Positano in November 2017

[Pauline]

I am behind on my posting because Valerie and Bryan kept us busy! They have gone home to Basilicata now and I am getting caught up on my notes.

Valerie and Bryan drove here, so we had their car at our disposal. On Friday Bryan drove us all to Amalfi. The coast road was not busy. Such a difference from the last time we were here - May 2016 - when the traffic was thick and chaotic. This time we were able to pull over to the side of the road and get out to look at views or down into coves.

We parked in that new parking lot, between Amalfi and Atrani, that is built into the hillside. Only the driver can go with the car into the lot. The passengers have to get out at the entry.

We walked into Atrani first. There is an easy way to walk from the car park, along the road for a few feet, then just before the tunnel you take a right into the outdoor terrace of a restaurant which leads to stairs and to a small road that goes down to the water and in a tunnel under the coast road to Atrani. In planning this trip I had thought to stay in Atrani so researched how to walk from Atrani to Amalfi (they are very close - maybe 1/2 mile apart). I found a website describing this walk and confirmed it on Google Maps Street View. It was fun to walk it - and it all seemed .

We had a good walk around Atrani including up to the church on the stairs/trail to Ravello. Atrani is charming but I am happy we did not stay there. Perhaps a bit too small. But the benefit is that it is not full of tourists like Amalfi.

We then walked the high walkway to Amalfi. Up narrow alleys, up stairs, along a walkway high above the highway, until you get to the outskirst of Amalfi, then stairs down to the town. Very beautiful.

We had a good look around Amalfi. We walked up several alleys, climbed stairs, walked to the end of the road and found a building with vacation rentals that I had considered renting. They looked nice - maybe next time. We had lunch in the small piazza off the main street.

Earlier this year I had put a hold on a vacation rental in Amalfi but backed out because it was up 250 steps. Steve and I walked up to it to see what it would have been like. It was a similar walk up alleys and stairs and then on a walkway, as we did in Atrani, but then you arrived at a building clinging to the side of the hill overlooking the highway and you had four more flights to go to the apartment at the top of the building. We had walked 180 steps to get there. I think we made a good decision. Too many stairs!! But it would have been a lovely view.

Today was Valerie's birthday and we all went out for dinner. We went to Tre Sorelle, one of the restaurants on the beach in Positano, not far from where are staying. We ate there with Valerie and Bryan in May 2016 and Valerie and Steve shared a 2 person salted fish this time, the same as they did last time. They loved it. I had vegetable soup and pumpkin ravioli. Bryan had fish. We all finished with limoncello which is the strongest drink I have had in years! Really nice, but too much of a kick!

The days are short now. Positano goes into shade around 4pm and it is getting dark by 5pm. We have to dress warmly at night. The weather has been excellent. Temps in the mid 60sF with lovely sun. It is changing next week.

As everyone told me, we are at the end of the season for Positano. We wanted to eat at Buco di Bacca on Saturday night but they shut for the season on Oct 31. All the bus schedules change then too. Fewer buses to Montepertuso/Nocelle and to Praiano. The boats to Amalfi and Capri ran until Nov 5, but now they have stopped. A few restaurants and shops are closed now, but lots are still open and there are still tourist out and about, but not as many as before.

Photos in next post.

 

[Pauline]

Looking at my photos reminded me that we loved the church in Amalfi. The cloister is beautiful. And we took the new elevator up to the cemetary on the hill above Amalfi. The elevator is located in a tunnel off the tunnel to the new parking lot between Amalfi and Atrani, at the east end of Amalfi.

View from our morning coffee. Cloudy in the morning but it cleared up.

Food shop near the church where we get our groceries.

The pedestrian street by the church in the morning before the crowds arrive.

Heading out on the coast road with SITA buses passing.

Pauline, Steve and Valerie with Atrani behind.

View from the church in Atrani looking down the coast.

View of Atrani.

View of Amalfi from path from Atrani.
​

Church in Amalfi with 3 of us standing in front. Since Byran took this, I don't know why I have this photo in my collection.

Inside Amalfi church.

View of Amalfi from the cemetary. You take an elevator here.

Stopping on the coast road with sunset over Positano and Capri.

 

[Pauline]

After a day of touring, Steve and I needed to get back on the hiking trails. Bryan drove us all to Ravello. Bryan and Valerie visited the famous villa and gardens, had lunch, explored Ravello. Steve and I put on our backpacks and walked for 3 hours from Ravello down to Amalfi.

