Amalfi Town is often treated as a ferry stop between Positano and Ravello. That's a mistake. The town that once rivaled Venice as a maritime republic has enough to fill two full days — a cathedral with Moorish columns, Europe's first paper mill, waterfall hikes, and lemon groves that produce the coast's most distinctive fruit.
Here are the eight experiences that matter.
The Duomo di Sant'Andrea dominates Piazza Duomo from the top of a dramatic staircase. The 9th-century cathedral has an Arab-Norman facade with a Byzantine mosaic of Christ that glows in the late afternoon sun.
The cathedral itself is free. The Cloister of Paradise (€3) has 120 interlocking Moorish columns — an Arabesque courtyard that feels transported from North Africa. The crypt holds relics of Saint Andrew the Apostle.
Golden hour — about 90 minutes before sunset — turns the facade warm and the piazza quiet as day-trippers leave. This is when to be here.
Museo della Carta, in a 13th-century paper mill on Via delle Cartiere. Amalfi pioneered paper production in Europe, learning the technique from Arab traders. The museum has working original machinery — you watch handmade paper being pressed and dried using methods unchanged for 700 years.
Entry €4.50. Open daily 10AM-6:30PM (March-October). Allow 45 minutes. The shop sells beautiful handmade paper products — journals, prints, stationery — that make gifts with actual history behind them.
Most tourists walk right past this place. Don't be most tourists.
Through a pedestrian tunnel at the east end of town, you emerge in Atrani — Italy's smallest municipality by area. A postage-stamp piazza opens to a small beach framed by cliffs. The church of San Salvatore de' Birecto has a bronze door cast in Constantinople.
Free. No crowds. This is what the Amalfi Coast looked like before Instagram. The restaurants here are cheaper than Amalfi's piazza, and the pizza at Ristorante Le Arcate is excellent (€7-9).
Above Amalfi, a nature reserve with waterfalls and rare Woodwardia ferns — a species surviving from the last ice age. The trail starts from Piazza Duomo and climbs 400 meters over 5km (2-3 hours round trip). Reserve entry €5.
The hike is steep and the path near the waterfalls is slippery — hiking shoes are essential. But the reward is genuine wilderness within walking distance of the tourist zone. Lemon terraces line the lower portion of the trail.
The Amalfi sfusato lemon is enormous, sweet, and aromatic — a specific cultivar that produces the coast's signature limoncello. Local farms offer classes (~€25-35, 1 hour) where you zest, macerate, and bottle your own.
The lemon groves are terraced into the hillside above town, with views down to the coast that justify the climb alone. You leave with a bottle and an understanding of why Amalfi limoncello tastes nothing like the supermarket version.
Marina Grande is still a working harbor. Fishermen sell fresh alici (anchovies) from their boats in the morning — silver, delicate, and completely different from the salty tinned version. Buy them fresh and eat at one of the harbor-side restaurants.
While you're there: the pebble beach at Marina Grande is Amalfi's public beach. Sun lounger rental €15-25 for a half-day. The swimming is good from June to October in clear, warm water.
Amalfi's main street is lined with artisan ceramic workshops — hand-painted plates, tiles, and Vietri-style pieces in the bold blues, yellows, and greens of the coast. Prices start at €10 for small tiles.
Ceramiche d'Arte and Il Ducato are standout studios. Both shops can ship internationally if your purchase is too fragile to carry. A hand-painted ceramic plate from an Amalfi artisan is a souvenir that actually gets used.
Ferries from Amalfi's harbor connect to Positano (25 min, €9) and Capri (seasonal). The ferry ride itself is a highlight — the coastline from the water reveals cliffside villages, sea caves, and terraced lemon groves that the road doesn't show.
Buy tickets at the dock. Morning departures are less crowded. Travelmar and Alilauro are the main operators.
Travel Guides
Travel Guides
Travel Guides
