• A week in the Amalfi coast. What to do and when to go. Itinerary and travel guide.

In this article I will give you some ideas to organize a week on the Amalfi coast.  So what can you do in the Amalfi coast? When is it better to organize your holidays in Amalfi ?

 

The first concept to keep in mind when organizing a holiday on the Amalfi coast is to relax. Relax must, in fact,  be your goal!

• How to get to the Amalfi coast from Naples
• What to visit in Naples in 4 or 5 days 
• The most beautiful beaches on the Amalfi coast.
• How to spend one week in Sorrento –
• The surroundings of Rome

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The Amalfi coast consists of 13 small towns and, being all beautifuf you should go the visit every corner of the coast.

However, this circumstance does not mean that staying in one town rather than another is completely indifferent. Amalfi, Ravello and Positano are, in fact, certainly more exclusive and luxurious .

 

• A week in the Amalfi coast. What to do and when to go. Itinerary and travel guide.
• How much does it cost to organize a holiday in the Amalfi coast?

Is it cheap to organize a travel to the Amalfi coast?

This question is not so easy, because  Amalfi coast, it is not a cheap stay.
Unfortunately, especially in the summer, prices are quite expensive for hotels, restaurants and bars  too. Morevoer   beaches are not free. You can read my post on the price here:  How much for holidays in Amalfi coast ?

 

 

• Rent an apartment for a week

For this reason, the most convenient option for a couple or a family is certainly to rent an apartment  for a week. This solution is  more characteristic and allows you to save money on the hotel and to be able to use a kitchen and a dining room for breakfast and your meals.   Watch at   www.booking.com

 

• Please, forget your car and rent a scooter!

Another recommendation I want to say you  is to forget the car in the garage. In the summer on the Amalfi coast there is a lot of traffic and finding parking becomes very difficult (and economically expensive)

So it is better to rent a scooter / motorcycle  or travel  by ferries and buses.

• When is it better to go to the Amalfi coast?

Spring, in my opinion, is really a great time.   May and June it is still not too hot, but you can already go to the sea, there are still not too many tourists and the prices are quite good. July and, above all, August are the months of greatest influx and obviously the most beautiful, because summer is always summer. They also deserve the months of September and October, the periods preferred by American tourists when there are not so many people and it is sunny

 

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do – Activities  and Itinerary.

I will be concise: canoeing, boat excursions, bike rides and trekking are widespread activities. You can also go rafting on the Tanagro river ( 40 km from Amalfi). It is nice because the gorges are very suggestive.

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do.

I can not  teach you a  real itinerary because the activities  on the Amalfi coast depend on the period of the year in which you are staying . So I will tell you  a series of suggestions,

I will not write about Naples, which deserves a separate stay (What to visit in Naples in 4 or 5 days  ), nor about other cities in Campania, which also deserve a visit (Paestum and Caserta above all), limiting myself to illustrate exclusively towns that are located just in the surroundings of the Amalfi Coast.

 

• Day 1 – Visit Amalfi

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do and itinerary

Amalfi is certainly the most important town on the Amalfi coast, so it is sure that there are very important historical traces here. Before starting your visit to the town, remember  your key word: relax!

Take an ice cream, eat  “cuoppo” with seafood, put your head under the fountains, do everything slowly!
The visit to Amalfi can start from the  seafront (port and the  pier called “pennello” )   and then – through the door of the Marina – to  Sant’Andrea square, the real heart of the town.

 

Near the square, however, I suggest visiting the ancient Arsenals, the only medieval arsenals still existing in Europe and where the ships of the ancient Amalfi Republic were built.

Once you enter  in Saint Andrew square you will see the homonymous fountain and the elegant staircase with the beautiful Cathedral. Don’t miss to visit  the Cloister of the Paradise, the crypt with the remains of Saint Andrew and the Church of the Crucifix. The are so nice!

From the main square of Amalfi you can then venture along the road that goes up and head, through very characteristic shops and  a small street, to Dogi square, another very important square in the city.

I suggest you  continue to climb the narrow, almost impenetrable streets that characterize Amalfi and the squares embellished with fountains and cribs, until you reach the borders of Amalfi in the “Valley of the Mills”, from which you can start a beautiful trekking very easy (but suggestive) lasting an hour that crosses the so-called “Ferriere valley”, a valley characterized by ancient ruins, a small river and which ends with the view of beautiful waterfalls.

• Day 2 – Visit Atrani and organize an excursion.

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do. Itinerary

From Amalfi it is possible to organize various excursions. Depending on the periods you can enjoy the sea or beautiful paths.

In summer it is necessary to rent a boat and explore the coast by going to the bay and the beaches of Conca dei Marini, as well as the Praia.

I also suggest visiting the Emerald Grotto (you need a ticket).

All year round it is always possible to go trekking by choosing among the many opportunities that the coast offers. In addition to the   Ferriere Valley, I recommend the path of the Gods which starts from Agerola, a village located 15 km from Amalfi.

 

In the late afternoon, in any case, leave Amalfi to walk to Atrani, the smallest town in Italy famous for its white houses. To visit there there is the main square of the village, which is located just a few steps from the beach and where you can have a nice appetizer, and the beautiful Church of Maddalena.

In the ancient times Atrani was  e inhabited by the Amalfi aristocrats.

• Day 3 – Visit Ravello

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do. Itinerary

Ravello is a small snobbish village,  loved by intellectuals and international tourism, which is located about 5 km from Amalfi and overlooks the sea.

 

 

Thanks to the classical music festival that takes place every summer and to Richard Wagner – who set the Parsifal here –  Ravello has earned the definition of “city of music”.

