Amalfi Coast Travel Nightmare

Hi, Princess. We’re planning an Italy trip for Sept/Oct with a cruise, but also staying in Venice, Florence and Rome. I keep reading about how busy places are, but I think you’re right, we can’t comprehend how packed it is until we experience it ourselves. Is there anyplace in the states that would give us an idea how busy? Disneyland on a holiday weekend? New Years Eve at Times Square? I know each city and different areas at different times will be busier than others, but any ideas would help us be prepared.
Thank you!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2026/05/07/italy-amalfi-less-crowded-beaches/

We were in Salerno, Amalfi Town and Sorrento April 18- May 2. It was crowded but not as bad as the video posted here. I'm glad we went, but I doubt we'll ever go again. And Minori was not devoid of people.

April 2025 we based out of Salerno, and hired a driver & guide to take us to Vietri sul Mare, Ravello & Minori, beginning at 10AM on a beautiful Friday. Vietri was fine, very enjoyable. The drive up to Ravello and lunch there was crowded, and the walk afterwards to the Villa Cimbrone gardens was packed with people. Finally, we were driven down to Minori and the famed Sal de Riso dessert joint. Crowded, glad we didn't have to park--the driver idled while we went in. Snagged a table in short order, had some delectable pastries and were happy.

Bottom line is that we would not have been able to do this in 6 hours on our own, using public transportation with the SITA bus and ferry. We paid $400 ($100 apiece for 4 people) to the driver & guide but we thought it was well worth the money.

kmora
The crowds in cities you will be visiting can be compared to Disneyland, especially at famous tourist sights. But unlike Disneyland, which is very small, there are spots in those cities, even in the city center, where things will be very quiet or certainly no worse than San Diego’s Gas Light district on an average weekend.

Thank you. I appreciate the responses from all of you.
Roberto, your example using San Diego’s Gaslamp area is so helpful and puts it all in perspective. We will know what to expect and just be prepared to search out quieter areas if it becomes too much.
Again, thank you!

We should make a distinction between crowds at attraction points and general crowds. Attraction points like museums or sights cannot be avoided: so many persons want to see St. Peter or Louvre or Uffizi, often museums have an upper limit to visitors number to avoid damaging works of art; by mathematical definition when the number of request is more than capacity you develop a queue, that may be physical (on the spot) or virtualized with reservations. I see a new phenomenon, some organized tours may offer skip-the-line tickets. Some people think, I pay more and get in earlier; this works only if the skip-the-line tickets are very few. If everybody wants to skip the line, an extra line develops. About crowds at attraction points: you either endure them or remove yourself from the premises. I am glad I have seen so many sights in my younger years as I am no more inclined to endure their queues.

About general crowds, that are crowds in alleys and piazzas: in cities some crowds may be annoying. For example the main itinerary between railway station and Duomo in Florence (via de' Cerretani/via de' Panzani) is often crowded; but as you step in lateral alleys, you find more spaces. Piazzas were often built as meeting points so supposed to be crowded. A couple weeks ago I spent half an hour in Piazza dell'Annunziata in Florence. A temp worker of mine has got her master degree from the nearby university and the whole group had moved to the piazza for souvenir photos. In the piazza there were roughly three groups: students with fresh degrees and their families/groups, newlyweds (mainly from Japan and China) again for souvenir photos, and general tourists. The magic of the piazza - it was designed for this - is that groups began interacting. My university group offered cookies to a Chinese couple that wanted a photo with us, a Japanese couple began a round a dancing for their videomaker that was cheered by a group of American tourist. The piazza seemed to bring to everybody a festive cheer (good weather was a big help).

But some places were not designed for crowds. Varenna was designed for its residents only, maybe some occasional tourists. The railway line cannot sustain crowds - well, it could (it was done during the Olympics) but ticket proceedings do not allow a better service. The same may be said for ferries. Here crowds are a nuisance to everybody but restaurant owners. We should stop to tell everybody to go to Varenna. It was a good idea when it was not crowded, now it has reached capacity and there will never be extra capacity. I still remember a time around 2000 when I spoke about cinque terre in a travel newsgroup (rec.travel.europe) and almost nobody had heard about them. Now is no more the time to give advice for cinque terre.

I can only imagine the horror!

Having said that, we arrive in Sorrento on Sunday, for four nights. But do not plan on venturing far from that town.