First we walked from Ravello to Scala. We were on the road for much of the way but there was little traffic. It was sunny and beautiful. Scala is a small town in the center of the bowl surrounded by villages and the larger Ravello. Surrounding them are mountains. Last year we walked from Ravello in a circle at the base of the mountains, through the small villages, but we did not get into Scala.

We walked through Scala (charming and off the tourist trail) to Minuta (a small village) and joined the trail we had walked last year. From there on alleys between houses and lemon groves to Pontone. There we joined the Valle di Mulini trail that we also walked last year, this time going in the reverse direction. This trail descends on a stone path to the bottom of the valley where there is a river, waterfalls and the remains of several mills. From there it is an easy downhill walk to Amalfi.

It was a lovely walk. We were early for our meeting time with Valerie and Bryan so we had a coffee in a cafe near the water. After walking five miles, much of it on stairs, I tripped on a stair entering the cafe and landed on knees and hands!! People ran over to help and it was embarassing. I landed almost at Steve's feet. Nothing was hurt except my pride!! Upright once more we got back into the car and drove back on the coast road.

We stopped at Furore Fjord, a deep cove that you cannot drive to. You walk down steep stairs to get to it. We had planned to do a hike that starts in Marina di Praia, goes up and over then down to Furore Fjord, then up and over again to Marina di Conca. After standing on the coast road looking down to the Fjord (just a cove, not really a Fjord), and noticing a sewer-like smell, we crossed that hike off our list.

Next we drove down into Marina di Praia. End of season is great for not much traffic and lots of parking. We parked, walked on a pathway along the water until the edge of Priano, turned back and had aperitifs in a cafe in the cove. Very beautiful.

Back home and dinner out tonight at La Cambusa, the restaurant above Le Tre Sorelle. I had an excellent eggplant parmigiana, Bryan had spaghetti with clams, Steve and Valerie had fish. Another great dinner. This time I refused the limoncello!

We had a quick look at the mosaics in the Ravello church.

Scala.

Walking through Scala.

View of Ravello from Minuta.

Minuta.

The season is over. Last year, in May, someone was selling fresh lemon or orange juice here.

Marina di Praia.

 

[Pauline]

Today, Sunday, Valerie and Byran headed home, but first dropped us in Castellmare di Stabia at the Stabia archaeological site (Villa San Marco), a large villa destroyed by Vesuvius when Pompeii was destroyed. Fabulous. It is easy to find, there was lots of parking and there were only a few people there.

From there we took a taxi to Oplontis in Torre Annunziata near Pompeii, but first stopping at Villa Adriana which is close to Stabia (the taxi driver told us about it and we had him wait while we spent 10 minutes there).

Oplontis (Villa Poppea) is in a busy area. Traffic was thick and I saw only street parking. Oplontis was another villa, smaller than Stabia and closer to Pompeii. Interesting frescoes.

From there we took the train a couple of stops to Pompeii and spent a couple of hours there. We have visited Pompeii twice before but we never saw the villa of mysteries. This time we found it - outside the main area - and saw the beautiful frescoes.

Train to Sorrento where we had to wait an hour for the Positano bus because the Sunday schedule has fewer buses than weekdays. It was clouding over and starting to rain. We got the 5pm bus and were back in Positano in 35 minutes.

I uploaded photos but several would not upload. I will try again with them tomorrow. Here is what I did upload.

Small bird fresco at Stabia.

Pompeii - Roman road showing ruts from carts.

Pompeii - forum.

 

[italian excursion]

Your Capri day looks amazing, not to mention the rest of your trip. I'm ready to return tomorrow! Thanks for the glimpse of paradise. I promise to find time to review my vacation rental in Stia and do a small trip report.....When, you ask? hmmm. Very, very soon!

Baci,
Cheryl
www.italianexcursion.com

 

[Pauline]

Monday was forecast to be sunny but it rained heavily overnight and was overcast in the morning. We walked out to our cafe for espresso and cornetto, as usual, only to find the part of town by the water was flooded with mud. The heavy rain in the night brought mud down from the mountains into the river that runs down through Positano. This overflowed at the bottom where it goes to the sea and spread mud around that whole lower area - where the seaside restaurants are. The mud was worse than usual because of the fires a few months ago. There are big patches of dead trees, so these are no longer holding the earth on the hill.

Steve woke up in the middle of the night, saw the lightening and heard the heavy rain. I slept through it.

