Two nights each in Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi, with time for local food, Roman frescoes and Ravello’s gardens.
Begin on the Sorrento Peninsula, where Piazza Tasso, sea-facing walks and a plate of gnocchi alla sorrentina make an inviting introduction to the week. Two nights leave a day for the town’s church and waterfront or a crossing to Capri. The journey then follows the coast east to Positano, whose Roman dining-room frescoes reveal a history beneath the familiar hillside town.
Spend the next full day above the coast on the Path of the Gods, or enjoy Fornillo and a longer lunch in Positano. Continue to Amalfi for its cathedral square, maritime collections and papermaking tradition. Ravello’s gardens bring another view of the coast into the final two-night stay.
The route has two nights in each base, with buses and passenger ferries for the coastal journeys. Arrive through Naples and leave towards Salerno for onward trains. Late May, June or September suit a week that moves between town lanes, the water and garden terraces, with local meals giving each place a flavour of its own.
San Francesco’s altar painting shows the saint receiving the stigmata, giving a walk through Sorrento’s centre a particular work of art to seek out. Follow it with a waterfront lunch and delizia al limone: sponge cake with lemon-flavoured cream and icing. Capri offers an island alternative during the same two-night stay.
Beneath Santa Maria Assunta, the MAR preserves the frescoes of a Roman dining room destroyed in the AD 79 eruption. The fourth Pompeian style brings colour and detail to the ancient villa, a different Positano from the beach and the lanes above it. Give the guided visit time alongside a walk towards Fornillo.
Amalfi’s old arsenal and Paper Museum bring the coast’s working past into view: shipbuilding by the harbour and papermaking in a water-powered mill. From the same base, visit Villa Rufolo’s garden terraces in Ravello, with Villa Cimbrone as another choice for its gardens and panoramic terrace.
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StartBooker answer
Begin with two nights in Sorrento, where the waterfront and local cooking introduce the week. After an optional Capri day trip, continue to Positano for two nights, with Roman frescoes, beach walks and a day for the Path of the Gods or the coast. Finish with two nights in Amalfi for its maritime and papermaking collections and Ravello’s gardens. Arrive through Naples and leave towards Salerno for onward trains, using coastal buses and passenger ferries between bases. The seven days include arrival and departure, with six hotel nights.
Explore tours, attractions and local experiences in Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi along this route through Italy.
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Follow the coast east, with two nights in Sorrento, two in Positano and two in Amalfi. Capri is an optional Sorrento outing; Ravello is a day trip from Amalfi.
3 stops · swipe
1
Naples rail access, Bay of Naples views and a choice of Capri or a slower town day
Piazza Tasso, San Francesco and the waterfront give the first two nights a town setting of their own. Enjoy gnocchi alla sorrentina and lemon desserts, with the next day free for more Sorrento or a Capri outing.
2
Steep lanes, beach views, Roman frescoes and a full day for walking or the water
Two nights leave time for the MAR’s Roman frescoes, an early beach walk and an evening in the lanes. Spend the full day on the Path of the Gods or by the coast, returning to Positano for dinner.
3
A cathedral square, maritime and papermaking history, and buses to Ravello
Use Amalfi for the cathedral square, old arsenal and papermaking heritage, then visit Ravello’s gardens from the same base. The two-night stay gives the final part of the week both a town and a hillside setting.
Begin in Sorrento, continue to Positano and finish in Amalfi. Each two-night stay has an arrival afternoon or evening and a full day for the town, an outing or time beside the water.
Take the EAV train from Naples to Sorrento and begin the stay around Piazza Tasso. The centre makes an enjoyable first walk, with a sea-facing view from Villa Comunale if your arrival leaves time. Keep the evening near your accommodation and enjoy getting to know the streets around it. A trattoria meal introduces the local cooking: gnocchi alla sorrentina combines soft potato dumplings with tomato, mozzarella and basil. It is a lovely dish for a first evening after travelling, followed by another short walk through the centre. The next day is free for Sorrento itself or an island outing, so there is room to let tonight unfold around a square, a viewpoint and dinner. Two nights give this opening base a place in the holiday beyond the railway journey that brought you here.
Overnight: Sorrento
Choose between a day in Sorrento and an outing to Capri. For the island, cross from Sorrento to Marina Grande; the sailing commonly takes about 20–30 minutes. Continue up to Capri town for the Piazzetta and a walk through its lanes, choosing one further visit that interests you. The Blue Grotto and Anacapri offer different ways to spend that island time. Staying in Sorrento gives the day another cultural focus: San Francesco’s church and its altar painting of the saint receiving the stigmata. Afterwards, enjoy a waterfront lunch and a longer walk through town. Try delizia al limone for dessert, a sponge cake filled and covered with lemon-flavoured cream and icing. Either choice brings you back to Sorrento for the second evening, with time to enjoy dinner and the streets that are beginning to feel familiar.
Overnight: Sorrento
Travel to Positano by SITA bus from the Sorrento station area, or by passenger ferry from the port. Spend the afternoon between the town’s waterfront and the lanes above it. A guided MAR visit beneath Santa Maria Assunta reveals a particularly vivid part of Positano’s past: the surviving frescoes of a Roman dining room, painted in the fourth Pompeian style. The villa was destroyed in AD 79, linking its story to the eruption that buried Pompeii. Looking at the room’s colour and detail brings a different scale of life into a town often remembered first for its hillside view. Afterwards, walk towards Fornillo or return to the waterfront for a meal. The arrival afternoon has room for both ancient interiors and the coast outside, with another full day in Positano still to come.
