Italy - Positano

Positano Travel Guide

Alright let’s talk about our time in Positano. If you’re on Instagram then you must have seen pictures of Positano. It is truly a breathtaking place. It is probably the most picturesque place I have been visited. The famous houses, the beaches, the food, the sunset, just everything about this place is magical. If you’re ever in Italy, do not skip Positano.

When I was researching and planning this trip, I saw many people suggesting to stay in Sorrento vs Positano, because of the costs of the hotels. Our travel agent also suggested this, so we decided to stay in Sorrento and just come to Positano by either taxi or the bus. So unfortunately we didn’t stay at the hotels in Positano, but this is definitely on my list for the next time we visit! I think if you book your stays way in advance, you’re more likely to find affordable places. We basically booked everything three months prior to visiting Italy so things were booked and/or were too expensive.

How to Get to Positano

Getting to Positano can be a little tricky. The closest airport is Naples Capodichino International Airport. From here you have 3 options:

  • Private car- most expensive- Naples to Positano, its about 3 hours.
  • Shared shuttle van- Naples to Positano can be anywhere from 3-4 hours, since its a shared van and it will make multiple stops.
  • Public transportation- train, bus, ferry. Now this options is least expensive but can be confusing.
    • From Naples to Positano: first you’ll need to take the train or ferry to Sorrento. Then from Sorrento take the ferry or SITA bus to Positano.

Since we were coming from Rome, we took the fast train (Frecciarossa Train) from Rome to Naples. Private transfer from Naples to our hotel in Sorrento. The private transfer was 75€ for two people. On days that we wanted to come to Positano (which was every day) we either took the SITA bus or ferry. The SITA bus was 2€ each way per person and ferry was 20€ per person each way. The SITA bus usually takes about 40-45 minutes from Sorrento to Positano.

Things To Do in Positano

Positano is known for its beaches, views, hotels, food, and shopping so there aren’t many activities. Positano has many stairs, so wear comfortable shoes! We spend a total of 2.5 days in Positano, but I think we could have spend two extra days!

Spiaggia Grande

If you visit Positano, you need to visit this beach! this is the main beach and it has the iconic blue umbrellas you’ve seen in pictures. You can rent a beach chair and spend your whole day here, but to do plan on coming early because chairs do sell out. The chairs are about 30€ for the day. First row was 35€ and it’s usually sold out! You can order food from your chair and enjoy the view and the beautiful blue sea! We spend one day just doing this and it was AMAZING! Highly recommend! If you don’t want to rent a chair, you can bring your towel and stay on the free side of the beach.

Fornillo Beach– less crowded, but it is about 10-15 minute walk from Spiaggia Grande.

Arienzo Beach Club is so well known. We didn’t get to go, but it looks beautiful!

Note: the beaches are made up of small rocks and can get super hot in summer, so make sure you have sandals!

Where to Eat

Chez Black- this is probably the most iconic restaurant in Positano. It is located right off the main beach. We went for lunch and were seated within 10 minutes. The food was amazing!

Le Tre Sorelle Positano- Located right next to Chez Black. We had pizza and gnocchi and both were delicious.

La Tagliata- Unfortunately we weren’t able to experience this place. Sadly they were booked for the days we were visiting Positano, but if you’re in Positano, please go! La Tagliate is a farm-to-table family style restaurant and has spectacular view. It is a set menu, but from what I have heard, the offer delicious food! Definitely on my list for next time we visit Positano.

 

Colina Bakery- We stopped here for gelato multiple times while visiting Positano. It was on our way to the bus station so we couldn’t not stop by!

 

Positano Town and Window Shopping

Positano is lined with streets selling all kinds of gorgeous items from locally made clothing, hand-painted ceramics, custom-made sandals, and lemon everything. Definitely put time aside to do some local shopping! Set some time to just walk around to enjoy the beautiful scenery and window shop!

Boat Tour

This is a must when in Positano. We used Boat Experience Positano and booked directly through Instagram. We did the sunset tour. Positano is absolutely breath taking at sunset. We were celebrating our one year wedding anniversary so they had drinks and snacks for us, which was really nice.

Summary

  • I highly recommend staying 1-2 nights in Positano. Our hotel was in Sorrento so we would leave every evening, so I feel like we missed on really seeing the town at night time. Next time, we will definitely be spending few nights in Positano.
  • The first day we were in the Amalfi Coast, it was raining so this really changed few things for us, for example we couldn’t visit Amalfi town. The ferry doesn’t operate with rain and wind so something to keep in mind.
  • We also didn’t have time to see Ravello. So in order to really experience the Amalfi Coast, I would recommend at least 5 days.