Driving Amalfi Coast, December

No personal experience, but have read repeatedly that at least one restaurant will be open in even the smaller villages.
I would definitely want to avoid driving into the sun, so I don't think going one direction will shortchange you. I'd check to see if Aquapazza in Cetara will be open.

We visited Amalfi coast from Salerno last February. It was quite quiet and some churches we had wanted to visit were closed as well as some restaurants. We did notice that there seemed to be at least one bar/restaurant open in each city. It was sunny and fairly warm when we visited. We had a nice day.

I'm not sure I'd want to drive Amalfi coast, but we've noticed that in incredibly scenic places it is nice to drive the road in both directions. You can catch more things, and the driver has more of an opportunity to see something that might have been missed going the other direction. That said, Amalfi is about the last place I'd want to drive with the sun in my face.

Thanks for the input! It seems like we can't go wrong in terms of which direction, as long as the sun is at our back - and we'll look into the restaurant in Cetara. Good to know that there will probably still be ample places open early December. And we are there for the view!

Agree about Cetara; that town has the best concentration of good restaurants on the Coast. I would make a reservation if you plan to go to Aquapazza on the weekend. Lots of people from the larger towns in the interior come there for lunch, especially.

Driving, with little traffic, is not at all difficult. If I did it, in late September, anyone can because I am not a good driver at all.
I thought it was fun to drive, with all the curves, and you are forced to drive fairly slow due to the other vehicles on the road.

There is a big parking garage in Cetara.

I think early December may be the perfect time to visit the A.C. We've been there in early March twice--very nice, except when the rains blew in--and just this last early April. We based in Salerno which was busy but fine, and the first town of Vietri sul Mare was great mid-morning with its ceramics and views. Beautiful and kind of sleepy.

But we had hired a driver for 6 hours, kind of knowing what we were in for, and when we did lunch in Ravello, then down to Minori for dessert at Sal De Riso (don't miss it) it was uncomfortably crowded, more than I've ever seen it in Positano & Amalfi-town.

I have a feeling that you'll find some places open, what with Christmas decorations and whatnot. Please keep in mind that when you drive west to east in the afternoon, the road winds so much that it's quite possible that you'll be facing the other way for short periods. And one wrong move--no guardrails--can mean disaster. Be very careful!

Jay, could you clarify which place was crowded, please. The pasticceria??

I suppose it will be less crowded in December than it usually is, but you may be over-romanticizing James Bond driving his Aston Martin DB5 on some different, glamorous roads that have more gradual curves. Since AC busses regularly have to stop and edge around rocky curves, you may be going much slower than you expect to.

I don't necessarily agree with the many posters who say that what COUNTS on the AC is the "view from an arriving ferry", it is true that it is the land side that has the most to see. Since some towns (like Positano) really only have one two-lane road through the town, the view is subject to plenty of obstructions. I think the best view FROM Positano was from the beach. The roads have very few pull-offs, so you may have the same problem as in the summer, with seriously slow drivers craning their necks, or even illegal stopping for selfies.

You don't say if you have driven in Italy before, so I'll repeat the common cautions here to learn about required/provided rental insurance, IDPs, and ZTLs.

Jay, could you clarify which place was crowded, please. The
pasticceria??

This was mid-April, this year. Maybe more crowded that it should have been because of Jubilee, but I think this is the way it's going to be post-Covid.

The road from Vietri sul Mare to Ravello--including through Cetara--was very busy with vehicles on a Friday midday. And once we had lunch in Ravello and decided to walk up to Villa Cimbrone, the pedestrian traffic was quite crowded as well. Finally were driven down to Minori to Sal de Riso pasticceria, and the coastline parking lot was full so the driver just let us off to have our pastries. We were able to snag a table in 5 minutes, so it wasn't that bad. And I can almost guarantee that Sal de Riso is open year round--it's a moneymaker supreme! Afterwards, we were driven back to our hotel by the train station in Salerno.

Problem with the A.C.--and we're still glad we went (it was our 3rd time visiting)--is that there's literally nowhere to go, for cars and people, roads and walkways both. Gridlock happens quickly on the peninsula. Salerno was active, with plenty of folks but we felt we could breathe. And...hiring a driver was a great move in that it made all of this tolerable.

That's the trouble with the AC. Months with generally good weather mean heavy crowds.

After several visits, we have eliminated this area (exception: Cetara, to stroll around and have dinner) from our future plans To me, this is a case of a place almost ruined, and certainly changed, not for the better, by tourism. I think the only way to really enjoy the area is to stay at one off the obscenely priced "legendary" hotels and spend most of the time at the pool, going out only for meals. But the price you would pay for this is way out of the question for most people.

Or spending time at a farmhouse accommodations (Not sure how many of these are left by now) on the Sorrentine Peninsula and maybe taking a drive along the coast once.

Maratea is every bit as beautiful, I think, and it's not yet swamped by crowds in spring or fall. Cilento also has lots to offer a tourist, with fewer crowds....again, in shoulder season.

There are little towns on the peninsula that might be fun to check out. On the other side, between Sorrento and Castelammare di Stabia, along the train line there is the little seaside burgh of Vico Equense. From the train the views looked beautiful. And apparently there is some lodging, and a little coastal street with some shops and restaurants. But not much more than that.