Amalfi Coast - Liberation Day (25 April) Weekend - Strategy for making it enjoyable?

I'm sorry to report that the crowds themselves will be a problem. We were there a few years back, in May, and were shoulder- shoulder with the crowds in the AC towns. The week before will be crowded, and the week after. There is no shoulder season in the AC.
The problem with the ferries is that they are weather dependent, and staying in Positano increases the issue, as the dock is smaller and more vulnerable to weather damage. When we visited, folks were complaining that they were so isolated, when the ferries were canceled. Overall, Positano is not a great place to stay, IMHO, due to transportation and accessibility issues. Also, it's mostly high- end shopping, and the beach is dark- colored pebbles, not sand.
Getting around takes time and patience. You probably need at least another day to compensate for the time actually traveling .
I hope acknowledging the realities on the ground , and plannning for them, will make your trip a great adventure. Safe Travels!

Would Capri be more comfortable than Positano, in terms of crowds?

Would it be safer to stay in Salerno or Sorrento (since they are not ferry-dependent) but reserve a day trip (by ferry or bus) to Positano? I know we'd be "competing" with all the other day-trippers, so would have crowds the entire time, but if the weather is bad then we'd just be canceling a ferry and not have to scramble to find alternate lodging.

How often are ferries canceled in late April?

Sorry, but bus isn't a great option. You may find long lines to board and have to stand the entire trip. You may not see anything of the coastline while enroute. Sometimes the buses are so full, they don't even stop for pick ups. There's no dependable schedule.

We used private transportation, Aldo Limos, who were great to work with. However, this is expensive, but does solve the problem. This may work if you have more folks among whom to divide the cost. But the private drivers are still stuck in the congestion, so this mode is not faster. I think it's much prettier to view the AC from the water, if the weather favors you.
No one can predict the weather, or how ferries will be affected next spring.
The bigger ferries come into Sorrento. The Positano dock is smaller and serves only the smaller ferries.
I do think Salerno or Sorrento are a better options than Positano. I wish we had stayed in Salerno instead of Sorrento, because Salerno has the better train access to the Rome airport. Getting to the Rome airport from Sorrento is either expensive ( private drivers) or just a pain, ( public transportation,).
I was so naive when we went to the AC, I never imagined how congested and crowded the area was/is, and how poor the transportation system is.
Good luck!

Thanks so much for these advanced warnings!

It sounds like the safest thing to do is just stay on the train all the way to Milan. Or better yet: fly. Or just stay home! ;) However, in order to have new experiences we have to take some risks. I just want to make sure the risks are within my comfort zone.

What are your thoughts:

1) Since we'll be taking the train from Sicily to Milan, it sounds like Salerno is the smartest place to use as a base. That minimizes the chance that transportation delays (due to weather or crowds) will affect either our lodging or our ability to catch the train to Milan.

2) Since we plan to stay 2 nights (or maybe 3), we'll be able to take a day trip to one (or more?) of the Amalfi Coast towns, but due to Liberation Day we should book ahead. It sounds like the roads are awful, so my instinct is to book a ferry. If the weather is bad, we can try to get a refund from the ferry, but the prices aren't bad, so even if we don't get a refund it won't be stressful. So, does ferry sound like the smart choice for a day trip?

3) To book a ferry we need to decide where we'll go (for the day trip). Capri and Positano are the most hyped, but also potentially the most stressful (if bad weather prevents a return trip). Are there other towns which would be fun to visit by ferry, ideally ones where if the return ferries get cancelled there's at least some way to get back to Salerno? Also, we're walkers, so I think it would be neat to walk from town to town, as long as there are safe walking paths.

Thanks again!

I decided to book 3 nights in Salerno, so there's a possibility for 2 day trips. If the weather is bad one of the days, then there's always a chance the other is okay.

Oh, I forgot to mention, May 1 is also a big holiday in Italy, like our Labor Day. We got caught this year in the May 1 crowds, folks on holiday who took the whole week before May 1 off. We were in Milan and then Lake Como, and the area was , sadly, a zoo. The regional trains into and out of Lake Como-Milan were packed like cattle cars, if they ran at all. I say this sadly, as Varenna in Lake Como was one of our favorite places. The influencers, who are photographing themselves everywhere, have ruined the area. I don't know if we will ever go back. :(

The plan is to take the (fast) morning train on Sunday 26 April train to Milan, where we'll meet my parents, who will be flying in at around 4pm. I don't think we'll be staying in Milan; the current plan is to head up to Lake Como and use one of its towns as a base. We haven't picked a Lake Como town yet.

So for those of us heading north via train, our options are either:

A) take train to Milan, meet my parents (somehow), head with them to Lake Como (by rental car I think)

B) take train(s) all the way to whichever Lake Como town they/we pick, or as close as we can get to it, meet my parents there

Are the Apr 25 / May 1 crowds likely to make option B less attractive (and possibly more expensive)?

Also, do you think upgrading to 1st class would help reduce the chaotic / sardine-like feeling?

Would Capri be more comfortable than Positano, in terms of crowds?

Probably, if you get off the main streets. Quite honestly we enjoyed Capri far more than the Amalfi Coast with scenery just as spectacular. It's on the list for a few nights stay in the future. We were based Sorrento in 2023 for two weeks in late April and early May. I didn't find the crowds annoying anywhere except for transportation. Buses and cars on the Coast were horrible. Having said that, we've also been there in October and traffic was also horrible.

