Positano Questions

One issue you may want to consider is that if the ferry is canceled, it's probably due to stormy weather, so that might not be the best day to sightsee. We did a private driving tour on a rainy day, as we couldn't reschedule (ran out of days) and visibility was poor. We had a few partly clear minutes, but honestly, it wasn't worth it.
Positano has a smaller dock, so uses smaller ferries, and as a result ferries get canceled more often than the other AC towns.
We used Aldo Limos, and highly recommend them. We also used them to get back to the Rome airport. Email communication was prompt and they were great to work with.
Have a wonderful trip!

I would suggest that 240 dollars (Euros?) for a full day (8 hours? How long?) is an excellent deal. This is a very expensive area, and the businesses know "what the traffic will bear." I have NOT taken a taxi on the AC, but I feel confident that any cab ride from one town to another could be as much as 100 Euros. The chances are that the driver will have to drive home empty, which you "have to pay for", somehow. We paid 255 Euros for 8 hours from Sorrento, TEN YEARS ago! We went to Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, each for an hour or two, and made a few additional view and photo stops. Don't forget to budget for a tip to the driver.

You do not mention your ages or energy level. One big reason to have the car for the whole day is that you can ask the driver to take you up the steep, high hill to Ravello, saving vast amounts of precious, dollar-valuable time, to see the highest-rated town on the AC. Or you could have him take you to other places that interest you. I can't imagine needing 7 hours to visit Amalfi alone. BTW, have you checked on how many stairs you have to walk up with your luggage to your hotel?

I have no knowledge of the April weather. But it's worth noting that Positano can't take as big boats as Amalfi and Sorrento can. You are seeking/hoping-for a high level of certainty for a section of Italy that is not as rigorously organized or funded as is northern Italy. If have some desire to take a ferry (I mean for other than economy reasons), you are in Positano for enough nights that you can ride a ferry any time you walk to the port and find tickets available.

Where is your next location after Positano?

We stayed in Positano in October of 2017. and we paid our driver $45.00 an hour for 4 people for our day of touring. Plus a tip. You definitely want a driver. Once you see 50 people waiting in line to get on a bus you won't be sorry. A ferry would be great but you still need to get from the ferry to your next point. And like someone above said while you are in the area you will want to visit Ravello.

We used Topexcursionsorrento. Extremely professional

Hmmmmm so I'm a bit confused. Because to go from Positano to Amalfi by ferry is 25 mins approx and going back is around the same amount of time, wouldnt it be less likely for them to cancel a ferry from positano to amalfi and vice versa? Because they are so close to each other? I'm just asking because from my perspective it would be unlikely for them to cancel that route because of the distance between the two even despite the weather.

Positano has a smaller dock, and which has been damaged by storms in the recent past. It's more delicate, shall we say. Not sure if that answers your question.
Have a great trip.

It’s not just the weather
Water conditions matter as well and as above the Positano dock is very small
It could be a sunny day but very windy so ferries are canceled

There won’t be taxis at the Positano dock area-you’ll have to walk to top of town where the road is

There will be taxis at Amalfi dock area since the road runs along there

So it sounds like the best thing to do is to budget a little more and take the private driver. We are getting a good deal compared to the past and even in the current conditions also. And you also brought up a very good point about maybe wanting to see Ravello and how having the private driver takes out the hassle of going and coming back. Pat and everyone else, you bring up some great and valid points that I didn't take into account. My mom is around mid 50's but she is very adventurous. Aldo Limos, that is one we can consider but our hotel is offering a private transfer from Positano to Naples for 100 a person. We are staying one night in Rome after Positano then heading back to the states. Regarding the stairs for the luggage, from the port I was told that they have porters where you can give them $20 each to bring the luggage to the hotel room.

Also, another valid point was raised that since we are there for 5 nights even if one ferry gets canceled we still have 4 other tries. But, we are also doing a day trip to Capri as well in which our hotel has set up. We have a stacked itinerary haha.

