Positano in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Positano covers 12 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Positano rewards a detour.

Day 1

Morning

1. Positano Seafront and Village: The most photographed village on the Amalfi Coast, a cascade of colourful pastel houses tumbling down a steep cliff to a pebble beach, with bougainvillea-draped staircases, ceramic-decorated streets, and the green-domed Santa Maria Assunta church as its centrepiece.
2. Santa Maria Assunta Church: Positano's landmark church with its distinctive majolica-tiled green dome, home to a remarkable Byzantine Black Madonna icon dating from the 13th century, the object of deep local veneration and the visual anchor of the village.
3. Spiaggia Grande: Positano's main beach, a broad crescent of dark pebbles backed by the full cliff face of the village, with beach clubs, boat hire, and the village reflected in the water at the perfect spot to appreciate the whole composition of Positano.

Afternoon

1. Spiaggia dei Fornillo: Positano's quieter alternative beach, 10 minutes west of the Spiaggia Grande by a coastal path, less crowded, more local in atmosphere, with watchtowers from the Saracen era visible on the cliffs above.
2. Via dei Mulini: Boutiques and Ceramics: The main stepped shopping lane descending from the main road to the beach, lined with fashion boutiques that created the famous Positano beach fashion style in the 1960s, ceramic shops, and local food stores.
3. Boat Tours and Sea Caves: Motorboats available for hire from the Spiaggia Grande offer exploration of the sea caves and rock arches of the Amalfi Coast, trips to the Li Galli archipelago (the mythical Siren islands), and the best photographic angle on the entire Positano village face.

Day 2

Morning

1. Li Galli Islands: A small archipelago 4km offshore, identified in classical antiquity as the home of Homer's Sirens, owned in the 20th century by Rudolf Nureyev, accessible by boat from Positano, with a Saracen tower and a villa built by Le Corbusier.
2. Path of the Gods: Hike to Nocelle: The classic hike from Positano up 1,600 steps to the mountain hamlet of Nocelle and Montepertuso, with views of the coast from 450 metres, part of the famous Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods) that traverses the Amalfi hinterland.
3. Amalfi Coast Drive (SS163): The most dramatic coastal road in Italy, the SS163 is carved into the cliff face above the Amalfi Coast, with hairpin bends 200 metres above the sea, tunnels through the rock, and views that rank among the greatest in Europe.

Afternoon

1. Scialatielli ai Frutti di Mare: The signature pasta of the Amalfi Coast, scialatielli is a thick, short, hand-rolled pasta made with milk and fresh basil, traditionally served with mixed seafood (frutti di mare) using the catch of the day from the local boats.
2. John Steinbeck's Positano (1953): In 1953, John Steinbeck wrote the defining description of Positano for Harper's Bazaar: "It is a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone", an article that put Positano on the international tourist map.
3. Moda Positano: Resort Fashion Heritage: Positano invented a globally influential style of resort fashion in the 1960s, lightweight, colourful, hand-printed Mediterranean clothes that attracted Jackie Kennedy, Sophia Loren, and the international jet set, creating an aesthetic still recognisable worldwide today.

Full Positano guide and all stops →