It may be beautiful on Instagram, but here’s the whole story!
Positano is a little village on the Amalfi coast that you’ll have seen in several movies and television series. It’s also been voted one of the most beautiful places in the world and attracts tourists from around the globe. But, don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s perfect – because it isn’t. Positano is small, isolated, and expensive and there are only about 2 bars, restaurants, cafes, and hotels to choose from if you want to spend time there. That being said, I still think it’s worth visiting – but only if you know what to expect before you go. Many people only see the photos of Positano and think ‘Perfect Paradise!’ But when they get there they find out that it isn’t quite as perfect as they thought. Here are some things you might not know about Positano…
1. There’s only one real path through the town, with many (many, many…) stairs!
Positano has a very very small town center, with a few restaurants, cafes, shops, and hotels all bunched together in one small area. As a result, there’s only one path through the town center, and that path has many stairs. And you definitely don’t want to be hauling heavy suitcases up and down those stairs. If you’re traveling with a group, you won’t be able to all walk through town together as there simply won’t be room for everyone to walk in one line. Also, you probably won’t be able to go up and down those stairs with your suitcases. So, you’ll have to figure out which hotel is closest to each person in the group and meet there. Also, you’ll have to go back and forth to each hotel to get everyone together to walk to the next location. We came prepared for the stairs and were told that our hotel, in lower Positano would require about 200 stairs to get to and from the main area, however, upon counting, it was close to 500 stairs each way. Our biggest regret is that we weren’t running bleachers at the local stadium to prepare ourselves for this trip. But seriously by day 4, it wasn’t that bad…
PRO TIP: If you are arriving by Ferry, at the bottom of the stair, which would require you to carry your suitcase UP ALL THE STAIRS (we did see people doing this), there is a Port Vallet that you can arrange that will take your bags in a small shuttle from where the Ferry comes in, up to your hotel. I would recommend booking this service in advance if you are planning to stay in Positano and will be arriving by Ferry.
2. The bus system is not as simple to take within the town and to get from village to village on the Amalfi Coast.
Many people expect to be able to hop on a bus and go from one spot to another. They think, ‘When we want to go to the beach, we’ll just hop on the bus.’ The interno bus in Positano 1)only goes up and down the mountain, 2) can’t take you directly to a specific location, and 3) can not go to the beach at all. There are buses that you can take to the other villages around the Amalfi Coast like Sorrento, Amalfi, and Ravello. The buses come about every hour and a half and you can find a few bus stops within each village. However, we found that the one time we tried to take them to a neighboring village, as the day went on the buses became more crowded. It became a shoving match to get on the buses when they showed up because there were more people than seats. We opted to take a ferry back at the end of the day and it was a much better experience.
3. The beaches are rocky and unpleasant to walk on.
Many people think that the beaches in Positano are sandy and soft, but that’s not the case. They are made of black rocks. It is painful and quite uncomfortable, and this information was not in any information that we read about traveling to Positano before our trip. That is one reason I feel so strongly about making sure I mention it here. We have so many water shoes that we would have brought a pair with us and it would have completely saved our day at the beach. The rocks did put a damper on things and made it painful to walk and even to be in the water. So many people walking around were in pain too. So, take my word for it and bring a pair of water shoes, it will make your beach day in Positano so much more enjoyable!
4. There are only a few bars, and you can’t just pop into a place for a drink.
The village of Positano has actual bars. You also cannot go into most restaurants to have a cocktail unless you are also having a meal. Most tourists don’t like this, but that’s just the way it is in Positano. For example, we would enjoy dinner somewhere and then want to go have a drink somewhere else after dinner and we were either given a hard time or told that was not allowed. We even tried to get a drink at our hotel twice (which has closed its bar without updating its website or information and now only had a restaurant) and were told that we could go to our room once and the other time they unseated us and moved us to a stool on a side patio, at which point we left and went somewhere else. You can simply be out of luck unless you want to drink alcohol in your hotel room. One afternoon while down by the beach, there was a mostly empty restaurant and we asked to come in for a drink. We were told that we could go to the bar across the way (that was full with no available seats), but they would not allow us to sit and have a drink at their empty establishment. They would rather have empty tables than let you come in for cocktails, or cocktails and an appetizer.
The Reality…
This is a beautiful place and worth a visit, but make sure you know what to expect before you go. If you choose to stay in Positano, do your research and make sure your hotel is acceptable concerning your expectation of walking and stair climbing. Additionally, It would be a great choice to stay in Sorrento or Capri and take the ferry once or twice to Positano for day trips. Additional tips, bring your water shoes, take the ferry and make reservations for the restaurants you wish you eat at (and stop by a shop to keep a bottle of wine in your hotel room). Just know what to expect and make sure you’re prepared with the information in this article and you should have a great time.
