The decision that matters, in four lines
An Amalfi Coast day trip from Naples can be done four ways, and the choice turns on one thing only: how much time you are willing to spend on the road. The minivan costs from €58.50 and takes you to Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi with a guide and stops at the viewpoints. The boat costs from €60.99 and sees the same coast from the water, with no traffic. The seasonal ferry costs €32 each way to Positano and is the most direct option. Doing it yourself — train to Sorrento plus the SITA Sud bus — costs €19.20 all in and asks two extra hours of queueing in return.
All four options need 12–13 hours door to door. There is no short version: the coast is 65 kilometres from Naples and those kilometres run along a road a lane and a half wide.
The day, hour by hour
Napoli Porta Nolana: NA5 ticket, Circumvesuviana train for Sorrento
Into Sorrento, 200 metres to the SITA Sud terminus
Bus for Amalfi: sit on the right, that is the side with the road
Positano Chiesa Nuova: get off here and take the descent towards the sea
Spiaggia Grande, via Pasitea, the church of Santa Maria Assunta
Climb back up to Sponda and pick the bus up again towards Amalfi
Amalfi: the Duomo di Sant’Andrea and its steps, lunch in the inner lanes
Ravello option: bus from Amalfi, 30 minutes of climbing
Last useful move: bus back towards Sorrento
Sorrento, the Circumvesuviana station
Train to Naples, into Porta Nolana at 20:14
If you would rather arrive from the sea and stay in a single town, the second plan uses the seasonal ferry and closes the day two hours earlier.
Do-it-yourself variant
Molo Beverello: the NLG ticket office, the Positano sailing is seasonal
Departure for Positano, about 1 h 50 at sea
Ashore at the Positano jetty, you are on the beach already
Up to via Pasitea, lunch well away from the jetty
The low path towards Fornillo, or a small boat to a cove
Back from Positano to Naples
Molo Beverello, and you are in the centre on foot
Getting there: the SS163 and what it implies
The SS163 Amalfitana is 40 kilometres of bends between Positano and Vietri, on which a bus and a car pass each other with difficulty. Every rule of the day follows from that fact.
The train only reaches Sorrento. The Circumvesuviana Naples–Pompei–Sorrento line leaves from Porta Nolana and Garibaldi, costs €4.60 on an NA5 ticket and takes 72–77 minutes. First useful service at 5:36, then 6:17, 6:48, 7:24, 8:05 and on every 30–40 minutes. Last useful return from Sorrento at 22:02, into Porta Nolana at 23:13. The Campania Express, the tourist train with fewer stops, is currently suspended until further notice according to EAV.
From Sorrento on, it is the SITA Sud bus. The terminus is next to the station. First service from Sorrento towards Amalfi at 6:30, last at 19:50; in the other direction Amalfi starts at 6:20 and finishes at 21:30. The COSTIERASITA day ticket costs €10 for 24 hours and is named; single fares are €2.40 Sorrento–Positano, €2.40 Positano–Amalfi and €3.40 Sorrento–Amalfi.
The trouble with the buses is not the price, it is the capacity. From June to September and on spring weekends they leave Sorrento full and pick nobody up at Positano Chiesa Nuova. Two countermeasures that work: take the first service of the morning, and at Positano climb back up to Sponda rather than waiting at Chiesa Nuova, because the bus reaches Sponda emptier.
The ferry exists, but only in season. NLG links Molo Beverello to Positano and Amalfi from 1 April to early November: departures for Positano at 10:00, 10:40 and 15:35 (plus 08:35 and 14:40 from 1 May), returns at 09:15 and 16:24. For Amalfi the departures are 10:00, 10:40 and 15:35, the returns 08:54, 15:45 and 17:00. Fares: €32 each way to Positano and €32.50 to Amalfi, €65 return, children 2–12 at €18.50. Note one detail written on the NLG site: the 10:40 sailing involves changing vessel at Capri, with the onward leg run by Alilauro at 11:45. If your connection is tight, that is not the sailing to take.
What the day costs
By public transport
- Circumvesuviana Naples–Sorrento, returnunicocampania.it
- €9.20 (NA5 €4.60 each way) · 72–77 min each way
- COSTIERASITA 24 hours on the SITA Sud busessitasudtrasporti.it
- €10, named, covers the towns from Sorrento to Amalfi and Salerno
- Alternative, single faresunicocampania.it
- Sorrento–Positano €2.40 · Positano–Amalfi €2.40 · Sorrento–Amalfi €3.40
- Total per person with the day ticket
- €19.20 · 12–13 hours door to door
- Ferry alternative (in season)nlg.it
- Napoli Beverello–Positano €32 each way, €65 return · Beverello–Amalfi €32.50
With a tour
The premium minivan tour at €58.50 costs three times the do-it-yourself version but removes the one variable you do not control: traffic on the SS163 and full SITA Sud buses that will not let you on. With two or more people and a single day, the price gap pays for itself.
What to see and how long you need
Three towns, very different timings.
