Positano Transportation

Positano is small enough that you can probably walk wherever you need to go. However, the stairs are challenging even for fit visitors, and if you're staying higher on the mountain, you will probably want to take the bus from time to time.

The local Positano bus is fairly reliable. It makes a loop through the city, arriving at each stop every half hour. It leaves the downtown stop (nearest the beach) on the hour and the half-hour. There are signs at all the other stops to indicate when the bus should arrive at that point.

A one-way ride is 1 euro.

There is a bus stop right outside Villa Gabrisa and Hotel Pasitea (Best Western), so this is convenient for anyone staying there.

The bus to Positano stops outside Bar Internazionale, on the main road above Positano. From here it is quite a climb down to the Positano (steps, steps and more steps), and while the views along the way are spectacular, it was still a fair old hike. As we got the boat to Amalfi, we did not have to climb all the way back.

1 more image

Althought the most panoramic way to go to Positano is rented or own car, the best way is to go with the bus. If you are going with car, check out in advance that your accommodation has parking slot or garage.
Getting a parking place for car in Positano is maybe not impossible, but can be quite difficult.

Also the *only* serpentine road through Positano village is oneway; so if you want to go to upper parts of Positano, you have to first go to the bottom of the slope and then head back.

It is much easier to walk upward and downward steep stairs around.

On the other hand, it is very difficult to get lost with car in Positano. :-)

Cost for a week's rental of an auto was very good. I rented through AutoEurope and had no problems. I highly recommend travelling this way outside of the big cities, unless you're normally a very cautious driver....if that's the case, take the bus!

This is a photo of one of those tour buses maneuvering around a bend on the coast road. On the left is a trench-digging machine that actually had to stop what it was doing, back up and move as close to the outside wall as it could, so that the bus could get around the corner! This was quite a production and stopped traffic for quite a while.

In the photo also you can see someone on a scooter, trying to sneak through the mess to continue on up the road. This kind of thing goes on all of the time here and you have to watch out for the scooter drivers as a rule.

Positano is a coastal town, and there's no better way to check out the coast than by boat.

Boats were our second home and we enjoyed the great hourly rates and the variety of choices. This rubber 40-horsepower baby took us high speed up the smooth bay waters on a warm September day.

It cost us only 30EU/hr to rent........and we would have surely paid wayyyy more if the cutie boathand in thebackground came with it! ;->

It is best to hire a driver for a day to take you to some of the more distant towns- i.e. Ravello or Pompei.

We used a driver for day trips and to get to the Naples train station and from the Sorrento hydrofoil.

One driver is Salvatore Esposito. Via degli Aranci, 187, Sorrento

Positano is a VERTICAL town and there is only one main (very windy) road that goes up and down and circles the town. My advice to anyone visiting Positano would be to not rent a car. We came across several folks who had rented cars while in town, and they ended up keeping the car in the handful of parking lots located there.

The little orange bus is the best method of getting around town, in my opinion. It costs only 77 cents and they run every 15 to 20 minutes. They can bring you all the way to the top of Montepertuso and way down to the bottom at Piazza dei Mulini. From there, you are on your own to walk the many steps and ramps to get to the beachfront.

The Positano bus drivers are well respected and the most skillful drivers I have seen. It can't be an easy task trying to maneuver the big honkers around the windy, narrow streets. Oh, and when the giant tourist buses come to town? Fuhgedaboutit! Traffic can be backed up for many blocks, but the city buses still manage to make their way through!
Taxis can be quite pricey in this town and you should only resort to one if you need a ride after the buses stop running past midnight. (keep in mind that the taxis stop running at 3am).

I had the luxury of hopping on the back of a scooter on several occasions with one of the locals.....but even that can be a bit disheartening when "Il Carabinieri" (police) are around. They tend to frequently check bikers for their insurance papers and fine you if you don't have them.

THE BEST WAY TO SEE THE BEAUTY IS TO DRIVE. ALTHOUGH YOU MUST GO SLOW, IT IS NARROW AND NOT FOR THE WEAK OF HEART.