The Modern Nomads

Just south of Naples on the Sorrentine Peninsula you will find the Amalfi Coast. All the dreamy social media posts and pictures would make anyone put this on their bucket list. It was one of the places I was most excited about. You know, who doesn’t want to jump on a Vespa and coast along the winding road looking out over the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean (actually, it is the Tyrrhenian Sea to be exact). Well, I am here to tell you, don’t believe everything you see on social media.

The internet will tell you:

The Amalfi Coast has earned the nickname of “Divine Coast” (Divina costiera) because it has such natural beauty and picturesque landscapes. This coastline is filled with high cliffs, enchanting coves, small bays and tiny towns or villages filled with high-fashion shops and artisan workshops. The coastline is also filled with citrus fruit, vines and olive trees as well which adds to its beautify.

And it is no spoiler that all of that is true…. But if you asked us how we would describe the Amalfi Coast: Crowded – Overpriced – Crowded – Stressful – Crowded

And while we were able to get a few beautiful pictures as momentos (which were almost impossible to get), the memory that sticks in our mind is us thinking “Man, I can’t wait to get out of this place!”

Now that I have my rant over with, I will tell you that we are glad we went and now we can say we have checked that box. Let’s get to the good bad and ugly of our time here and maybe give you a few pointers for your next trip to the so called “Divine Coast.”

Where we stayed

We began our stay on the Amalfi Coast by arriving to Grand Hotel Capodimonte, located in Sorrento. This place was the highlight of our trip. The hotel itself is fabulous and they have an amazing terraced pool with beautiful views of the “Tyrrhenian Sea”. We had a rental car and drove in with out much issue. We promptly parked our car at the hotel entrance and didn’t get back in it until we were leaving a few days later. The city center of Sorrento is walkable from the hotel and was actually not too crowded. There was a nice pedestrian area with beautiful streets lines with shops, cafes and nice restaurants.

Our day-trip exploring the Amalfi Coast with stops in Positano and Amalfi

This was a surprising underwhelming experience. The one thing we did right was hire a driver and guide. Unless you are traveling to this areas after October or before April you need to be prepared. And get educated regarding driving this coastline. First of all, it isn’t fun like all the videos or things you may read, especially during the high season (June thru October). Also, if you have rented a car, be forewarned that there is now a law that will allow you to only drive along this coast during peak period on certain days (odd or even) based on the license plate of your vehicle. This fact alone should tell you what a nightmare the traffic is like.

Positano and Amalfi

Our private guide and driver picked us up from our hotel to set out to spend the day enjoying the coastline and stopping in both Positano and Amalfi. While having a driver helped with parking (which is a huge issue here) it didn’t really help with enjoying the view. There was non-stop bumper to bumper traffic and each area we stopped at was cramp packed with tourists (not bad mouthing tourists since we are one as well). But I am talking huge bus loads of tourists unloading all at one time.

Our driver was able to stop a few places for us to jump out and snap a few photos but most of the drive was spent in long lines of traffic. This really made it difficult to enjoy the drive and even made it hard to see those beautiful views you hear about.

And if I am being completely honest, there was nothing significant about either of these two coastal towns. There are some nice shops and if do any shopping we would suggest stopping at ones that have items made locally. There was nothing that stood out from these overcrowded, overpriced, towns that was any better than any other less popular Italian coastal town.

Here are some helpful tidbits:

DRIVING: The roads are super narrow and filled with buses and vans – and they have the right of way. If you plan on driving yourself then we would recommend driving the Amalfi Coast from mid-October through the end of April. This alternating license plate system was instituted on Amalfi Drive in 2022 and added to Sorrento Coast Drive in 2023. So you can google it to know the rules before you attempt to drive there.

PARKING: Parking is either by permit only (in town) or if you happy to find a spot (which is like hitting the lottery) you will probably be paying 10 Euro per hour. Even those with permits have limits of how long they can park. For instance our driver had a 2 hour limit.

ACCOMODATIONS: As I mentioned before we stayed in Sorrento and our hotel was located on the main road which allowed easy access without having to climb any stairs. I could not imagine actually staying in Positano or Amalfi unless you leave during the day and come back and enjoy them in the evening.

ALSO: Most of the locals that work in Positano and Amalfi park along the roadway outside of the towns and walk into work. As you drive through these towns the roads are lined with cars. So if you plan on driving your own car and parking on the side of the road you can expect to walk at minimum a mile to get into these towns from where you may be able to park. And again, this is by parking just on the side of the road and in most cases your car isn’t in an actual parking spot just half on the roadway and along the guardrail of the coastal roadway.

If we had to do it over again (spoiler alert – we won’t be doing this again) I would definitely do a private boat tour. You won’t have to deal with the crowds, traffic and you will actually be able to see these picturesque cities in all their glory from the water. This will be your best chance to see why it is called the Divine Coast!