Given the crowds, would it make sense to book a ferry to Capri now (months in advance) and cross our fingers that the weather's good, or that we can somehow get a refund? Or should we wait until closer to the day?

Also, in terms of the 2 day trips, it seems safer to schedule Capri for the 1st day, so if we can't return, we at least have another day to get back to Salerno before our train leaves. That would mean Amalfi Coast (possibly Positano) on the 2nd day (25 April yikes), where there's more options for getting back to Salerno.

And finally, is it generally a good idea to take the earliest possible ferry there, and the latest back, to have at least some time without crowds at their maximum? Or it is better to pick the 2nd latest back, so that if it's cancelled you still have one more chance of getting back that night?

The ferry ports in Sorrento and Capri are much more stable than the one in Positano so it will be less worrisome, however it's probably a good idea to not take the last ferry. The boats they use to Capri are huge and less likely to fill up. We booked our tickets the day before with no issues.

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer regarding crowds. This past May 2025, we tried buying first class tickets on the Milan to Varenna train. That was a joke. The seats aren't reserved, as these are regional trains. We tried to get into the very small first class section, and it was already packed. The train before ours had been canceled, so all those folks delayed jumped onto our train as soon as they could. We sat on the floor , on a hot train, and many were standing.
The return train from Varenna to Milan was even more chaotic, and there was serious pushing and shoving to get on/off trains.
I think hiring a driver would be the best option. If we ever return, this is what we would do. The problem with a rental car is finding a parking space in Lake Como, unless your hotel has parking. In Varenna, we watched a line of cars waiting to get into the only parking garage, which was full. One car left, one car was allowed in. There was actually traffic control for the parking garage.

The ferries at Lake Como are also a challenge. Folks were standing in lines, for over an hour, in the hot sun, just to buy tickets. We found that buying tickets as soon as the ticket office opened, around 7:30am, worked best. You can't buy tickets online or the day before. Then travel around the lake early, getting on the ferry around 9am. Finish up your adventures, and return to your hotel area by 2:00pm. After that, the lines for your return ferries are huge, again one hour plus wait.
I hope this helps.

Thanks for the warnings about the Milan to Varrenna train. I think I'll just book a train to Milan and then find a way to meet my parents there, who will (probably) be renting a car. I'll also try to make sure we get a place which has its own parking.

And thanks for the tips about the ferries. We tend to be early risers, so we'll take advantage of that.

I watched Rick's TV shows for Amalfi Coast and Milan+Lake Como. Both were very enjoyable, but they're at least 15 years old, right? At one point Rick pulls out his flip phone and says having a cell phone is a good idea. Hmm. Little did he know...

It's interesting how much of an effect social media (and Rick himself) have on travel destinations. We live in Wanaka, New Zealand and thanks to popular photos of That Wanaka Tree (a tree growing from the lake with mountains in the background), the town has so many more tourists now than it did when we first moved here around about 13 years ago. In the old days we used to call it the "secret tree" but it's definitely not a secret anymore; in fact, during the day it is now constantly surrounded by a crowd of tourists, rain or shine. However, the tourists here don't bother me. They're part of the reason I like this place. Lots of positive energy. But the driving is definitely less fun. So much traffic compared to the good old days! Tourists = good, tourist vehicles = bad!

I wonder if it's the same in Italy, with crowds being fine on foot, but not on the road! If so then it sounds like the same problem as here: transportation bottlenecks. Not sure if there is a solution, other than vlogging and posting about how bad it is, so that people don't want to come! :)

Only the east side of Lake Como has rail service; that's where Varenna is located. There are no trains to Bellagio or Menaggio, two other convenient places to stay; those you can reach from Como by ferry, bus or car. I readily moved around Lake Como for 4 nights last year by ferry and bus. A car might not be very helpful. Others have reported the views from the roads near the lake aren't as good as the view from the ferries.

I assume late April is not as busy a time on Lake Como as mid-summer, however, there is a great demand for lodging in the most convenient towns--including those mentioned above, which are on the mid-lake ferry circuit. I believe you'll find it harder than expected to find suitable lodging at this point. I'd suggest an immediate look at booking.com to get an idea of what is available. After identifying a few options, you can check the hotels' websites for (quite possibly) better prices.

Thanks for the info.

After talking to my parents, we decided to skip Milan/Como for this trip and just focus on Tuscany. So after the girls and I visit the Amalfi Coast, we'll take the train to Florence, and then use Siena as a base for exploring Tuscany for a few days. Hopefully the inland towns won't be too crowded even with the late-April holidays. Even so, we're booking our lodging, planes, and trains well ahead of time.

However, I haven't yet booked our day-trip ferries in the Amalfi Coast, because they're so weather dependent and I'd rather not have to struggle getting refunds (the ferries are not exactly cheap). I've read that reserving ferries a day or two in advance is a good strategy. I think as we get closer to the dates (24 and 25 April) I'll have a better sense of what the weather might be like, and whether it makes sense to aim for Capri the first day or stick to the mainland just in case our return ferry gets canceled and we need alternate transportation back to Salerno.