With one day on the Amalfi Coast how to best spend it?

But I have heard many people say that Positano...

Skip extremely over rated tourist pedestrian traffic jam Positano; you will waste the little time you already have. Go somewhere with a view

We loved Ravello and had a wonderful lunch there once with a spectacular view over forest and the ocean.

Far nicer than Positano and Amalfi in my opinion, although I am glad to have seen those places.

I vote Amalfi and Ravello, Amalfi feels more "real" to me, and I like a hike out the backside of town across from the paper museum. Ravello is another way to see the beautiful scenery and less overrun by people. Closer town saves time too! I might think that the later buses to Ravello probably are more full (and harder to get a seat) but I have always gone to Ravello after wandering the town and the duomo, so I don't know that for sure. By the time we got up there it was lunchtime, so we found a restaurant FAR down the street towards inland that was great.

I don't like Positano that much, the only reason I went last time was it was where the bus took us after we did the Path of the Gods, it was expensive and touristy, and steep :)

I thought Positano was beautiful from above, nice from below, but that's it. Half an hour and move on. Ravello was easily my favourite of the three. If you have time consider walking the Path of the Lemons between Minori and Maiori.

the end of October and thinking the classic ferry trip to the coast

Might weather be a wildcard for boat travel? Thinking of Plan B ahead of time may be worthy of consideration.

oooo yes Joe, I don't know when the main tourist boats stop running (or running frequently haha)

If you don't make it to Positano, then maybe you'd like to see the mosaics in Minori?
https://www.ciaoamalfi.com/2019/08/villa-romana-minori/

Thanks for all the feedback!

I have checked and from I can see the ferries still run through the end of October - perhaps at a reduced schedule.

I will be in Salerno probably 5 or 6 days so I'll try to choose my weather days where I can but my priorities are Paestum and Pompeii first then Salerno and AC last. October was beautiful last year on Amalfi and I was in Siena while it was in the low 80s, but every year is different. I got shave from a barber in Verona who was bemoaning the fact that everyone who bought off season Amalfi trips were getting perfect weather and lower prices while in high season "You have to sell your pants just to eat dinner".

Thanks for the tip on the mosaics in Minori - I'll try to work them in. Left entirely to my own devices I'd probably do the Path of Lemons all the way to Ravello and then ferry back out of Amalfi to Salerno. But I'm not only planning for myself.

Grazie a tutti!
=Tod

Yes, last time we moved our days around due to the possible weather. I want to warn you about Pompeii, you CAN take the train without any changes to Pompeii (instead of going to Naples to get on the Circumvesuviana) but it will land you in the far away train station from the main entrance. I still am ok with that when the choice is a slow regional train versus backtracking on a crowded commuter train. I think the Ercolano train is the slowest of all slow. And the far away station too. I just go with it, as I don't care to go all the way to Napoli to change.

The trains to Paestum are consistently spaced in the morning, then they go LARGE spaces usually and then more in the afternoon, so I would make sure I picked a good one in the morning with one backup at least before the BIG space between trains. If you are relying on ferries to get you to Salerno, they might cut it too close for you, you might need to hop on an early bus. I would say that you COULD do Paestum and Salerno on the same day, as I usually am back from Paestum by 3 or 4, but then to wander around Salerno you would end up on another bus on the way back due to the early end of the ferry schedules.

If you wanted to explore the duomo, the gardens, and possibly the castle, I agree a day would be a nice pleasant slow day.

@ Katherine Thanks for all the 'on the ground' information since this is exactly what I'll be doing. I remember the Salerno train station is away from the main gate, but I also remember there is a gate at the end of ruins (near the arena) but I don't know if it will open in October. From the train tickets it looks like Trenitalia is selling a ticket with a bus to the gates from the train station option but the wait times for the 5 minute bus ride look longer than the walk itself. eyeroll I also need to check out all the villa options and additional sites around the site since it's been a lot of years since I was there.

So I have some homework - I see there is a 3 day ticket with all the villa sites and I will have the time - but I also don't want to kill ourselves with day after day planned out with physical trips. I figure check out Salerno and maybe a train trip to Vietri sul Mare unless we do multiple days at Pompeii.

Thanks again - always open to tips but especially about ruins!
=Tod

You're right, there is a gate down there, but I have never used it (met guide at other one) so I am unsure of it's availability. Hope you can use it! I have only been to Pompeii once and the visit was arranged by others, so I bet your memory is better than mine!

Salerno and Vietri would be a great mix, you can take your time EVERYWHERE (I usually do Vietri and Paestum on the same day) and possibly even sleep in a bit! I would check hours for any sites you want to visit though, they might have afternoon closing times. Sad to say, I never went in any of the museums in Salerno except the Duomo and Castello Arechi :)

The ferry ride between Amalfi and Positano is very pretty. I enjoyed it more than the town of Positano. Ravello is probably the most charming of the three, although I liked Amalfi very much.

Do Amalfi and Ravello. Positano although lovely from the ferry, was nothing more that an overpriced tourist trap. Just the haul up and down ALL THOSE stairs was enough to say not again.