Staying in Amalfi Town?

With two nights in Amalfi Town it sounds like you have plenty to keep you busy. Two nights equal one full day. I don't have much in the way of specifics other than our experience. Last May we toured the Amalfi Coast on one day with a private driver. After visiting Positano, we stopped in Ravello for a good while, but had to cut it short to make it to our destination of Paestum. We could easily have spent a good part of the day there. Another day we took the SITA bus down the coast to Amalfi town. The Duomo has a large and interesting museum associated with it, and walking the length of the town was interesting, also. There was a museum near the harbor the was closed when we were there. I know there are boat trips, but they weren't running when we were there.

There is also a paper museum in Amalfi, with tours of the production facility. Small gift shop, too.

" Is Amalfi not a very interesting place to hang out or is it just because it's the last entry before the "Italian History" section and they ran out of space (kidding) ?"

Actually, there may be truth in that. One of Rick's staff posted here that his publisher has told him that the Italy book cannot have any more pages - period. So, if he adds anything, he has to take something else out. Given how much he puts in for major destinations, he indeed may have run out of room for other places.

I've never been to Amalfi, so I can't say if there's more to it than Rick describes. I also don't know if there's a boat to Minori, or only a bus.

We stayed in tiny Atrani for 3 nights in 2014, which is about a 10 min walk over to Amalfi...so both evenings we found ourselves wandering Amalfi town - and yeah - we didn't find much to do other than to eat, check out the cathedral and pop into some shops. With only two nights - I wouldn't overthink it - if it was for 5-6 nights, I'd look for somewhere more exciting, but it is a great hub for public transport. It'll be a good time to just relax in the evenings, stroll along the waterfront, wander over to Atrani...

Ravello was def our fav spot - we did the walk down from Ravello to Atrani - a bit hard on the knees, but gorgeous views.

There is s boat to Minori from at least one of the ferry lines.

Sorry if it sounds didactic, but do you understand that only your days in Amalfi are "on the Amalfi Coast?" The reason I ask you is not to correct your geography, but to be certain that you understand the difference between a now economically-challenged, former center of European culture and power (... I mean the Kingdom of Naples) and a somewhat wealthy-folks-attracting, rather remote rocky coast RESORT.

Your itinerary sounds great, and I don't suggest that you change it. You are wisely doing Herc and Pomp from a big city with mass transportation to those sites. There is, intentionally, much less to do in Amalfi. Some encyclopedic tourists like me might try to visit the temples at Paestum during your trip, because it was just too hard for us to get there from our five nights in Sorrento. But most people who are sleeping on the Amalfi Coast want to enjoy the views, hurt their feet on the stone beaches, and get some sun. Limited roadway space makes it chancy to get around the Amalfi Coast in a hurry, car or bus.

Lin, like others have mentioned, having visited Amalfi twice in 2014, but not overnight, I remember the beautiful church on the main square, and its worthwhile museum, as well as the Paper Museum up the hill a short way. Also some good gelato. I really enjoyed Ravello, so give it some time to poke around. Beautiful gardens with views of the coast and some nice ceramics workshops and showrooms. As I remember, even during May, the bus stop for Ravello built up quite a line in both directions, often with more people than would fit in the next bus, so some people would need to wait for the following bus.

Thanks for all this great information. This really helps our planning and I feel better about our itinerary now - love this forum!

As Larry noted, bus to/from Ravello can be crowded. Worst (?) case: you can walk back to Amalfi, or take a taxi.

I'd def recommend the walk from Ravello to Atrani if the weather is nice and your knees can handle it. I can honestly say I've never experienced my lower legs trembling like I did after that walk - lots of stairs, uneven surfaces and all downhill. It's supposed to take 35-45 min...I think it took us an hour, but we were stopping to hydrate, take photos and rest our legs.