Day Tour to Positano, Amalfi & Ravello from Sorrento
West to east and back in a day, with the Positano-to-Amalfi leg by boat.
From $109 per person
Check AvailabilityAmalfi Coast Map and Distances
Fifty kilometres of coastline, thirteen towns, one road and no railway. Almost every planning mistake made here comes from misreading that geography — usually by assuming Sorrento is on the coast, or that Ravello can be reached from the sea. This page sets it straight.
The shape of the coast, in one paragraph
The Sorrentine Peninsula sticks west into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Sorrento sits on its NORTH side, facing the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius. The Amalfi Coast is the SOUTH side, facing the Gulf of Salerno, and it runs west to east from Positano through Praiano, Furore, Conca dei Marini, Amalfi, Atrani, Minori, Maiori and Cetara to Vietri sul Mare, where Salerno begins. Ravello and Scala sit high above Amalfi; Tramonti sits behind the ridge altogether.
Which side of the peninsula is which
This is the fact that catches people out, and it is worth being blunt about it. Sorrento is not on the Amalfi Coast. It is an excellent base for reaching it — more tours leave from Sorrento than from anywhere else — but going there means crossing the ridge or rounding the point, and that adds forty minutes to an hour at each end of the day. Amalfi, Positano and Praiano are on the coast itself.
How far apart the towns are
Journey times, not distances, are what matter on a road with this many bends. These are typical in light traffic and can double in August.
| From | To | By road | By ferry, in season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sorrento | Positano | About 45 minutes | About 50 minutes |
| Positano | Amalfi | About 40 minutes | About 25 minutes |
| Amalfi | Ravello | About 25 minutes uphill | No ferry — there is no route from the sea |
| Amalfi | Atrani | 5 minutes, or 10 on foot | No ferry |
| Amalfi | Maiori | About 20 minutes | About 15 minutes |
| Amalfi | Salerno | About an hour | About 35 minutes |
| Sorrento | Amalfi | About an hour and a quarter | Seasonal, around 90 minutes |
Where the boats leave from, port by port
Boat tours do not all start in the same place, and the pier you can walk to decides which trips are open to you.
| Port | What leaves from it |
|---|---|
| Positano, Spiaggia Grande | Small-group day cruises and several private charters |
| Amalfi, Darsena pier | Small-group boat tours and private charters, plus the ferries |
| Sorrento, Marina Grande and Marina Piccola | Small-group boats and private gozzi |
| Praiano, Marina di Praia | Private charters and some small-group pickups |
| Salerno, Molo Concordia | Ferries along the coast and some boat-tour pickups |
| Conca dei Marini, Minori, Maiori, Cetara | Private charter pickups on request |
Where to base yourself, read off the map
Positano is best placed for boats and worst placed for anything requiring a car. Amalfi is central, flat, and the ferry hub. Ravello is beautiful, quiet and thirty minutes from anything at sea level. Sorrento has the transport and none of the coast. Salerno has the trains and the cheapest beds. Which of those matters depends entirely on whether your days are going to be spent on the water or on the road — and that decision is worth making first.
What a map cannot show you: the vertical
Flat maps of this coast mislead in one specific way. Ravello sits 350 metres above Amalfi with no route up from the water; Scala is higher again on the other side of the Dragone valley; Tramonti is behind the mountain entirely. Two towns can be a kilometre apart on paper and half an hour apart in practice, because one of them is at sea level and the other is up a series of hairpins.
The same applies inside the towns. Positano is a ravine with houses in it, and getting from the road above to the beach below is several hundred steps in each direction. Amalfi and Minori are the two places on the coast where you can walk about on the flat. Build that into the plan rather than discovering it with luggage.
How to read a coast itinerary
Every trip listed here names the towns it stops in, and the useful number is the time ashore rather than the total length of the day. An eight-hour tour that gives you an hour in each of three towns has spent five hours moving, which is normal on this road and is not a criticism of the tour. A boat day quotes the same total but splits it between time on the water and time ashore, so read the itinerary before the price.
The other number worth checking is the departure point, because it decides how much of your day is spent getting to the coast in the first place. A trip leaving Sorrento adds the crossing of the peninsula at both ends; one leaving Amalfi or Positano starts where you already are.
The map
The map loads from Google only when you ask for it, so nothing is contacted before you click.
Days that cover the most ground
Amalfi Coast Private Boat Tour
Twenty-one pickup points between Positano and Salerno, and six hours to use them.
From $1,301 per group, up to 6
Check AvailabilityFull Day Private Amalfi Coast Tour from Sorrento/Naples/Salerno
Sorrento, Naples or Salerno at the start, and the whole coast in between.
From $337 per person
Check AvailabilityThe towns themselves are described on the towns of the coast, and Amalfi Coast boat tours are listed with their departure piers on Amalfi Coast Italy Tours.