The Amalfi Coast is a stunning and picturesque coastline located in the Campania Region of Italy, close to Naples. Renowned for its insane landscapes, charming villages, and dramatic cliffs, the Amalfi Coast is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that attracts many visitors from all around the world.
We took one quick browse of accomodations in the area and realised that it was far out of our price range to stay…but we decided to take this Amalfi Coast day trip from Naples using GetYourGuide. Here’s everything you need to know!
HOW TO BOOK & COST
We booked our tour here with GetYourGuide. It cost $100 USD/person for the day. This cost included transport to and from our hotel, lunch, as well as transport and a trilingual guide all throughout Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi.
WHAT TO EXPECT
We kicked off our day with a bright and early pickup time of 7:15 am. We were staying the furthest out of the city centre in our group, so we were first to be picked up. The night prior to the excursion, we received an email from the World Tours detailing our exact pickup time. We drove around Naples for about an hour, picking up other guests in our tour group and finally got on the road around 8:30 am.
Our guide was named Roberta, and led the entire tour in both English and Spanish. She was super knowledgable of the area, had lots of fun facts, and was very easy to talk to. On the bus, Roberta provided us each with bottles of ice cold water for the hot day.
Along the way to our first stop, Sorrento, Roberta introduced some facts about the region, including how this area was known as the “Campanian Volcanic Arc” due to the high volcanic activity in the area. She also told us that the Campania Region was known for it’s world class lemon production. The lemons that are grown in this region are a key ingredient to the famous Italian Limoncello drink.
Roberta also gave us a quick rundown of what the day would look like – we would be visiting Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi and having lunch at a seaside restaurant on the coast. Unfortunately, we would only get about an hour in each city. She explained that it was imperative to be on time for the meeting points, because the parking fees in the area were over 50 euros/hour! We would’ve loved to have more time in each place, but it was a sacrifice we had to make by squeezing this iconic region into just 1 day!
We had complete free reign on what to do and where to go in each stop. Roberta would recommend some must see spots in each town before we were dropped off, and some people chose to stick with her for a more “guided tour” experience. However, we prefer to explore on our own.
SORRENTO
It took us about an hour to reach our first stop in Sorrento. Roberta offered a chance for a free tasting at a limoncello shop. Although free tastings are sometimes gimmicky, this shop was actually amazing. They gave us free samples of pretty much everything they had to offer in their store, including multiple different flavours of (full sized!) limoncello shots, limoncello filled chocolates, pistachio butter, and various truffle salts and snacks. I’m going to be honest – they got us! We did end up buying some of their chocolates and truffle salts to take home because the product was just so good!
The tasting took almost 30 minutes, so we only had another 30 minutes to explore the town. We quickly headed to the coast and took some snaps of the beautiful coastline, and then wandered through the narrow streets, getting a feel for the town.
POSITANO
Our second stop was Positano, and this was by far our favourite. The entire village is built on a steep cliff, with pastel-colored buildings that seem to cascade down the cliffs. Positano is renowned for it’s fashion and art (specifically lemon themed fashion & art!). We saw so many cute boutiques selling Positano’s signature linen clothing, handmade sandals, and other locally crafted items.
We wandered down the steep road to the seaside, and ended up at Spiaggia Grande, Positano’s main beach. The beach is lined with cute restaurants, beach clubs, and kayaks available for rent. It was such a hot day that we really wished that we had time to jump in the ocean to cool down!
LUNCH
After Positano, we were taken to a beautiful cliffside restaurant called Euroconca. The restaurant was open air with beautiful views of the sea below.
Lunch was a set menu with appetiser salads, bread, bruschetta, and the main dish was gnocchi. We were able to choose between basil and tomato sauce, or shrimp and tomato sauce. We both opted for the basil sauce and it was delicious!
AMALFI
After lunch, we headed to our last stop of the day, Amalfi. Roberta said that a must try in Amalfi was their gelato, and who can say no to that? We tried both the lemon sorbetto and straciatella, and it was the perfect way to cool down on a very hot day.
Amalfi town is renowned for its cathedral, the Cathedral of St. Andrew, also known as the Duomo di Sant’Andrea Apostolo. This beautiful medieval structure dates all the way back to the 9th century.
We explored the church, walked the streets, and ended up down by the beach. Amalfi also had tons of cute shops. The iconic blue and yellow beach umbrellas were the perfect European beach aesthetic!
RIDE HOME
After a full day of exploring 3 beautiful Italian villages, we loaded back into the van for the drive home. We took a different route home, driving through the clifftop villages of Ravello and Scala. The views were absolutely insane, and it was a bummer that we weren’t able to pull over and stop to take in the views. It took us about 1.5 hours to get back to Naples, and we were last to be dropped off.
Although we would’ve loved to spend way more time in each village, this day trip was the perfect budget compromise. We got to experience the iconic Amalfi Coast without breaking the bank. We highly recommend this tour for anybody looking to “budget travel” their way through an expensive region!
To check out our full Naples & Amalfi Coast gallery, click here!