The Amalfi Coast: Beauty That Stays With You
Some places impress you. Others change you. The Amalfi Coast does both. It isn’t just about the views—though they are some of the most breathtaking in the world. It’s about how you feel when you’re here. The way the sea stretches endlessly before you, the way the scent of lemon blossoms drifts through the air, the way time slows to match the rhythm of the waves.
Every traveler comes to the Amalfi Coast with an image in mind: Positano’s pastel cascade, Amalfi’s grand cathedral, Ravello’s gardens suspended between sea and sky. But the real magic is in the details you don’t expect—a hidden cove you reach by boat, a family-run trattoria where the scialatielli ai frutti di mare tastes like pure joy, a sunset in Praiano that makes you pause and simply be.
With our custom itineraries, you experience the Amalfi Coast your way. Maybe that means exploring centuries-old lemon groves with a local farmer, tasting the sfusato amalfitano lemons that make this coastline unique. Maybe it’s a private boat to Capri, where you slip into the Blue Grotto just as the light is at its most dazzling. For some, it’s hiking the Path of the Gods, where each step reveals a new, impossible panorama. For others, it’s a lazy afternoon in Minori, where life is measured in the time it takes to sip a perfect espresso.
History is everywhere here, layered in churches, in watchtowers that once guarded against pirates, in the stories of the sailors, nobles, and artists who were all drawn to this coast. And yet, the Amalfi Coast is never stuck in the past—it is alive, vibrant, a place where beauty is not just admired but lived.
This is not a destination you simply check off a list. It’s a place that lingers in your memory, in the taste of salt on your lips, in the warmth of the Mediterranean sun, in the feeling that, just for a little while, you were part of something timeless.
Because the Amalfi Coast isn’t just somewhere you visit. It’s somewhere you carry with you, long after you’ve gone.
Amalfi Coast Escorted Touring: Our Favorite Spots
These places are some of our favorites. If you have other places you would like to visit on a Rome trip, just say so and we will make it happen!
On this page: Amalfi: The Town That Named a Coast | Atrani: Amalfi’s Secret Twin | Capri: The Island of Emperors, Exiles, and the Eternally Chic | Cetara: The Fishing Village That Tastes Like Tradition | Furore: The Fjord That Shouldn’t Exist | Minori: Where the Amalfi Coast Slows Down | Positano: The Postcard That Came to Life | Praiano: The Amalfi Coast’s Best-Kept Secret | Ravello: Music, Majesty, and the Best View in Italy | Scala: The Oldest Town on the Amalfi Coast | Vietri sul Mare: The Colorful Gateway to the Amalfi CoastAmalfi: The Town That Named a Coast
Amalfi: The Town That Named a Coast
Amalfi is where it all began. A thousand years ago, it was one of the great maritime republics, rivaling Venice and Genoa, its ships carrying trade, culture, and a touch of Mediterranean bravado across the seas. Today, its grandeur lingers—not in the bustling crowds but in the majesty of the Duomo di Sant’Andrea, its gold and black facade rising like a relic from another era. The paper mills, once the town’s economic heartbeat, still produce some of the world’s finest handcrafted paper. And the scent of lemons, impossibly large and fragrant, reminds visitors that Amalfi’s true wealth has always been its land, sea, and sun.
Atrani: Amalfi’s Secret Twin
Atrani is Amalfi’s quieter, humbler sibling—so close that most visitors miss it entirely, mistaking it for just another curve in the coastal road. But step through its archways, and you’ll find a town untouched by time, where laundry still flutters across alleyways too narrow for cars, and locals gather in the tiny piazza for espresso and conversation. Atrani is where Amalfi’s fishermen live, where life moves at the unhurried pace of the tides. It’s also where Italy’s medieval elite once sought refuge—Doge Masaniello fled here in disguise after a revolt, proving that even the powerful have always longed for a quiet escape.
Capri: The Island of Emperors, Exiles, and the Eternally Chic
Capri isn’t just a destination—it’s a declaration. Since the days of Emperor Tiberius, who ruled Rome from his cliffside retreat at Villa Jovis, this island has attracted those who prefer their luxury with a dose of seclusion. In the 20th century, Capri became the playground of Europe’s glitterati. Jackie Kennedy strolled its piazzetta in white jeans and oversized sunglasses, creating a uniform still copied today. The Faraglioni, those three limestone sea stacks, are the island’s calling card, best seen from the deck of a wooden gozzo boat with a glass of chilled Falanghina in hand. But the real Capri is in the small moments—an early-morning sfogliatella at Buonocore, the scent of citrus at Carthusia, an aperitivo at Bar Tiberio as the world drifts by.