People were out cleaning all around that lower area. The steps to the church were covered in mud. Later someone showed us a video of water rushing down one of the staircases.

The deli that we shop at, by the church, was closed up for the season, so we decided to climb up through town to the shop up on the coast road, where we did all our shopping on our trip last year. Walking up through town was interesting. We saw a rat! He was trapped on one of the long sidewalks and could not find any way to get off. He ran back and forth, finally ran by us. People were out sweeping up the debris. We saw a few shops that had taken water, but nothing as bad as the shops at the bottom of town. Endless stairs up to the top of town. There was not much traffic so we walked on the road in places to make the climb less steep.

The alimentari at the top of town was open and Giovanni who runs it remembered us from last year! Last year he and Steve spoke frequently, but I did not expect him to remember us when he must see thousands of tourists each year. Bar Internationale was closed, but probably just for the day. We checked out the new shop up top too, further down the road. We stocked up on groceries, then walked back to the bottom of town.

It started to rain in the afternoon. By late afternoon it was quite a storm with lightening and thunder and water rushing down the stairs we can see from our terrace, that go behind the church to a street of shops. The storm lasted for a few hours. Our electricity fluttered a couple of times but did not go off.

This street up from the water was hit hard. The river runs here and it must have overflowed.

They moved all the ferry ticket booths up from beside the water.

A lot of mud in front of the beachfront restaurants.

The cafe closest to the water where we have been going was closed and the waiters were out cleaning off the chairs.

You can see the debris left as the river ran out to the sea.

 

[Pauline]

Tuesday was forecast to be a big day of rain and it did not disappoint! We even had hail at one point. The rain was not heavy all day and we managed to get out of the house twice. The first time we had a look at the area by the water. Still muddy but not as bad as Monday. The restaurants down there are all closed. We walked up the pedestrian shopping lane that goes to Piazza Mulini and about 1/4 of the shops were open (the road is lined with clothing shops). The grocery shop was open, but the bakery on this lane and the one in the Piazza were not open.

Later in the day it cleared so we walked up through town. A few restaurants were open, the food shops were open and there was a guy with an Ape full of fruit and vegetables holding a one person market. I got some of that lovely orange squash. We walked up the road, which was not full of traffic, until it looked like the rain might start again, then walked back.

It is interesting being here during this bad weather. It is a combination of off season and bad weather. Most of the tourists have gone, the traffic is light - it feels like a different place. You can see things better without all the people distracting you.

Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny. If it is, we might hit the trails above Positano just to see what they are like. We have our boots and our walking poles and will turn back if they are too muddy. A more sensible alternative would be to take the bus to Amalfi, then walk to Atrani and onto Minori on the mostly paved paths. We'll see.

We leave on Thursday afternoon, so we will have the morning to do some kind of walk. We arranged for a porter to get our bags so we don't have to lug them! They have small electric vehicles that go up and down the lanes.

The house is comfortable and we've been able to get groceries, so we have not suffered during the two days of bad weather. Steve is doing German lessons on the computer and I am knitting and watching junk on Netflix

Le Tre Sorelle, where we had dinner last Friday, is closed.

People watching the rough seas.

The ticket booths were moved away from the water. The cafe we liked is down past them. You can see where the river broke through (it goes underground here).

View of a cloudy Positano. The apartment we rented is left of the church, beside that red building.

Empty streets.

 

[Pauline]

A few more photos from today.

Lemon flavored pasta.

Linens made in Umbria with Positano themes.

A good example of a cafe menu. Prices are for standing at the bar.

Capri watches. Valerie told me about these. I had not noticed them before.

Desserts! One of them is apple pie.

 

[Pauline]

A few more photos from Sunday of the Stabia archaeology site Villa San Marco.

And one from Pompeii.

Wonderful frescoes in the Villa of Mysteries

 

[Pauline]

Thank you @BryanS for twice driving us to Amalfi while you were here. Today we took the SITA bus and going out was okay, but coming back - well, I still feel dizzy. I only ate half of my dinner - and if you know me, this is not normal behaviour!!

Turning stomach aside, today was fabulous. After two days of mostly overcast and rain, we woke up to brilliant sunshine. It was cooler, so we started out with sweaters and fleeces, but peeled those off as the day went by. We got the 10:15 SITA bus to Amalfi. You cannot easily buy bus tickets in the Tobacco shops now, but at the major stops a guy appears beside the bus, sometimes with a little booth, and sells you tickets. It was all confusing and ended with a full bus leaving about 5 minutes early. No one was standing - which is a nice change from on-season.

