How to get around the Amalfi Coast | Sorrento, Positano, Salerno, Rome, Naples and more
The Amalfi Coast is famous for it’s stunning coastline, narrow winding roads and as a bucketlist destination - and while this stunning stretch of coast in Italy can seem hard to get to without a car or private transfer, there’s plenty of public transport options depending on where your final destination is.
How stunning are these views! Straight from a postcard 😍
Getting to the Amalfi Coast (via Sorrento or Salerno) from Rome or Naples
The closest airport to the Amalfi Coast is in Naples, however a lot of people will fly into Rome instead as it’s cheaper and better connected with places outside of Europe. Both are great starting points as they’re connected by high speed rail with frequent services operated by both Trenitalia and Italotreno, and the journey for the fastest train takes a bit over an hour.
Your next destination will depend on which side of the Amalfi Coast you’re heading towards - Sorrento is known as the gateway to the Amalfi Coast on the west side (Capri, Positano), and Salerno is a convenient option if you’re travelling to towns further down the Amalfi Coast (Maiori, Minori, Amalfi).
If Sorrento is your first stop:
From Rome, travel to Naples via high speed train with Trenitalia and Italotreno. You can then take the Circumvesuviana (regional train) from Naples train station (Napoli Centrale) which takes slightly over an hour. Look for the signs for the “Circumvesuviana” trains and buy the tickets from the desk as the main ticket machines you see are not for the Circumvesuviana trains.
For Naples Airport, Curreri Viaggi also runs a shuttle bus service from Naples Airport to Sorrento Train Station - you can get from Naples Airport to Sorrento Station for €13, which is slightly more expensive than the getting a bus from Naples Airport to Napoli Centrale and then the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento (€8), but much less hassle if you’re travelling with luggage.
If Salerno is your first stop:
You can take a direct high speed train with Trenitalia and Italotreno from Roma Tiburtina (main Rome station) or Napoli Centrale all the way to Salerno which takes just over 2hrs from Rome (or 1hr 15 mins from Naples).
From here you can transfer to a SITA bus or ferry to any of the towns along the coast until Amalfi, which will take up to an hour. In Salerno, you can buy SITA bus tickets from two newsagencies near the train station - make sure to buy these ahead of boarding the bus.
Note: The road along the coast between the towns are windy and narrow, meaning that the bus journey will take some time! If you’re prone to motion sickness, make sure you’ve taken the necessary precautions. :)
Getting between towns on the Amalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast is quite literally built on the side of a series of cliffs, with roads that wind through the mountains. To get from town to town you have 3 options - local bus (SITA), ferry or by private transfer / taxi.
The bus is the cheapest, ranging from €2.4 to €4 depending on the length of your route, and taxi is the most expensive. Ferries are relatively quick as they're not subject to the traffic on the windy highways that connect the towns along the Amalfi Coast, but will cost you more than the bus (between €10-€20). We also saw that some towns have a porter service, where they can take your luggage from the ferry to your accomodation for a fee.
For bus fares, there are options for single, 1-day or 3-day tickets - for more information on bus ticket types and fares see here.
Views on the walk from Atrani to Amalfi
Between Salerno and Amalfi
There are regular buses every day between Salerno - Maiori - Amalfi (Route 5120) from 5am into the late evening, and take just over an hour to get from Salerno to Amalfi depending on the traffic.
If you’re travelling to one of the towns with a port, you could also take the ferry which takes 40 mins and costs €11.5 - however note the ferry terminal is further from Salerno train station than the bus stop.
We took the bus from Salerno to Atrani (town before Amalfi) and this cost us €2.8 - a bargain for a >1hr bus trip! We had carry on suitcases so we put them in the shelves above the seats, but we saw that other passengers were able to put larger suitcases in the luggage hold area under the bus. Part of the reason we didn’t take the ferry to Atrani is because there’s no port, but we later discovered that there’s a convenient underground tunnel that connects Amalfi to Atrani that is very easy and safe to walk through, and takes roughly 10-15 mins.
If you’re unsure on where to stay, read our post for a 1 week itinerary in Amalfi Coast which covers where to stay on the Amalfi Coast and what our favourite experiences were.
Between Amalfi to Positano
There are regular buses that run between Amalfi - Positano - Sorrento (Route 5070) and costs you €2.4 and takes 40 mins. You also have the option of taking a 25 min ferry for €10 which I would suggest doing one way as it's quite relaxing, and it's nice to take in the coast from a different angle.
You can buy SITA bus tickets from a variety of shops, restaurants and tabacchi stores - these need to be purchased before getting on the bus using cash. Ferry tickets are easily found at each ferry wharf from various providers - these can be purchased on the day.
We found it was difficult to find vendors that sold bus tickets in Amalfi - dejavu Cafe & Drinks next to the Atrani tunnel reliably sold tickets, along with a few other stores in Amalfi (including a limoncello store!)
Between Amalfi and the Path of the Gods
To get to the Path of the Gods, take the bus that runs between Amalfi - Agerola - Naples (Route 5080) to Bomerano which will cost you €2.4 and take 40 mins. We went at 10:30am and found that there were plenty of other hikers on the bus! The bus driver also kindly announced the Bomerano stop for everyone so it was pretty easy to find.
Between Amalfi and Sorrento
To get to Sorrento, you can also take the bus from Amalfi - Positano - Sorrento (Route 5070) which costs €3.4 and takes 1.5 to 2hrs. Interestingly, the bus we ended up on (driver confirmed Sorrento to multiple passengers) went via Agerola rather than Positano and wasn’t on the timetable - and while we were a bit confused on the way there it was a blessing in disguise as we didn’t have lots of passengers join us from neighbouring towns along the coast (especially Positano).
You can also go via ferry which costs €20 and takes about 1hr 15 mins. We decided to take the bus as our accommodation in Sorrento was closer to the train station than the ferry terminal and it was more cost effective (and spent it on dinner instead).
Other tips
Not all tabacchi and stores near the bus stop sell bus tickets - make sure you give yourself enough time to buy tickets and make your bus, or you can also buy tickets in advance.
Show up to the bus stop early and check with your driver if they go to your destination - we found that there were different buses to the one we were expecting that would still take us to our destination - including a bus from Amalfi to Sorrento that went via the mountain route (Agerola) instead of via Positano.