Overnight: Positano
The Path of the Gods offers a day on foot above the coast, following the route from Bomerano, a hamlet of Agerola, towards Nocelle above Positano. Moving through this higher landscape gives the week a different perspective from the town lanes and waterfronts. Make the walk the main outing, then return to Positano for the second evening. A day by the water is equally at home in this part of the itinerary: spend time at Fornillo, enjoy a longer lunch or choose a coastal boat outing. The two-night stay lets the afternoon take its shape from the experience you most want, whether that is a trail, a beach or time in the town. Finish near your base with dinner and another look at Positano’s hillside streets before tomorrow’s journey east to Amalfi.
Overnight: Positano
Continue along the coast to Amalfi and begin in the cathedral square. The façade gives this small town a grand focal point, while the harbour recalls its wider Mediterranean connections. Choose the old Arsenale for maritime collections in a former shipbuilding space, or follow Via delle Cartiere to the Paper Museum. The museum occupies a thirteenth-century mill, where running water powered machinery that turned textile rags into paper. A separate hands-on experience offers another way to explore the craft. These visits connect the town’s setting with work that once carried its products and influence beyond the coast. At dinner, try scialatielli, the short, broad, hand-cut pasta associated with Amalfi chef Enrico Cosentino. A local meal and an evening walk bring the first Amalfi day back to the town around your two-night base.
Overnight: Amalfi
Take the SITA bus up to Ravello for a day among garden terraces and the town’s streets. Begin near the main square with Villa Rufolo, whose sea-facing gardens are also a setting for Ravello Festival events. Enjoy the terraces as a visit in their own right, with time to look out over the coast and pause over lunch. Villa Cimbrone’s gardens and panoramic terrace offer a second choice if you would like to continue the garden theme. You can also keep the day around the first villa and the town, letting one visit have more space. The pleasure of this outing is the change of setting from Amalfi’s waterfront: the same coast is seen from above, among gardens rather than beside the harbour. Return to Amalfi for the final coastal evening and a meal near the cathedral square or the water.
Overnight: Amalfi
For a later departure, enjoy coffee near Amalfi’s cathedral or one last waterfront walk. After two nights, these familiar places make a pleasant farewell to the coast. Leave towards Salerno when its railway connections suit the onward journey, using a passenger ferry or the SITA road service. Salerno has several ferry landing points, so the pier named on the ticket determines the onward walk or local transfer to the station. Returning west through Sorrento is another option when the next destination lies that way. The week ends after six hotel nights, with Sorrento’s food and church, Positano’s Roman frescoes and coast, and Amalfi’s crafts and Ravello’s gardens each contributing to the route. Choose the length of the final walk to suit your departure and leave the coast with a favourite meal, view or visit to remember.
Base: Amalfi
These two journeys connect the overnight bases. SITA buses follow the coast road; passenger ferries offer the sea route between the towns.
2 transfers
Sorrento Positano
Take the SITA bus from the Sorrento station area to Positano, or a direct passenger ferry from Sorrento’s port. Spend the arrival afternoon with the waterfront, Fornillo and the Roman villa.
Positano Amalfi
The Positano–Amalfi ferry continues the journey by sea, while SITA links the towns along the coastal road. Arrive for Amalfi’s cathedral square and a first look at its maritime or papermaking history.
Estimated spending for two adults sharing one double room over seven days and six nights in late May–June or September, dated 18 October 2026. USD equivalents use the ECB reference rate of 16 October 2026: US$1.1253 per euro. Flights and tourist taxes are separate.
Booking tips
Follow the three overnight towns east from Sorrento through Positano to Amalfi, with two nights in each. The accommodation search is centred on Positano, the middle stay for Roman art, the beach and a walking day.
Positano
Yes. EAV connects Naples with Sorrento, SITA buses serve the coastal towns and hill villages, and passenger ferries link waterfront stops. Positano’s hillside streets involve steep walks and steps, so the route suits visitors comfortable exploring on foot. Two nights in each base leave time to enjoy the towns between journeys.
Take a Capri outing for the Piazzetta and island town, or spend the second day with San Francesco, the waterfront and Sorrento’s local cooking. Capri sailings depend on sea conditions and the outward and return schedules. If crossings cannot run, the Sorrento day keeps the same second overnight.
A ferry brings sea views and avoids road traffic on the routes it serves. SITA buses also reach hill towns such as Ravello and Agerola and provide the road alternative when boats stop. Operating periods vary by route: Travelmar advertises year-round service, while other ferry routes have shorter seasons.
Allow a full day. Reach Bomerano, in Agerola, from Positano via Amalfi by bus, or use Travelmar’s ferry-and-shuttle combination. That combination arrives late in the morning; for summer heat, choose an earlier arranged transfer or the beach. The exposed, uneven trail towards Nocelle needs suitable shoes, water, an appropriate forecast and an open route. Nocelle is above Positano: finish with the long stair descent or onward transport.
Add nights for Naples or Pompeii, or use one day in place of an outing in this itinerary. Naples is the arrival gateway, and Pompeii lies on the Sorrento rail corridor. A separate stay gives its excavations or Naples’s collections time of their own alongside this week of coastal towns and gardens.
Late May, June or September suit the mix of town walks, garden visits and time beside the sea. They are the periods used for the room and meal allowances. The route combines indoor Roman and maritime collections with outdoor coast and garden days, giving the week several different ways to enjoy each base.
Reviewed by StartBooker
Last reviewed 2026-10-18
Updated
How this route was checked: Rail, bus and ferry sources below support the journeys. Museum, heritage and local tourism sources cover Roman frescoes, religious art, coastal crafts, regional food and Ravello’s gardens. The budget gives estimated spending for two adults with USD equivalents at the stated ECB reference rate.
18 references reviewed
Some photos provided by Pexels.
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