A couple weeks ago I spent half an hour in Piazza dell'Annunziata in
Florence.

lachera, that was our favorite piazza in Florence; lots of interesting history to discover there! We were fortunate to have wandered in when it was wide open; no events with tents, canopies and whatnot to disrupt the visual "sum of its (architectural) parts." :O)

While it's no secret that Positano became overrun some years ago, it might be worth noting that the the video/photos in the article the OP referred to were taken on May 1: a big national holiday in Italy. Even if crowds are nearly intolerable there during high and shoulder seasons (um, there are still shoulder seasons there?) I'm baffled why the author of the article chose THAT day to visit.

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/stunning-vacation-hot-spot-turns-overcrowded-nightmare-tourists-flood-streets

I'm betting that visitors with strong knees bent on finding some breathing room might be able to do that by head up, up and away from the waterfront and lower areas of town vis the many stairs. Otherwise, admire it from the water?

I can only imagine the horror!
Having said that, we arrive in Sorrento on Sunday, for four nights. But do not plan on venturing far from that town.

I’ve stayed overnight in both Sorrento and Amalfi, and in my experience Sorrento is much more crowded at night. Amalfi actually becomes somewhat relaxed once the day trippers leave.

I just posted this elsewhere in Forum,re Minori:
We have followed Rick's guidebook and are staying in delightful small town of Minori. A few things to be aware of: to get to/fromMinori most people use either the ferry boats from Sorrento or local Sita buses. BUT-- if the water is rough, the ferries will not dock at Minori; instead they move on to Maori which has aprotected harbour. From there you have to make your way back to Minori. That's a 25 minute walk (with luggage) on a somewhat narrow roadside path, or wait for a local SITA bus.

Re: the local Sita busses-- be aware that runs coming to Minori (headed north) from Salerno are often full, and so no passengers are able to board at Minori. We waited in line for almost an hour today with two buses passing by, unable to pick up. Added pressure on bus as ferries not able to dock. Tip: take bus early, and get to bus stop 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure as the line builds in the last 20minutes.
You can of course take a taxi (expensive) or try to wave down (or book online) one of the private busses.
Price of becoming popular I guess!

We had a wonderful Amalfi trip in late September, perhaps my favorite of all our trips. I think Salerno (fast train from Rome) is a lovely overlooked town, easy access to Paestum. We ferried to Amalfi but stayed next door in Atrani. Took the steps to Ravello and took bus (tough on motion sickness people) to the beginning of the Path of Gods and hiked. Walked through the throngs in Positano at end of hike. Two nights on Capri and boat to Sorrento.
Crowds? Yes, but we were able to avoid most. We had a little trouble finding the "tunnel" to Atrani from Amalfi and spent some time just sitting in the Amalfi square, what a hoot! It is a carefully orchestrated arrival and departures of ferries and buses on a tiny square. Every ferry brought throngs of people for the day. It was just fun to watch. I would never stay in Amalfi or Positano, mobs of day trippers, shopping meccas!

I disagree that there isn't a "Low Season". Go in November and you'll have cheap hotel prices, plenty of nice days and 95% of businesses will still be open. Plus locals will be in a better mood. I wouldn't hesitate to go back in Winter either.

I'm in Sorrento now and while there are plenty of people around, it's not at all unbearably crowded and there is great people watching. I'd call it "very lively," rather than "uncomfortably jam-packed."

We are not planning any day trips, just wandering around town and relaxing at the pool, but I can see the lines for the ferries to Capri and Ischia from my terrace---there are lines but everyone gets on the various ferries....does not look too bad from up above...

It's May 18 and much cooler than I'd imagined....definitely jackets at night, and long-sleeves in the morning...kind of cool to think about swimming in the pool, and no one is swimming in the sea..

When we stayed in Sorrento (we had already been to Venice and Florence on the same trip, also staying a few nights south of Florence with a rental car, but otherwise traveling by train), we rented a car for a single day to go down to Paestum, near Salerno, for the Greek ruins. On the way south se used the highway (one of the longest tunnels I ever drove through), but came back via the Amalfi coast. No problems except difficult to stop anywhere (no parking for view points, etc.) and you MUST yield for buses on turns (they take the entire roadway on many). Went to Pompeii and Naples (the museum in the latter was great) from Sorrento via the commuter train and took the train to Rome for the last few days before returning home.

