Amalfi Coast from Naples: how to get there in a day

You can do the Amalfi Coast from Naples in a day, as long as you accept two things: you'll spend half of it on buses, trains or boats, and you'll see two towns, not six. Positano, Amalfi and Ravello are only a few kilometres apart, but on a road of hairpin bends where a bus crawls along at thirty kilometres an hour. Here are the two ways to get there without a car, what to choose if you only have one day, and why you're better off leaving the car behind.

By train and bus: Circumvesuviana to Sorrento, then SITA

This is the option that works all year. From Naples take the Circumvesuviana, the local railway run by EAV, on the Napoli-Sorrento line, from Porta Nolana or from the Piazza Garibaldi station: it takes about an hour and a quarter to Sorrento, with plenty of stops on the way. In summer there was also the Campania Express, the tourist train with few stops, but EAV suspended it from 1 October 2026 until further notice: in autumn you travel on the ordinary trains.

The blue SITA Sud buses to the coast leave from outside Sorrento station. The Amalfi line goes through Positano: you reach Positano in about forty minutes and Amalfi in a good hour and a half, longer in traffic. For Ravello, change at Amalfi and ride up on another SITA bus, half an hour of hairpins. Buy your ticket beforehand, at a tabaccheria (tobacconist), a bar or a newsstand, on the Unico Costiera fares; if you're taking more than two rides, the day ticket is the better deal.

By sea: hydrofoils from Molo Beverello, until early November

From spring to autumn you can also reach Positano and Amalfi by hydrofoil from Molo Beverello, the main ferry pier in Naples, with NLG, Alilauro and other operators. NLG's 2026 timetable on the Naples-Amalfi route runs from 1 April to 3 November, with fewer sailings in the last few weeks; some departures involve a change at Capri or Sorrento. The crossing takes an hour and a half or more, depending on the stops: it's no faster than train plus bus, but you arrive from the sea, which for Positano and Amalfi is the right way in.

Between the towns on the coast, from April to October, there are also Travelmar's local ferries linking Salerno, Amalfi and Positano. For a day trip from Naples the handiest combination is often this: bus to Positano, ferry from Positano to Amalfi, and back from Amalfi by hydrofoil or bus.

Positano, Amalfi, Ravello and the Path of the Gods

Positano is the vertical town: the houses tumble down to the Spiaggia Grande, the main beach, and you do everything on foot, by staircase. The route is simple: from the bus stop at the top, walk down via Cristoforo Colombo and via dei Mulini to the church of Santa Maria Assunta with its majolica dome, then the sea. Then comes the climb back up, which some people remember more than the view.

Amalfi was once a maritime republic and it shows: the Duomo di Sant'Andrea at the top of a flight of about sixty steps, the Cloister of Paradise next door, the old paper mills in the Valle dei Mulini. Ravello sits three hundred metres higher, with Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone, and the Terrace of Infinity looking along the whole coast towards Salerno. It's the quietest of the three, even in summer.

The Sentiero degli Dei, the Path of the Gods, is the coast seen from above. It starts in Bomerano, a village that is part of Agerola, and ends in Nocelle, above Positano: about eight kilometres, three or four hours' walking without big climbs but with stretches along sheer drops. You get to Bomerano on the SITA bus from Amalfi, about forty minutes; from Nocelle you go down to Positano by a long flight of steps or on the local bus. You'll need hiking shoes, water and a day with clear skies.

Traffic, odd-even number plates and why to leave the car

The SS163 Amalfitana is one of the most beautiful roads in Italy, and also a forty-kilometre queue. From 1 June to 31 October 2026 an order from ANAS, the state road agency, restricts non-residents to alternate days by number plate between Vietri sul Mare and Positano, 10am-6pm: every day in August and September, and only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in October. On odd dates, cars with plates ending in an odd number can drive; on even dates, the rest. Motorbikes and scooters are exempt.

Even when your plate is right, there's still parking: in Positano and Amalfi spaces are few and expensive, and the centres are pedestrian or limited-traffic zones. For a single day, the bus, the boat or an organised tour will save you time and nerves.

One day only: which to choose

For that last option there are several formats. Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi by minibus covers all three towns in a small group, with photo stops. Positano and Amalfi by coach, with the ferry between the two gives you three hours in Positano and two in Amalfi, and from April to October the stretch in between is done by boat. Amalfi and Ravello from Naples sticks to two towns instead of three, with free time to explore them.

If the coast is one stop on a longer trip, read our guide to Pompeii from Naples too: the ruins are on the same Circumvesuviana line, and some people fit them into the same day, with a very early alarm. You'll find other trips out of town in the Outdoor section, and the departure points on the map of Naples.