In Amalfi we changed to the Amalfi-Salerno bus and got off after 15 minutes in Minori. This is where today's hike started.

First we visited the Roman Villa in the center of Minori. It is a small villa dug out along the main street behind a hotel. There are a few mosaics. The small museum has frescoes and other things removed from the villa. Then we walked along the waterfront taking delight in such a non-Amalfi Coast town! Maybe only one ceramics shop, no clothes shops, not many tourists. Minori has a long sandy beach.

Walk: From Cicerone Guide - Walking on the Amalfi Coast - Walk 27 - Arco Naturale - Faraglioni Minori - Atrani - Amalfi, 2.6 miles, 1hr 50min. It took us 2hr 30min.

The hike starts from the beach, going up stairs, crossing the coast road higher up, up more stairs, more stairs, more stairs, a couple of cats to divert us, someone walking down who wanted to tell us how much he loved where he lived in the town above, and after 45 minutes we are in the very small town of Torello which sits on a ledge below the more famous Ravello. The small church has two Roman columns.

Then down, down on stairs. So far our feet had not touched dirt. Because of all the rain we thought the trails high up, the dirt trails, might be muddy or even washed out in spots above Positano. This Minori - Amalfi hike was on my list to do, but if I wasn't worried about the trails I would have walked to Grotte de Santa Barbara from Praiano. That was the one we thought we were doing early on, but we ended up on the Path of the Gods.

We wound our way mostly down along terraces lined with lemon groves and olive groves. We had beautiful views back to Minori and the next town east, Majori (larger). We walked on stairs, on dirt trails (not muddy) and on narrow ledges along terraces. It was spectacular. We saw only a few other walkers. This is the Amalfi Coast walk that I dream of - walking along the terraces, seeing the farms, views of the coast.

Parts of the route were very steep going down on concrete steps. There was some debris from the rain, mostly olives from the trees. Two dogs barked at us, but they were safely up on a terrace above us and could not come near (I am afraid of dogs).

We came down into Atrani where we had been with Bryan and Valerie a few days ago. We took the shorter, lower route to Amalfi, crossing the coast road and going through the parking lot tunnel. The tunnel had public toilets (€0.50 - the standard price here) which was a great relief for me because there was nowhere to go "off the trail" on these terraces.

We made it into Amalfi before 2:30 and had a late lunch at the same restaurant we ate at before. I liked their pasta. The outdoor tables were in the shade. Everywhere in Amalfi, except along the water, was in the shade. We put our layers back on. The pasta was very good.

For the first time, I threw away the peanut butter sandwiches. Which I regretted on the bus ride. Even though we strolled around for 30 minutes before the bus and I did not have coffee, it was too soon after eating to ride that bus. A peanut butter sandwich eaten an hour earlier would have been better. At least I did not throw up, but I was woozy when we got off the bus. We also had to sit in a cloud of hair spray and perfume from the women behind us - that didn't help.

But, ignoring the bus ride home, what a beautiful day! Some last lovely sunshine. I teared up a few times today because we are leaving tomorrow. We don't check out until 2:15, so we have the morning, and sun is in the forecast (and then rain in the afternoon).

Tonight we walked around by the water. Everything is closed down there except Chez Black! Small diggers are moving piles of sand and dirt around, repairing the damage from the river flooding. It looks like a lot of the hotels are closed too. It is a very different town these last few days.

I don't regret coming so late in the year, but I think it is best to come the last two weeks of October. Bus schedules change November 1, hotels and restaurants close. Many kept open until the first weekend in November, even the ferries were running up until November 5, the first Sunday of the month. We knew this when planning the trip but we had things in October that we could not reschedule.

Roman villa in the center of Minori.

5 minutes into our climbing stairs from Minori to Torello. We started at the water and climbed up to the coast road (not far).

Looking back over Minori.

Steve getting more water at a fountain in Torello.

Looking through the Roman columns of the church in Torello.

Walking along the terraces with Ravello above.

Looking towards Majori from the terraces.

The only time we saw real debris from the heavy rain. A chair!

On the trail to Atrani. You can walk from Ravello down to this trail.

The piazza in front of the church in Atrani.

Back in Amalfi, where the SITA buses arrive and depart.

 

[Cameron]

Wow! Thank you for sharing your photos and reports.

