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Amalfi Coast Drive

SS163 · Sorrento → Vietri sul Mare · Italy

Length
30 miles
Drive time
2 h
Type
Coastal road
Region
Europe

Before you go: ⚠ Gridlock in high summer; number-plate access rules on peak days — go early, spring or autumn

The most famous coast road on earth: a shelf between cliff and sea threading Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. Drive it at dawn in May and it's everything they promise.

Sorrento to Vietri sul Mare on the SS163: a shelf between cliff and sea through Positano, Amalfi and Ravello's turn. Thirty miles, two hours on a good day, much more on a bad one. Tight, walled, buses that occupy the whole bend, scooters, and nowhere to put a wheel wrong. Surface is generally good. Belvedere della Madonnina and Grotta dello Smeraldo are the views with a place to be off the carriageway; Sal De Riso is food in Minori. Fuel before you start; hunting for a pump on the shelf is how you end up in a tunnel of traffic.

High summer gridlocks. Number-plate (targhe alterne) rules apply on peak days: in 2026, odd/even 10:00–18:00 daily in August and September, weekends in June–July and October, plus holiday bridges — motorcycles usually exempt, hotel guests often only on arrival and departure. Check the current ordinance before you collect a hire car whose plate you did not choose. Dawn in May or October is the drive.

Pair with a ferry or bus for the villages, and use the car for the ends of the day. Ravello is a detour uphill, worth it if you have already got through Positano.

This is the famous coast road. It is also a bus route. If your plate is the wrong parity at 11:00 in August, you are not driving it, and that is the rule working. Positano has little useful parking for a through-drive; Amalfi has more, still not enough. If you must take a car in August, move at dawn or after 18:00 when the plate rule sleeps. Ferries between the towns exist for a reason. Vietri is the Salerno end and a less famous place to dump the car. Ravello's extra climb is SS373 energy you may not have after the shelf.

Highlights of the Amalfi Coast Drive

Where to stop on the Amalfi Coast Drive

Drive the Amalfi Coast Drive

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