To go to Ravello you can take a paved road, very narrow and characteristic, or walk a path that starts from Amalfi or Minori (ask for information about it).

The life in Ravello is concentrated all around its main square, a square that has remained unchanged for centuries and from which you can access the famous villa Rufolo, a medieval villa renovated in the nineteenth century by a Scottish lord and therefore showing a completely peculiar style. Inside it is particularly striking the garden with the panoramic terrace overlooking the Gulf of Salerno.

 

Another very beautiful villa in Ravello is Villa Cimbrone, characterized by a park adorned with statues, fountains and caves, as well as an extraordinary belvedere. Ravello is a very small village. If there are no ongoing events to attend, your visit can end in a few hours.

• Day 4 – Visit Furore, Positano and … Sorrento

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do. Itinerary

 

The 9 miles that separate Amalfi from Positano offer spectacular landscapes and views that you will never forget. One of these is certainly the one offered by the “Fiord of Furore”, an ancient fishermen’s refuge where the sea water mixes with the fresh water of the river and an elegant suspended bridge defines the area.

 

Continuing the tour, you will cross Praiano and then, after other curves and steep roads, Positano will immediately reveal itself in all its splendor.

The impact is truly impressive, because Positano is a downhill city which, with its colorful houses, seems to be a big crib. In fact you can start your visit starting  at the top of Positano and then you will  “go down” for its narrow streets full of flowers  and flavors.

 

 

After passing through the elegant Church of Santa Maria Assunta, you will naturally arrive at the “mayor beach” of Positano and you will see  an extraordinary view of rare beauty. After the  mayor beach of Positano, you should also go to the nearby Fornillo beach.
If you have enough time, desire and energy, you can also explore the “other coast”: the Sorrento peninsula with  Nerano, the bay of Ieranto, Piano, Meta and Vico Equense that are wonderful coutries that deserve a separate weekend.  ( How to spend one week in Sorrento ).

 

However, the absolute protagonist remains Sorrento, a town full of charm where have benn written   two famous Neapolitan songs: “come back to Sorrento” and  Caruso by Lucio Dalla to celebrate the famous tenor Caruso who loved to stay here.

 

• Day 5 – The island of Capri

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do. Travel guide.

How can Capri be described without being banal?
Impossible, I think. So, to avoid overdoing it, I will only say that it is a paradise island of such beauty that it seems unreal. Already from afar, it reveals all its magnificence by glimpsing the famous Faraglioni.
Going to Capri is very  easy. There are in fact connections from  Amalfi, Positano,  Sorrento and Naples. 

 

Once you arrive at the port, it will seem almost natural to cross it up to the famous ” La piazzetta” ( that means small square), an international meeting point characterized by a beautiful panoramic terrace. Unfailing then is a walk along  Krupp road, from which you can see “Faraglioni” very well, and towards  the chartreuse  of Saint James. It is also worth climbing up to Villa Jovis, the villa in which the Roman Emperor Tiberius chose to live and from which a  you can enjoy a good view on the Gulf of Naples.

 

Capri basically has two beaches: small marina and large marina. I recommend, however, to rent a boat and circumnavigate the island to discover more suggestive bays.
Lastly, it is worth visiting the blue cave, where the water, in fact, is of an intense blue.

• Day 6 Minori, Maiori, Erchie, Cetara and Vietri

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do.  Itinerary

 

 

We cannot forget to visit the western area of ​​the Amalfi coast. About 4 km from Amalfi there is, first of all, Minori. It is a town that develops all around the Church of Santa Trofimena and its small, but suggestive seafront. Larger, however, is the beautiful seafront of Maiori, easily reachable also through the path of Lemons.

The most interesting view of Maiori is, in my opinion,  is near the  Norman Tower at the end of the seafront. It is difficult not to be impressed.

 

Don’t miss to visit village of Erchie with one of the most beautiful beaches on the coast.
Then there is Cetara, that is a fisherman village.

 

 

Here there is a great tradition for tuna and anchovies. So you have to eat the traditional seafood that is prepared n Cetara: spaghetti with anchovy sauce. In Cetara I recommend making a stop in the port area and then heading to Vietri sul Mare, a town famous  for its craftsmanship and ceramic shops. You have to visit the auditorium near the sea with its very particular ceramics, Marina di Vietri and Raito, the upper part that offers a splendid view.

• Day 7 Pompeii and Herculaneum

• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do. Travel guide.

If you want to  do a cultural trip, Pompeii is certainly a city that arouses great charm.

To visit it as it deserves it is necessary to reserve a full day, also because the archaeological site of Pompeii is really large and only to get around quickly takes several hours. In fact, you will explore a Roman city with its “domus”, its streets, its spas, its taverns, its theater, its gyms and its amphitheater.

Although not so famous like Pompeii, the archaeological site of Herculaneum is also worth visiting. The domus are better preserved and offer mosaics and works of art even more beautiful than those of Pompeii.

It is possible to make a cumulative ticket that allows you to visit both sites (always with the same ticket you can also visit other archaeological sites around Vesuvius, but of minor importance).

• CONCLUSIONS 
• A week on the Amalfi coast. What to do and itinerary

If you want, you can organize many trips in the surroundings, such as (at least) a walk in Naples, an excursion to the Greek temples of Paestum or a visit to the Royal Palace of Caserta.  I, however I would stay in  the Amalfi coast, reserving a visit to the other beautiful villages of the Campania for the next travel.

It is better to “live”  Amalfi coast as you can!

In the summer I would  stay on the beach going to a different beach every day, in the other seasons – instead – I would devote myself to trekking. So , on the Amalfi coast the key word must always be one and categorical: relax!

• How to get to the Amalfi coast from Naples
• The most beautiful beaches on the Amalfi coast.