Amalfi Coast 3-Day Itinerary – What to see and do on a city-break

  • 28.01.2023 19:16
  • Bruno Arcos

Best things to see and do in the Amalfi Coast during a city break or a long weekend. Discover the region’s most famous landmarks and tourist hotspots – including Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Ravello – in our Amalfi Coast 3-day itinerary!

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This Amalfi Coast 1-week itinerary is a part of our broader Amalfi Coast travel guide. We recommend you check it o3 days amalfi coastut for the best travel tips and the most accurate information on transportation, hotels and restaurants in the Amalfi Coast.

Amalfi Coast 3-Day Itinerary – What to see and do on a city-break

Considering that the Amalfi Coast is made up of dozens of different towns and villages, and assuming you’ll have squeeze Naples in for your inbound and outbound flights, it’s important that you adjust your expectations for this trip – It will be tight, tight, tight!

Be that as it may, we are always of the opinion that going is 100% the right choice… even when time is awfully limited! However, get ready for a real race against the clock in the pursue of discovering the best the Amalfi Coast has to offer.

Amalfi Coast 3-day Itinerary – Day 1: Sorrento, the starting point

As soon as you land in Naples, you must immediately hop on a bus or train towards Sorrento, your very first stop along the Amalfi Coast… well, sort of! Sorrento’s inclusion/omission in the territory of the Amalfi Coast is widely debated and far from unanimous but I think we can let it slide. Be that as it may, it’s time to have fun!

As such, you’ll kick things off with one of the most unique places in Sorrento. If the idea of swimming under the ruins of a 2000-year-old city never crossed your mind before, I guess this will be a first! Located right at the tip of the Cape of Sorrento, the Regina Giovanna Baths is a natural pool surrounded by cliffs right under the Villa Pollio Felice, an ancient roman city founded two millennia ago.

After spending the entire morning soaking in, it´s time to get back in the city and visit Marina Grande, an incredibly picturesque promenade with plenty of shops and restaurants. Once in the historic center, visit the Cathedral of San Filippo and San Giacomo, the most important in the city, as well as the Saint Francis Cloisters, a beautiful garden incorporated into an old monastery. For the perfect farewell, climb up to the viewpoint at Villa Comunale and watch the sun set over the local marina, the Bay of Naples and the majestic silhouette of the Vesuvius.

First day wrap-up:

  • Regina Giovanna Baths
  • Villa Pollio Felice
  • Marina Grande
  • Cathedral of San Filippo and San Giacomo
  • Saint Francis Cloisters
  • Villa Comunale

Cheap restaurant suggestions in Sorrento:

Amalfi Coast 3-Day Itinerary – Day 2: Positano and the Path of the Gods

Today you’ll want to turn on your early-riser mode and enjoy the poster-girl of the Amalfi Coast! If at any point you started developing an interest in the region, chances are that started right after seeing a couple snaps from Positano. Unfortunately, popularity always comes at a price (in this case, literally), which is why everything tends to be dramatically overpriced Positano, especially when it comes to hotels and restaurants. That being said, and in order to spare your budget, our Amalfi Coast 1-week itinerary recommends that you take either a bus or a ferry from Sorrento very early in the morning and then proceed towards the town of Amalfi by the end of the day. Positano will be experienced in the in-betweens.

Don’t fret – it will be enough! After all, Positano isn’t exactly a place filled with items to cross off your bucket-list, but a destination to be experienced on a much slower pace. Here, the best you can do is to just wander through the winding streets and discover new viewpoints while taking picture after picture to your heart’s content. You can swim at the Marina Grande Beach and visit the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, but the truth is that a single morning is enough to get to know Positano, even if you’re dragging a bit. For that reason, we suggest doing something entirely different for the afternoon.

Considered the most breathtaking hike in the entire Amalfi Coast, the 6km path uniting the unexpected towns of Nocelle and Bomerano is packed with incredible panoramic views and hidden caves. They call it the “Path of the Gods” although the dirt road was originally created to facilitate the passage of working donkeys/mules carrying passengers and goods between the small villages in the area. That is the ultimate beauty behind this hike, as it allows you to travel back in time and experience the way people actually moved between places before cars and road travel. Once the trek comes to an end in Bomerano, you can get on a bus to our next destination.

Second day wrap-up:

  • Positano
  • Marina Grande Beach
  • Church of Santa Maria Assunta
  • Path of the Gods (hike from Nocelle to Bomerano)

Cheap restaurant suggestions in Positano:

 

Amalfi Coast 3-Day Itinerary – Day 3: Amalfi and Ravello

Considering the entire coast in named after Amalfi, it´s easy to understand that, from an historical and cultural point-of-view, this is the most important town in the region. However, do not expect to find your average big-city! Quite the opposite, as much like its neighbors, Amalfi is also a lovely little village by the sea.

In fact, that’s precisely where your day will start, with a slow morning walk along the Amalfi Marina before going up the hill towards the San Andrea Fountain and the striking Duomo di Amalfi, the most spectacular church in the coast. Take some time to explore the center before capping off your morning at the neighboring town of Atrani, one of the region’s hidden gems. Keep in mind “neighboring town” is a pretty relative term here in the Amalfi Coast, as both municipalities are just 1km away from each other. Once in Atrani, visit the San Salvatore de Birecto Church and enjoy the view from the Tower of Ziro.

In the afternoon, take a short bus trip to Ravello. Despite being extremely small, Ravello is just equally as picturesque, rewarding visitors with some of the most ludicrously awe-inspiring viewpoints one can find in our Amalfi Coast 1-week itinerary. There are two specific places that helped put Ravello on most tourist maps… curiously, two historic villas: Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo (7€ each). Both provide excellent views over the sea and the surrounding hills, well-cared gardens, amazing terraces and religious cloisters. Between these villas, take the time to visit other local landmarks such as the Church of the Annunziata and the Duomo di Ravello.

By the end of the day (or next day, depending on the timing of your flights), you’ll have to bid farewell to the Amalfi Coast and get on a bus back to Naples. It might have been short, but it sure was seet!

Third day wrap-up:

  • Amalfi Marina
  • San Andrea Fountain
  • Duomo di Amalfi
  • Atrani
  • San Salvatore de Birecto Church
  • Tower of Ziro
  • Villa Cimbrone
  • Church of the Annunziata
  • Duomo di Ravello
  • Villa Rufolo

Cheap restaurant suggestions in Amalfi:

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