I had been warned about driving the Amalfi Coast. The road is barely two lanes wide in places, clinging to cliffs above a drop of hundreds of metres to the Tyrrhenian Sea, frequently blocked by tour coaches that cannot quite make the turns, and full of Italian drivers who treat the speed limit as a polite suggestion. All of that is true. Also true: it is one of the most beautiful drives in the world, and the effort is absolutely worth it.
Practical Logistics
Drive from Salerno to Sorrento (or vice versa) — west to east means you are on the mountain side rather than the cliff edge, which is marginally less terrifying. Go early morning (before 9am) or late afternoon to avoid coach traffic at its worst. Hire a small car — this is not the moment for an SUV. If someone offers to drive you, accept immediately. The passenger gets to watch the view; the driver watches for coaches on blind corners.
Stops Worth Making
Ravello, high above Amalfi town, has the Villa Rufolo gardens and some of the most extraordinary views on the coast — arrive by 8am before the tourists appear. Amalfi town itself is worth a wander: the cathedral, the paper museum, the back streets that climb steeply into the hillside. Positano is the famous one — beautiful, expensive, worth one afternoon. The real discovery is the villages in between: Praiano, Furore, Conca dei Marini, where there are fewer people and the rhythm is calmer.
What to Eat
The Amalfi Coast exists on lemons. The sfusato amalfitano — a variety so large it can weigh a kilogram — goes into limoncello, into pasta alle vongole, into the granita sold from carts, into the delizia al limone dessert that is essentially a ball of lemon cream. Order everything with lemon. Sit by the water and watch the light change. Drink local white wine. This is what the drive is for.