Positano Warnings Or Dangers

I visit this town every few years as I have family here. They always warn me not to talk to the local men which I have always shrugged off as their over-conservatism and Positano is so subdued but last time I went, a guy approached me on the beach and was friendly enough, not sleazy and said he was studying law in London...Okay. I saw him again the next afternoon and he asked where I was staying. I didn't make it too clear but I guess he worked it out because he left a message at my Aunt's house asking if I wanted to have a drink with him and friends later. Why not? But went he picked me up I was the only woman, he paraded me about like a prize pooch and then tried leading me off behind The Rocks. He actually tried to blackmail me into having sex on the beach, grabbed my hand and stuck it down his trousers! Off course I walked off to the town and got in a taxi where he caught up with me and apologised and said he'd take the taxi with me and put it on his account. Fine. Naturally, he jumped out first and landed me with a 30 euro taxi fair.
I got up the guts to tell my aunty and she shook her head and said 'I told you so'. It turns out he's a local policeman...
Lesson learnt.

You need to fairly mobile to stay in Positano, unless you are lucky enough to afford a hotel at the bottom of the hill. It is very steep, with tiny little steps up and down the hill.

There is a bus service but it stops at a certain time.

We came to Positano from Rome by train. We read several warnings of pickpockets/thieves at the train stations in Naples. In our 2 week stay in Italy never did we feel these warnings were justified. Perhaps we were lucky or just didn't appear as easy targets. If one watches their bags and does not wear fancy jewelry, I believe the risk is no greater than in most large cities of the world. Use common sense and everything will be OK.

The Amalfi Drive follows limestone cliffs along the Bay of Salerno in a spectacular feat of engineering that rivals roads to be found in the Alps. From Salerno to Sorrento, this panoramic drive encompasses both sun-drenched precipices and glittering sea. But be careful, busses have right of way, the locals drive like idiots and if you have a driving misfortune you may end up in the glittering sea!

If you are going to drive. Be very careful the roads are very narrow and windy. I reccommend taking the bus that way you can look at the beautiful view and let the drivers do all the hard work. The buses we took all the drivers were very skillful.

If you are afraid of heights or driving on precarious roads then be careful on the Amalfi coast. The roads are winding and you cannot see around the sides of the cliffs. People have driven off the cliffs. We took the bus between Positano and Amalfi which was great.

Not a danger, just an alert - Positano has A LOT of stairs. In fact, going up and down many sets of stairs is the only way to get between many locations here. I found that this greatly added to the charm of the place, and undoubtedly helped with all the Gelato I ate while there!

By the second day though, your calves really let you know if they're not used to excessive stairclimbing!

I strongly recommend taking the 'local' Positano bus as close to your hotel as possible when you arrive, because it's tricky doing all those stairs with all your luggage, I can tell you! Some places actually have elevators that go from the hotel to the beach, so if you're mobility impaired, I recommend you find one of those to stay in :)

Positano is a picturesque town and has a fairly nice beach where you can hire sunbeds...but I wouldn't fancy swimming in the water here - especially as the boat service for the Amalfi coast is just nearby. Just look at the rubbish in the water here :-S