, and I can say that we would have gone further if we had had more time to waste.
How to get to Amalfi Coast
It would be best to fly to Naples, then rent a car or use public transport. In this regard, you should know that from Naples there are buses that go to the Amalfi Coast, more precisely to Sorrento, and from there you can reach all the cities of Amalfi either by bus or by ferry. Here, you will find the schedule for the bus and the ferries.
Parking is costly, especially in Positano, Ravello, and Amalfi.
There are also cheaper parking lots on the outskirts that we found quite hard, but it does matter that they exist and will help you to save on the travel budget.
Another option is to rent a scooter if you have the patience, courage, and skill to squeeze through the cars on extremely narrow roads.
Whatever the chosen method of travel, a trip to the Amalfi Coast will be memorable.
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