Amalfi Coast Without a Car

Getting around the Amalfi Coast without a car means combining three kinds of public transport: a bus along the coastal road, passenger ferries and hydrofoils that call at the seaside towns, and the Circumvesuviana train from Naples to Sorrento. The coast has no railway. The SITA Sud bus runs along the coastal state road, the SS163, and ferries are the other way to reach towns the road serves poorly.

Most details change with the season, so check the operator or agency named with each figure before you travel. As of 14 October 2026, the bus is the only overland public transit between coast towns, ferries carry most summer traffic by sea, and the train reaches Sorrento from Naples but not the coast beyond it.

How the Bus Connects the Towns

The SITA Sud bus runs the SS163 between Sorrento and Salerno. Its stops include Positano, Praiano, Amalfi, Maiori and Minori. Ravello sits on the hills above Amalfi, off the coastal road, so you reach it by a connecting bus or taxi. Ravello has no ferry service.

Through connections exist, but the route between Salerno and the western towns is the one to verify. There is no direct bus from Salerno to Positano or Sorrento, and passengers must change in Amalfi. Positano–Salerno and Sorrento–Salerno are listed as linked services for 2026, but the listing does not show whether those trips are direct or involve a change. Ask the operator before you plan a Salerno arrival around a bus transfer.

The operator is SITA Sud.

Bus Timetables and Frequency

The most recent timetable is a 2026 table for the Amalfi–Positano–Sorrento route. It lists the first Amalfi departure at 06:20 and the last listed Amalfi departure at 22:30, and it lists the last Positano departure at 23:10. The Sorrento-side times and the validity dates are not visible in that table, so the Sorrento end of the schedule needs confirmation.

Frequency is easier to describe than exact times. Buses run roughly every 40 to 90 minutes, and weekday headways are 31 to 89 minutes between 07:15 and 19:00. The Sunday pattern is sparser, with gaps of 49 to 259 minutes between 09:30 and 18:00. For autumn and winter 2025/26, the last Amalfi–Sorrento bus in summer usually leaves between 21:30 and 22:00.

There is no night bus service, and taxis are the only option after dark, so plan your last leg around the last departure.

SITA runs daily all year with extra summer journeys, and winter service is reduced. Ask SITA Sud for the winter schedule if your trip falls between November and March.

Bus Tickets and Fares

The operator’s notice dated 3 April 2024 lists a 24-hour COSTIERASITA ticket at €10.00. The ticket gives unlimited rides on SITA Sud buses in 20 named municipalities, including Positano, Amalfi, Minori, Maiori, Ravello, Salerno and Sorrento. The ticket is personal and non-transferable. The holder writes their name and date of birth on it by hand, and its 24 hours begin at the first validation, so time between purchase and validation does not count.

Single-ride fares come in two bands, but published prices differ: AC1 at €1.80 for two neighboring towns, such as Positano and Praiano, and AC2 at €2.60 for longer hops, such as Positano–Amalfi or Positano–Sorrento. Other published prices include Sorrento–Positano at €2.20 or €2.50, and Sorrento–Amalfi at €3.20 or €3.50. The published figures conflict, so check the current tariff with SITA Sud before you budget for single rides.

Buy tickets before you board. Tickets are sold at tobacconists, bars and newsagents that display the SITA SUD sign, and the bus does not sell them. Stamp the ticket in the on-board validator before it counts. Validate on the bus you ride, not at the stop.

A 24-hour ticket saves money on a day with several separate trips, such as a morning ride to Amalfi, an afternoon to Positano and a return to Sorrento. For a single trip between two towns, the single-ride fare is cheaper, as long as the current tariff confirms the figure.

Ferries and Hydrofoils Between Towns

Ferries and hydrofoils are the main alternative to the bus. Most services run from Salerno to Amalfi, Positano, Maiori, Minori and Cetara, and some connect the eastern towns to one another. Six operators run the Salerno to Amalfi ferries route: NLG, Positano Jet, Travelmar, Alicost, Coast Lines and Grassi Junior. Travelmar’s Salerno ferry service began on 1 April 2025 and calls at Cetara, Minori, Maiori, Amalfi and Positano.

In summer, Salerno to Amalfi has about 9 to 10 departures a day, with the first sailing at 08:40 and the last around 18:00 in timetable listings. Positano has fewer. Eight daily sailings from Salerno leave between 08:40 and 16:40. Return sailings from Amalfi to Salerno run later in the day. One listing has nine departures between 09:00 and 19:10, and another has ten departures up to 20:30. Confirm the exact times with the operator or the ticket office before you travel.

Crossing times depend on the route and the operator. Salerno to Amalfi takes between 25 minutes and just over an hour. Salerno to Positano takes about an hour from Molo Manfredi and about 70 minutes from Concordia. Salerno to Minori takes about 30 minutes in one listing and 45 to 50 minutes in the timetable.

Ferries can be cancelled in rough weather. Keep a bus plan in reserve for that reason. Ask the operator what happens to a ticket if a sailing is cancelled, including the refund policy.

Ferry Fares and Piers

Ferry fares below are one way.