I loved Positano and the surrounding area. We were based in Sorrento, so Positano was seen by taking a few ferry trips. You did so much hiking on trails we had wanted to take.

 

[BryanS]

Thank you @BryanS for twice driving us to Amalfi while you were here. Today we took the SITA bus and going out was okay, but coming back - well, I still feel dizzy. I only ate half of my dinner - and if you know me, this is not normal behaviour!!

Remember that I felt a bit ill after the ride from Nocelle to Positano on the bus...nothing a quick nap didn't cure.

We had a great time - Thanks!

 

[Pauline]

I felt sick after that bus ride for the whole evening! This is the problem with the Amalfi coast - transportation. On our trip last year in early May we rented a car but the parking spot that came with the house we rented was tricky to get into and annoying. The driving was okay (except for the bus driving into us - have I mentioned that?). We took the SITA bus to Amalfi and it was very crowded. This time we decided to try it without a car but we really had a car for a few days because of Bryan, plus we used a car service once to get us to the start of the Path of the Gods hike. On both trips the boats were not always running because of rough water and when I did ride the ferry this time, I didn't like it.

So, what is the solution?

I think one option for us would be no car, but rent one week in Positano and do all the walks from Positano and Praiano, then the second week in Amalfi and do the Amalfi - Ravello - Minori walks from there. Car service to and from airport and from Positano to Amalfi. Or rent a car. If you go off season the roads are not as crowded, but many of the roads are difficult to drive. Here is a photo from the bus between Amalfi and Minori. This car made it by the bus but the next one had to scrape its mirror on the rock wall to get by. There was no other way for the bus to get past these cars.

This was interesting to watch from the bus. The blue car in the photo, behind this red car, was waved ahead by the bus driver and tried to fit, but gave up and backed up. The red car passed the blue car and made it. Then the bus driver insisited that the blue car go. The driver did not pull in the mirror and it scraped along the wall as they drove past. Yikes!

The remote location of the Amalfi Coast is what makes it so spectacular and also what makes it so difficult to deal with. The motorway/highway ends around Pompeii, so coming from Naples airport the last hour of the drive is on a small road that winds along the edge of the mountains going through Meta di Sorrento, then over the mountain and along the coast road to Positano. The whole coast road is narrow. There is one lane in each direction but there are frequently cars parked along the road making it more narrow. Then the road goes through the towns where there are shops, people walking, more cars stopped. Plus the steep 1000 foot dropoff on the sea side of the road. Motorcycles pass frequently and sometimes cars do too.

It all makes it very exciting, which is part of the appeal.

On our last day our flight from Naples Airport was not until 7pm, so we had the morning. We got up early, had coffee at the only bar open in the lower part of town, then started walking up. The sun was out and it was warm. It took 25 minutes up the steep stairs to get to the Bar Internationale where we had another coffee and cornetto. Then we walked up past Chiesa Nuova, up through the top of town, across the Montepertuso road and up onto the trails for another hour until we were about 3/4 of the way to the top. We reached the intersection with the Montepertuso trail that we had walked our first day on the trip. The views the whole way up were incredible and we stopped frequently to admire them and catch our breath.

After all the rain, the trails were fine. Much of this trail was rock steps, but part was dirt trail. The rock was not slippery and the dirt was not mud. We walked back in half the time, all the way back to the beach. Then we made our last lunch, packed up and checked out. We had to pay for our electricity - 57 Euro. We used the heat in the evenings, so that was resposible for the high cost. The car service arranged for porters to get our bags which was a nice treat. They took the suitcases and we walked up to the car service place.

The drive to the airport went well except for one thing. Two tunnels north of Castelmare de Stabia were closed because of flooding from the heavy rains. We were in thick traffic for 30 minutes crawling through Stabia to get around the tunnels and onto the highway.

I forgot to mention one incident which shows the warmth and generosity of Italians even in this busy, touristy area. When we were at Villa San Marco, one of the Pompeii sites in Castelmare de Stabia, we wanted to get a taxi to take us to Oplontis (near Pompeii). But Villa San Marco is on the outskirts of the town and there were no cafes or anything nearby. We could have walked to the train but it was a 30 minute walk, possibly on busy roads.