Cetara: The Fishing Village That Tastes Like Tradition
Cetara is what the Amalfi Coast looked like before the world discovered it. A real fishing village, not a curated postcard, where men still head out before dawn and return with boats heavy with anchovies and tuna. The town is famous for colatura di alici, a rich amber-colored anchovy sauce that dates back to Roman times, drizzled over pasta for a punch of pure umami. There are no superyachts here, just wooden boats bobbing in the harbor and family-run trattorias where the seafood is as fresh as it gets. Cetara isn’t just a place—it’s a taste of history, of salt and tradition, bottled up and poured over spaghetti.
Furore: The Fjord That Shouldn’t Exist
Furore isn’t a village in the traditional sense—it’s a collection of houses clinging to cliffs, scattered like a secret whispered from the mountains to the sea. But its heart is the fjord, a deep, narrow gorge where fishermen’s cottages balance on the rocks, and a single arched bridge spans the turquoise water below. The fjord feels like a place forgotten by time, dramatic enough to have been a backdrop for Italian cinema in the 1940s. Today, it remains a place for dreamers—those who hike the cliffs above, kayak through the silent waters, or simply stand on the bridge, watching the waves roll in from an impossibly blue horizon.
Minori: Where the Amalfi Coast Slows Down
Minori is Amalfi’s unassuming neighbor, the place where Italians vacation when they want the beauty of the coast without the frenzy. The Romans knew what they were doing when they built a villa here in the first century AD—its ruins still remain, a reminder that even in ancient times, Minori was a place for rest. The town is also the soul of the Amalfi Coast’s pastry tradition, home to delizia al limone and rich ricotta-filled sfogliatella, best enjoyed with a sea view. Here, time slows, the crowds thin, and the Amalfi Coast reveals its gentler, more intimate side.
Positano: The Postcard That Came to Life
No place is photographed more than Positano, and yet no photograph ever quite does it justice. The town spills down the cliffs like a cascade of sun-faded pastels, as if it simply grew out of the rock. John Steinbeck called Positano “a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.” He was right. The best way to experience Positano is to get lost in it—wander the steep streets, stumble upon a hidden boutique, sip limoncello at a café where the view seems too perfect to be real.
Praiano: The Amalfi Coast’s Best-Kept Secret
Praiano exists in the golden hour. Perched between Positano and Amalfi, it’s the place where the sun lingers the longest before slipping into the sea. That endless light, painting the whitewashed houses in warm hues, is why Praiano remains a quiet favorite of artists and wanderers. Once a summer retreat for the Doges of Amalfi, it still holds onto a regal air—though today, its treasures are simpler: a quiet beach, a church with a majolica-tiled dome that glows at sunset, and a view that stretches endlessly toward Capri. In a coastline of drama, Praiano is the pause—the place where beauty doesn’t shout, but whispers.
Ravello: Music, Majesty, and the Best View in Italy
High above the sea, Ravello isn’t just a town—it’s a mood. Wagner found inspiration here, and his legacy lingers in the music festival that fills Villa Rufolo’s gardens each summer. Gore Vidal, who called Ravello home for over 30 years, described its view as “the most beautiful in the world.” Villa Cimbrone’s Terrazza dell’Infinito proves his point, where marble busts gaze out over an endless blue horizon. Ravello is where the Amalfi Coast exhales, where the rush of the sea fades into silence, and where every sunset feels like the curtain call of a masterpiece.
Scala: The Oldest Town on the Amalfi Coast
Before Amalfi rose to power, there was Scala. Founded in the 4th century, it’s the Amalfi Coast’s oldest settlement, a town of stone churches, medieval ruins, and quiet trails that wind through chestnut forests. Scala doesn’t try to impress—it simply exists, unbothered by time. Walk its streets, and you’ll find echoes of a forgotten past: the crumbling walls of Palazzo Gambardella, the solemn beauty of Sant’Eustachio’s ruins, and the panoramic terrace where monks once watched over the coastline. If the Amalfi Coast is a stage, Scala is the place behind the curtain, where history lingers in the shadows.
Vietri sul Mare: The Colorful Gateway to the Amalfi Coast
Vietri sul Mare is where the Amalfi Coast begins, both geographically and artistically. Its ceramic tradition dates back centuries, and its streets are a kaleidoscope of hand-painted tiles—lining staircases, adorning churches, brightening everyday life. The town itself is a canvas, from the majolica-covered dome of San Giovanni Battista to the tiny shops filled with ceramica vietrese, each piece a splash of sun-drenched color. Beyond the ceramics, Vietri offers a glimpse of the Amalfi Coast before the fanfare—a working town where fishermen still mend nets in the harbor, and where beauty isn’t curated, but lived.
Want to see what touring with us looks and feels like? We take photos during the trips, and you can see some of them in the galleries dedicated to them:
Rome, Amalfi & Tuscany 10-day Escorted Tour | Rome, Capri, Puglia & Tuscany 14-day Trip | Rome, Tuscany & Positano 12-day Vacation