• Salerno to Amalfi: €9.00 in one listing, €11.50 from a starting point with a range of €10 to €12 in another, and €12.00 from Concordia or €15.50 from Molo Manfredi in a third.
• Salerno to Positano: €17.00 from Concordia and €20.50 from Molo Manfredi in one listing, and €12 on Positano Jet in another.
• Amalfi to Positano: €10.00 in two listings.
• Amalfi to Maiori or Minori: €5.00 each.
• Salerno to Maiori or Minori: €10.00 each in one listing. For shorter hops, the Traghetti-Napoli listing gives €6 to €9.

The price spread is large, so treat these as indicative and check the operator for the current fare on the day you travel.

Piers in Salerno also vary by sailing. Concordia is the most common departure point, and Molo Manfredi serves some sailings. Some sailings also use Molo Masuccio Salernitano and Molo Pennello in Amalfi. Confirm the exact pier on your ticket, because the wrong pier means a long walk or a missed sailing.

Winter Ferry Service

Winter ferry service is the hardest part of this trip to plan. The Salerno to Amalfi route is listed as running daily from January to December. Travelmar runs some year-round routes from Salerno to Amalfi. The Minori service is mainly seasonal, with regular departures from April to October and reduced or suspended service in winter. Ferries do not run from November to March. Confirm the route and season with Travelmar or another operator before you commit to a ferry in winter.

Praiano has no ferry service, so use the bus to reach it.

Trains to Sorrento and Naples

The Circumvesuviana is the train that serves the Sorrento end of the peninsula. The regional operator, EAV, runs the line from Naples to Sorrento. Its page for railway timetables lists a Naples–Sorrento timetable, labeled L1, valid from 1 October 2026. Confirm departure times in that PDF.

An unofficial Naples to Sorrento schedule says trains run about every half hour, with a sample first departure from Napoli Porta Nolana at 05:36 and a last one at 22:11. An older 2024 timetable gives first and last trains of 05:30 and 22:02 from Sorrento, with trains about every 30 minutes. Use the EAV PDF for the official times.

The full trip takes about an hour on the all-stops route, according to the line’s encyclopedia entry. Faster trains make fewer stops, and some stop at Portici Bellavista.

Naples to Sorrento is listed at €3.60 for 2025, and a 2024 timetable shows €4.30. Neither is an EAV tariff. The 2024 timetable gives intermediate fares of €1.70 to San Giorgio a Cremano, €2.40 to Ercolano and Torre del Greco, and €3.00 to Torre Annunziata and Pompei. Check the current fare on the EAV site before you budget for it.

Tickets can be bought at a window or a station newsstand. EAV says its Tap&Go system lets riders tap a contactless card at enabled turnstiles, and it says Tap&Go is active on the Napoli–Sorrento line. The EAV ticket page also lists 1,329 sales points in Naples and 680 in the Salerno province. An older claim that tickets cannot be bought online predates Tap&Go, so follow the EAV page.

At Sorrento, the train terminates at the station on Piazza Giovanni Battista de Curtis. From there, the SITA bus continues along the coast. Ask SITA and EAV whether a combined train and bus ticket exists, and buy the bus ticket separately after you arrive at Sorrento.

Salerno is the usual rail gateway to the eastern towns. Check Trenitalia directly before you plan an arrival at Salerno. Fast trains from Rome are listed at about an hour to Naples and about two hours to Salerno, so confirm those times with Trenitalia or Italo.

Summer and Winter Options by Mode

The table below sums up what each mode offers in summer and winter, and how far to trust the information.

Planning Tips

Base your trip in a town with both a bus stop and a ferry call. Amalfi is the most practical base, because it has seasonal ferries and buses that fan out toward Positano, Ravello and the eastern towns. Positano has fewer ferry departures than Amalfi, so it is harder to leave in peak season.

Start your bus days early. Buses in July and August are crushingly full by mid-morning, so start early or use the ferry instead. On the busiest days, plan a ferry when the bus is full, and keep the bus for shorter hops.

Pack light. Walking is part of the trip, because the villages sit on steep slopes, and stairs connect many of the paths. Carry light luggage and check route and sailing times close to the travel date, because they change with the season.

Keep a taxi number and a fallback plan for the last bus of the evening, since there is no night bus. For Ravello, budget for a bus or taxi, because the town is uphill from the coastal road.

Key Takeaways

• Check the bus timetable with SITA Sud before you travel: The operator’s fare notice is dated 3 April 2024, so ask SITA Sud for the current 2026 timetable and tariff.
• Buy the 24-hour ticket before boarding and validate it on the bus: The COSTIERASITA ticket costs €10.00 in the operator’s 2024 notice, and it is personal, so write your name and date of birth on it.
• Plan the Salerno arrival around ferries in summer: Salerno to Amalfi has about 9 to 10 daily sailings from 08:40, but confirm the winter service with Travelmar or another operator, since winter is the least certain part of the trip.
• Confirm the Circumvesuviana timetable on the EAV site: The Naples to Sorrento timetable is valid from 1 October 2026, and pay the fare set in the EAV tariff.
• Leave a fallback for the evening: No night bus runs, so keep a taxi number and an earlier bus in your plan for the last leg of the day.