We asked the woman in the entrance booth for Villa San Marco if she could call a taxi for us. She called one but they would not come (it was Sunday lunch time). As we were discussing this, two Italian families were going into the site. Two men stopped, joined the conversation, got the phone number for another taxi company on their phones, one of them placed the call, handed the phone to the woman in the booth so she could order the taxi and get a commission for doing this, then had her write down the number for future use. They made sure we were able to get a taxi.

It is things like this that make travel to Italy easier. Locals were very friendly to us. People in the shops remembered us, the guys in the cafe chatted with us, people on the walking trails always greeted us. The car service guys (Positano Car Service) made sure we had fragrance-free cars both times we used them and the drivers were very nice and friendly, plus great drivers. The bus drivers were not that friendly and the guy behind the bar in Bar Internationalle was not the least bit friendly, but then he was exactly the same last year.

This was a fabulous trip for us. I felt deep joy being there, in the sunshine and doing those walks. The more time I spend in Positano, the more I love it. It is enchanting. I can't believe the town was ever built the way it clings to the steep hillside, let alone how they keep it all working.

A few photos from our last walk.

View from our walk. We walked up from the beach which seems so far down there, but it was not a difficult walk. Once you get through Positano the path is not that steep.

A happy Pauline.

A happy Steve.

Another view.

Bar Internationale which is at the top of Positano, on the coast road.

Apologies for all the spelling mistakes, mistakes in Italian town names, and typos.

Edited to add my miles for the 12 days in Positano:
66 miles walked
721 flights of stairs

The miles walked is low because walking up stairs is slow going!

 

[BryanS]

 

[Ian Sutton]

Wow, some wonderful notes that I'll have to read in more detail. For now though a quick agreement that I'm sure you were right not to stay in Atrani. I really like the place, but for me it's a cooling refuge on a stinking hot day, so in November is likely to be merely a bit enclosed, cold and dark, and lacking the stunning views that should still be visually appealing in colder months.

 

[joe]

What a fantastic trip, thanks for showing all the views and the accompanying notes. Methinks you got quite lucky with the weather - we were on the Ligurian coast in the beginning of November 2008 - trails were closed because of the miserable weather.
Hasn't a good car/taxi service developed along the Amalfi coast to serve the tourists who prefer not to drive or use a bus? Is this type of service very expensive compared to other options?

 

[Ian Sutton]

Hi Joe
I'm sure I saw at least one mentioned on the old slow trav forum, so I'm sure someone will chime in.

There are some other travel options that for some days will be perfect:
- Shanks' pony (aka walking). As Pauline mentions, there are loads of steps, and some walks can be quite taxing going up hill, or a little tricky going downhill in the wet. However there are lots of easier routes and some that amazingly have few steps at all (a favourite not in the Trippett guide is heading inland from Ravello on a good woodland path, great on a hot day, but could also be good on a rainy day). The networks of paths are a joy.
- Ferries. More relaxing than the bus, and give another perspective on the coast - indeed for me it's the best way to approach Positano.

Out of peak season the buses aren't as crowded, but even Sept/Oct can get quite busy up to Ravello because they have to use smaller buses on the winding roads. We've stayed up in Pogerola a couple of times and this bus notably doesn't get as crowded.

There are taxis at the tunnel entrance to Ravello's main square, where the promenade meets Amalfi's main street and presumably in other locations, so there is always the option to plan to take the bus there & back, then cheat and take a cab.

Regards
Ian

p.s. I do like Minori as well, embarrassingly initially lumping it in with Maiori (they are really very different). That villa is great (and free to visit, though there was a low-key donations box) and a nice size to wander around. A couple of decent food shops there as well. On top of that, the walk down from Ravello to Minori is less steep than the Ravello to Amalfi walk that emerges near the Amalfi/Atrani road tunnel.

 

[Valerie]

The buses are definitely stomach-challenging! Next time...a week in Amalfi and a week in the Cilento!!

 

[Pauline]

There are taxis and car services but they are expensive because places are far apart. Our ride from Positano to Bomarano was 100 Euro for a 1hr 15min ride. I don’t know what they charge for Positano to Amalfi, which is a 45 min drive. But this would be an option like Ian suggests, bus one way, taxi the other.

I did not enjoy the ferry ride to and from Capri but the water was rough. In warmer weather the Ferries are an option.

We were very lucky with the weather. Even after two days of rain, with some flooding, the trails were fine. The main problem was that we went after the time change and the days were short! Positano was in shade from 4pm but Praiano was in the sun!

We will return I am sure. We both loved the trails! And I do want to try the Cilento too. I am working on our travel plans for next year.