How to travel the Amalfi Coast using only public transport

In Lonely Plan-It, we take you step by step through how we put together some of the most complicated travel adventures. Here, Eva Sandoval explains how she planned a trip around the Amalfi Coast using only public transport. 

Wine-dark seas, lemon groves and stacks of pastel-hued houses perched perilously on a stretch of craggy coastline. It’s not a dream: you’re on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

Now your only worry is reaching its most stunning destinations. Maybe you love driving overseas; maybe you, like Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus, harbor an Italian dream of whizzing around on a Vespa, your Peppa Pig–pink scarf fluttering in the wind.

Let’s take a reality check. The Amalfi Coast is notoriously hard to navigate due to its cliff-top roads, hairpin curves and perilous drop-offs toward the surging sea. Driving through this hugely popular region can mean dealing with insane traffic, and parking is shockingly expensive – if you can even find it. A scooter is convenient, but only if you’re already an experienced driver.

Now here’s the good news: there’s an extensive public transit network in the region that will get you nearly anywhere you want to go, provided you plan carefully. As in all of Italy, the public-transport options can be spotty – but trust me: they’re still better than driving the anarchic, razor-narrow SS163 state road in high season.

Apart from Sorrento and Vietri sul Mare, this mountainous coast is not reached by Italy’s train system. But there are frequent buses and an excellent fleet of speedy ferries between cities, as well as from Naples.

Read on to learn how to navigate the Amalfi Coast’s best places in five steps, with just a ticket and a smile. Flowing pink scarf optional.

Step 1: Create a watertight itinerary…but be realistic

Find the right amount of activities you can fit into your time

So much to see, so little time: believe me, I empathize. But if you’re relying on public transport, it’s wisest to limit your itinerary to just a few places, and resisting the urge to program two or more experiences on the same day. Here are the region’s greatest hits, broadly in order of public-transport-friendliness. 

The superstar coastal…