But regarding being in Amalfi for 7 hours, is it that actually small? I assumed Amalfi town was quite large, much bigger than Positano. We chose to stay in Positano because we wanted to take advantage of the spring time and enjoy our time slowly in Positano without rushing.

Amalfi population: 5100
Positano population: 3900

Ok got it, how would you best suggest dividing up our time between Amalfi and Ravello if we have a private driver for 8 hours, assuming one hour drive one way and another hour the other way. So that would be in total six hours being able to walk around. I was thinking 4 hours Amalfi town and 2 hours in Ravello to see the Villa. How does this sound? Thank you

I would split 3/3

Not a lot to see in Amalfi- the Duomo and Cloisters are worth a visit. There is a paper museum - closed when we were there. That's about it.

Walk out to Villa Cimbrone while in Ravello - this will take 15 min or so to get there - spend about an hour in the gardens and enjoying the fabulous view.
Grab lunch on the piazza in center.

Note that you are not going to sit down and have a two-hour, "slow food" Italian banquet for lunch. You don't have time. You are going to buy pre-made hero sandwiches, sitting in an unrefrigerated case in the nice-looking snack bar you stumble across. That is a better use of your time when you have a driver. Villa Cimbrone has an admission charge.

Your transport investigations are not wasted, because five days in Positano, off-season, is a lot. Unfortunately Positano is a HCOL (high cost of living) place, so the only practical way to get to Pompeii (which you haven't mentioned) is to hire a car. I mean, you can take a bus to Sorrento, one hour, and a train to Pompeii, one hour, same two timings on the way back, and that costs less than ten Euros a person. If you get a spot on the bus. I personally have found it very hard to download reliable ferry information in advance of the high season. "If a ferry was canceled how would we know ahead of time?" Just like when a train or an airline flight is cancelled, you find out at the last minute. That's the essence of a public transportation cancellation.

Note that April 18, 2025 is Good Friday, which means a bit more in Italy than in the U.S., where baseball teams regularly schedule their season-opening games during the Three Hours Devotions. (I'm not religious myself, I'm just mentioning that ... )

@ Christine, I like that set up better, it gives us a slower time to enjoy Ravello. Those views, cannot be rushed and I actually don't want too haha
I actually picked out a place for Lunch right next to the cathedral La Gemma.
They have this unique lemon risotto I want to try.
I also wanted to view Amalfi town from the port and see that gorgeous view of the curved street.

@Tim, Now it sounds like that lemon risotto is going to be hard to enjoy haha! I might have to sacrifice that Lemon risotto enjoy the relaxed pace of Amalfi.
So about Sorrento and Pompeii, we went to the South of Italy Summer 2023 and we stayed in Sorrento and visited Pompeii for a day trip it was spectacular, although I never majored in history in school I always appreciated it because it brought us to where we are today. Also regarding the amount of time we will be in Positano, I think it gives us enough time that even if we didn't hire a private driver and took the ferry it gives us enough days so that if the ferry didn't work one day we can still try another day. Thats why I was hesitant on us getting a private driver, primarily due to the expense.

Im gonna let her know about the Good Friday situation also. We are leaving Positano that day and are actually taking a private transfer to Napoli.

We chose to stay in Positano because we wanted to take advantage of
the spring time and enjoy our time slowly in Positano without rushing.

Worth mention - and this was noted previously in one of your other posts - there's very little to do in Positano: some high-end shopping + sitting around + taking snaps is pretty much the extent of it other than day trips elsewhere. We were done with it in 1/2 a day. Also, given your anxiety over potential ferry cancellations - also discussed in previous posts - I'm a bit surprised that you chose Positano as your base?

I don't know as we discussed this before but ferries also do not run after dark but maybe you knew that? I'm guessing 6:00 or so might be the last boat out of Amalfi to Positano.

While porters may be available for your luggage, you will be dealing with Positano's steep terrain the rest of the time...which is what I meant in a previous post about stairs getting old in a hurry. Where are you staying? As well, taxis are expensive in this region so I'd expect the bill for one from Amalfi> Positano to be high.