- Positano, 2 hrs. You walk down from the main road to the sea and back up: some 400 steps in total. Spiaggia Grande, via Pasitea with its shop windows, the church of Santa Maria Assunta with its majolica dome. You visit the town going down and pay for it coming up.
- Amalfi, 2 hrs. The Duomo di Sant’Andrea with its 62-step stairway, the Chiostro del Paradiso, the valley of the mills if you have an hour more. It is the flattest town and the best suited to anyone who walks with difficulty.
- Ravello, 1 hr 30 plus 1 hr of bus. Villa Rufolo, Villa Cimbrone, the belvedere. It sits 350 metres above Amalfi and takes 30 minutes of bus each way. On a day out of Naples it is the first stop to be cut, unless it is the reason you set off.
- Sorrento, 1 hr. Many tours use it as their first stop, with a limoncello tasting. If Sorrento genuinely interests you it deserves its own day: that is in Sorrento in a day.
Two warnings about timing, because they are the commonest cause of a day gone wrong. First: between Positano and Amalfi the bus claims fifty minutes and on summer weekends takes eighty, because one coach manoeuvring at Praiano is enough to stop the road in both directions. Always allow half an hour of margin on the last useful service. Second: at Positano the road passes 150 metres above the sea. Going down to the Spiaggia Grande and back up is forty minutes of steps that no official timetable mentions, and in the heat it becomes an hour.
Anyone who does not want to walk uphill has one honest solution: arrive in Positano from the sea and leave from the sea, which means the ferry or a tour that includes the boat leg. From the jetty to the beach is fifty flat metres.
Who should pick what
Bookings, timetables and what runs out
On the coast there are no timed-entry tickets as at Pompeii, but three things do run out.
Seats on the minivan tours. Small groups really are small, eight people typically, and in high season departures close days in advance. The premium tour of Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi (€58.50, 8 hrs 30) and the exclusive Amalfi Coast tour (€55.25, 9 hrs 30) are the two best sellers, with thousands of reviews each.
Ferry sailings. There are five a day out and four back: if the 16:24 from Positano is full, there is no next one and you go home by bus.
Seats on the buses. These cannot be booked at all. It is the one part of the day no ticket guarantees you.
Then there is a date that shifts everything and is written nowhere in the tour listings: SITA Sud’s switch to the autumn timetable, in mid-September. From that day services thin out, the last useful bus from Amalfi towards Sorrento moves earlier, and the ferries stop in early November. If you are going in autumn, check the current timetable board before you build the day around the last service.
One last thing about the car: do not bring it. The SS163 has private car parks in Positano and Amalfi with steep hourly rates, spaces fill by 10 in the morning, and in the peak summer months the towns impose their own traffic restrictions. A day on the coast in your own car means an hour spent looking for a space and paying more for it than two ferry tickets.
On meeting points the usual rule applies: the exact meeting point is on your voucher. Tours from Naples generally leave from the piazza Municipio area or from the cruise terminal, and being ten minutes late means they leave without you.
Same product, platforms compared
Prices refreshed from the GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout feeds.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuideFrom Naples: Exclusive Tour of Amalfi Coast | €55.25 Lowest price | ★ 4.8 (5,925) | 9 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| GetYourGuideFrom Naples: Premium Tour of Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi | €58.50 | ★ 4.8 (4,915) | 8 h 30 min | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| GetYourGuideFrom Naples: Sorrento, Positano & Amalfi Premium Tour | €58.50 | ★ 4.8 (18,267) | 8 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
On the same “minivan plus two towns” formula the platforms sit in different bands. Here is the comparison between the versions with a summer ferry leg and those that stay on the road:
Same product, platforms compared
Prices refreshed from the GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout feeds.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TiqetsAmalfi & Positano: Day Trip from Naples By Minivan | €53.10 Lowest price | ★ 4.5 (172) | 09:00 | — | Book on Tiqets |
| GetYourGuideFrom Naples: Amalfi Coast Day Trip in Positano & Amalfi | €65 | ★ 4.7 (2,735) | 8 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
And the comparison of the days that include the boat trip, where the price gaps are widest:
Same product, platforms compared
Prices refreshed from the GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout feeds.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuideSorrento, Positano & Amalfi Premium Tour & Boat from Naples | €58.50 Lowest price | ★ 4.8 (1,276) | 8 h 30 min | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| GetYourGuideFrom Naples: Amalfi, Positano & Sorrento tour with boat ride | €60.99 | ★ 4.8 (1,593) | 9 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| TiqetsAmalfi & Positano: Day Trip from Naples By Boat | €89.10 | ★ 4.5 (25) | 10:00 | — | Book on Tiqets |
The Amalfi, Positano and Sorrento tour with a boat trip (€60.99, 9 hrs) holds both together: road on the way out, sea in the middle. The Amalfi, Positano and Ravello boat tour (€84, 10 hrs) does the opposite and, according to its own listing, leaves Naples by bus for the harbour at Torre del Greco and boards there; Ravello is a paid option by minibus from Amalfi, with an hour in Ravello and an hour in Amalfi instead of the three and a half hours in Amalfi the version without it gives you.