I was in Naples earlier this month and had, like everyone else, heard all the hype about the Amalfi Coast. I decided to sign up for a day tour of the Amalfi Coast. It was a holiday weekend which added to the crowds. Traffic was pretty much at a standstill for large sections of the coastal highway. The towns are picturesque, but swarmed with tourists and tourist shops selling every possible bit of memorabilia with pictures of lemons on them. Row after row of tourist shops selling the same thing.

I was glad to see what everyone was talking about, but I would have no need to go back. There are plenty of beautiful and charming coastal and hill towns in Italy. It is not necessary for us all to go to these few………

I am not sure that I got the best taste of the Amalfi coast. I recently returned from 47 days in Italy (17 of those were a RS Best of Italy tour; fabulous). After the tour ended in Rome two friends and I spent 10 lovely days in the Puglia region. Then took a bus to Salerno where we spent 5 nights. Our hotel was right across from the train station so it was very convenient to take a train to visit Pasteum, a bus to Pompeii, and a train to Naples for our final 2 days. One afternoon we decided to take the local bus to Minori, planning to look around and do the short walk of the lemons to the next little town. Well all the horror stories you hear about that local bus are true. The first one no one could get on as it was standing room only. The next one was over 30 minutes late but we managed to get on. It too took on so many standing passengers. I got very nauseous on the almost hour long ride. Very unusual for me. Lots of curves, honking at every bend, lots of aggressive braking, etc. Anyway we made it there but the weather was very iffy so we decided to just wander a bit, get a cup of tea and head back to Salerno. The ride back was worse, even more crowded and my nausea did not end well.
The next day we had a private driver scheduled and that was wonderful. I was a bit worried and took a small amount of dramimine as a preventive but the driver was great and took the curves well and also did a bit of a different route, He picked us up at 8:30 am and we returned about 7pm that night. He drove us all around with stops in Sorento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello and a few other places. I liked the vibe in Sorento and would have liked to spend more time there. We ate lunch in Positano; very overpriced and I agree; shops selling all of the same stuff. I did not care for the vibe there as much.
Anyway, I agree with Carol; no need to go back there. However, if I did..... I would consider staying in Sorento or Amalfi or Atrani or someplace further up the hill. Although getting around could be a hassle.
It was beautiful no doubt, and we had a beautiful weather on the day of our private drive.
We did not get out on the water because the weather turned. That was a disappointment.
I don't regret going there but due to my nausea issues on the bus I did not dare go back to do the Path of the Gods which was on my list for a few years now. Oh well.
It was still a great 47 days and most everything was just fantastic.
The private driver was recommended by a friend that has used this company several times, including her wedding on the Amalfi coast last year. Its called Discover Campania and our driver was Sonny. Highly recommend.
Regina

Yo PP,
Our recentish TR below about the AC details how we rented in Minori. One could gain a sense of the low season along the coast by checking out that loooooooooooooooooooooong, photo-dense TR. Like all our reports, it is quirky and includes music, humour and many logistical tips. Over on Fodors, I go by the alter-ego 'zebec'.

*Btw, check out Ekscrunchy's newest TR including Sorrento. That report is outstanding.
I am done. the end
https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/costa-damalfi-a-tr-1719110/

We spent a month in Naples, returning last week. During the stay we did a day visit to Amalfi, via ferry from Salerno, which we reached by train from Naples, about an hour. It was mid-May, and Amalfi was already quite crowded- though less so I think than Cinque Terra last summer. It wasn't super unpleasant, like a crowded souq before an Eid, but it was noticeable and when you vie for space on the streets with cars and scooters it can be unpleasant. From Amalfi we took the public bus to Ravello, which was less crowded and offered staggering views. If you do this, skip the bus- it was hell trying to fight our way onto it- oddly very third world. Take the shuttle instead, or taxi if you can bear the fare.

Agree with Chris.

There is certainly a low season on The Amalfi. We've been to The Amalfi on three occasions. Twice in February/March and once in September.

The Amalfi we enjoyed in early March this year is a huge contrast to the Amalfi that kicks off from April onwards. The ferries were almost devoid of people. On one ferry from Salerno to Maiori we were the only two people onboard, all other ferry trips had a maximum of 10 onboard. Both Maiori and Minori were almost devoid of people.

We have previously stayed in Ravello and Furore. This time we stayed in Salerno and loved it. All restaurants appeared to be open. The weather was gorgeous. It was bliss

It was a different story on our September trip, one not to be repeated. We were grateful to have a car so as to avoid the buses.