Please sign in to post.

Atrani - Did you know it was a filming location for a new Netflix series?

I searched for someone talking about this but found nothing. So here is a heads up to check out Atrani on Netflix!

Our backstory: Years ago (2015?) we planned a day trip to Ravello from Amalfi town, our home base on the Amalfi Coast. But the line for the bus was very long. So we consulted our trusty Rick Steves guidebook and learned about a hike to a town we had not heard of before. We followed the route, something like "follow the sidewalk outside of town, turn left and climb hundreds of steps up and down..." So we did, up through winding tunnels, more stairs, peek a boo views, then down more steps into a charming, small, quiet plaza. We enjoyed delicious pasta with maybe a dozen other tourists in sight. Over the years we have returned many times, enjoyed a meal and even visited the local barber shop.

But now Atrani might be joining the list of over touristed towns in Italy. It seems that fans of the new Netflix series, Ripley, want to visit those steps and tunnels and plazas and views. Today we watched the first episode, filmed in stunning black and white, and recognized many of the locations we have enjoyed. The film takes place in the 60s, easy to pull off since the town has changed little. According to Wikipedia it is the "only town along the coast to preserve intact its antique, traditional characteristics."
Fair warning, though, the story line, based on a book and made into a 1999 film, is grim...

But the scenery! ! !

Posted by
1804 posts

The die is cast and the Rubicon has been crossed; if you're not on the Amalfi coast already, it's too late to earn bragging rights for having seen Atrani before it was crowded.
To film Ripley, Netflix took over the center of Atrani for a month to recreate a 1960's Italian town and paid local business for their loss of income, as mentioned in this article ominously entitled ‘This coast is saturated’: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/12/netflix-series-ripley-italian-village-atrani-amalfi-coast-tourism-visitors
Atrani is also part of the Italian scenery in the current Denzel Washington movie Equalizer 3 on Netflix.

Posted by
690 posts

Whatever else Atrani has become...the dreamy view from it's (relatively) modest 'Le Arcate' restaurant is the best possible setting from which to see the Collegiata di Sta Maria Maddalena, cover of countless travel guidebooks and tourism posters.
Chili, if interested, one can see some of the very locations used in The Equalizer (and maybe also Ripley?) in my wife and mine's loooong TR titled 'Costa d'Amalfi: a TR'. Its over on the Fodors forum under the handle 'zebec'.

i.e. zebec Fodors Costa d'Amalfi.

Posted by
2066 posts

Atrani is literally right next to the town of Amalfi— the town for which the Amalfi Coast is named.
What made Atrani really cool was its relative peacefulness once the daytime crowds receded, and all the ferry/bus transportation connections that can be made from right-next-door Amalfi.
Now, I shudder to think what the impact of the Netflix series will be. That, and the fact that the “Salerno Costa d’Amalfi Airport” some 28 miles away outside of Salerno, is opening in 3 months and is projected to fly in some 200,000 passengers during the first 6 months of operations.

Airlines such as Volotea and Easyjet are the first two to schedule flights to the new Salerno airport, which was a shuttered military airport. Easyjet plans flights this year from Berlin, London, Milan, Geneva and Basel.
Projections are that the newly-resurrected airport could bring in as many as 5 million ( you read that right: 5 million) passengers when its expansion is completed.

If you’ve ever wanted to see the Amalfi Coast— do it now before timed-reservations are required for entrance!

Posted by
39 posts

Thank you all for your replies, insight, links and glorious photography (by the Canucks.)
Sounds like the new airport will just exaggerate the already over tourist-ed Amafli Coast. Sad.

Posted by
5107 posts

I doubt an obscure tv series (it's not everyone cup of tea--I loved it) will make much of a difference. It's already an overtouristed area.
At least the Salerno airport will help facilitate moving down the coast, where there is plenty more seaside to explore.

Posted by
30 posts

How interesting. I did not know about Ripley on Netflix, but I will have to watch that series. I must say/admit I have now watched Equalizer 3 = three times this year, not only because it is an awesome movie but also because the scenery shots in Atrani were some of the best I have ever seen.

We are heading back to Tuscany, then Rome, and finally Sorrento in early June, so I can imagine we will see even more crowds than usual due to this, but I simply can not stay away. Thanks to everyone for sharing this info. on Ripley - I will have it "Binged" all the way before the weekend is done - ha.