This is the kind of detail to read before booking, because it changes the day more than the price does: two boat trips at the same cost can differ by two hours in time ashore. The two questions to put to any listing: which harbour you board at, and how many actual minutes you spend in each town.
Anyone who just wants the crossing, without a guide, has two clean products: the Naples–Positano ferry ticket (€34.45, about 1 hr 50) and the day ticket for Amalfi and Positano (€74), which leaves your return time free among those available. The shared shuttle to Positano (€50, about 2 hrs) takes the road without a guide: useful if you are sleeping there, not much use for a day trip. Anyone who wants Ravello included without building the bus connection themselves should look at the premium tour of Positano, Amalfi and Ravello (€63.20, eight hours).
Combining the coast with the rest
The coast plus Pompeii. The full Amalfi Coast and Pompeii tour from Naples (€70, 9 hrs) is the only pairing that holds up, because the excavations are on the way. Even so they are two half visits: if Pompeii genuinely interests you, give it the day with the plan in Pompeii in a day.
The coast plus Capri. By boat only and in season only. By road it cannot be done: Capri in a day has its own sailing times.
The coast in two halves over several days. If you are staying a while, the coast is better split: one day Positano from the sea, one day Amalfi and Ravello from the land.
For the connections inside Naples out to Beverello or Porta Nolana, lines, tickets and first and last services are in getting around Naples.
The local operators on the coast
The big catalogues resell the work of a handful of local outfits, and quality moves with them. Amalfi Coast Day Tours works the minivans from Naples and Sorrento with its own guides; Sea Horse is on the water, with gozzi and trips out of Positano; See Amalfi Coast works both as a private driver and as an organiser of tailored days, useful if there are four or more of you and splitting a per-vehicle price beats a per-person one. The comparison between the shipping companies — seasons, cancellations, refunds — is in the review of the gulf ferries.
If the idea is to spend the whole day on the water, the formats and the prices, both per person and per vessel, are compared in boat tours in the Gulf of Naples.
In short
An Amalfi Coast day trip from Naples costs €19.20 if you have time and patience, from €58.50 if you want somebody else to take on the SS163 and the full buses. The rules that do not change: leave early, allow 12 hours, do two towns rather than three, and if heat or bends are a problem choose the sea over the road. Positano and Amalfi in one day work well; Positano, Amalfi and Ravello in one day work badly.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to get to the Amalfi Coast from Naples?
On public transport €19.20 per person: €9.20 for the Circumvesuviana return to Sorrento plus €10 for the 24-hour COSTIERASITA ticket on the SITA Sud buses. By ferry, from April to early November, it starts at €32 each way to Positano. Minivan tours from Naples start at €58.50, prices checked regularly.
Can you see Positano and Amalfi on the same day?
Yes, and it is the standard day: about two hours in Positano and two in Amalfi, with 50 minutes of bus between them. Adding Ravello means taking the time from somewhere else: in that case a tour that already has it on the route is the better buy.
Minivan or boat?
The minivan sees the towns from the inside and stops at the viewpoints, the boat sees the coast from outside and skips the traffic. If you suffer on bends, or you are going in August, the boat is the right choice; if you want to walk the lanes of Positano and Amalfi, take the minivan.
Is the ferry from Naples to Positano convenient?
It is the most direct way, but it is seasonal: NLG runs it from 1 April to early November with departures from Molo Beverello at 10:00, 10:40 and 15:35 and returns from Positano at 09:15 and 16:24. Some sailings involve changing vessel at Capri, so check the connection before you buy.
How long does it take from Naples to Amalfi?
From 2 hours to 2 and a half by road in normal conditions, a good deal more on summer weekends. On public transport: 72–77 minutes by train to Sorrento plus about 1 hour 40 on the SITA Sud bus to Amalfi.
Are there direct buses from the coast to Naples?
SITA Sud runs just two direct Amalfi–Naples services, at 5:45 and 6:20 in the morning on weekdays, arriving at 7:45 and 8:15. For the evening return the only route is Amalfi–Sorrento by bus and then the Circumvesuviana.
Is it worth it in winter?
The road and the buses run all year, the ferries do not. From November to March you find Positano and Amalfi empty and many places shut: the day is still fine, but go by minivan or on public transport rather than counting on the sea.
Official sources
Read next
- SorrentoCircumvesuviana, Campania Express, hydrofoil, shuttle or airport transfer: verified fares and times for a Sorrento day trip from Naples.
- CapriHydrofoil or ferry to Capri, what the day costs, whether the Blue Grotto is on and which tour pays. Verified timetables and prices compared.
- PompeiiPompeii from Naples: €26.60 on your own or a tour from €45.50. Train, time bands, named ticket and the hour-by-hour plan. Check availability.
- Boat toursGozzo, shared boat, yacht or kayak: capacities, departure quays and verified prices per person or per boat. Pick the right format and book your trip.
- Getting aroundMetro, Circumvesuviana, ferries, Alibus and high-speed rail: lines, stations, minutes, fares and last useful services. Check tickets and transfers.