IS POSITANO WORTH THE HYPE?

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This post is about Positano in Italy and I will try to answer the question - is Positano worth visiting?

Is Positano really worth visiting? It’s the dream of Italian ‘dolce vita’ that travellers around the world are searching for. It is the picture perfect postcard child of the Amalfi Coast.

In this article I want to shed some light, based on my experiences of Positano how it might not live up to your expectations as well as things you should know before visiting Positano, Italy. 

The images of Positano are all too familiar - the colourful houses cascading down into the azure Mediterranean sea. It looks like the place of dreams and makes you think that Positano is the ultimate beach destination in Italy.

This article will be your handy guide in helping you decide for yourself if Positano is worth visiting for youas well as discovering some practical Positano travel tips if you do decide to visit.

Planning your trip? Use my favourite resources!

🏨 Accommodation : I recommend Booking.com
✈️ Flights : for the cheapest flights, I use Skyscanner
🚗 Rental Car : I recommend Rental Cars
🛡️ Travel Insurance : for the best deals I rely on HeyMondo

Is Positano worth visiting?

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It really depends on your point of view. I’d say, yes Positano is worth visiting if you really have a goal to tick it off your bucketlist or you’re in the area anyway and have some spare time you can spend on the Amalfi Coast. Otherwise I’d say no, Positano is not really worth the hype or worth visiting. I’ll share more on my opinions later on in the post but after travelling extensively around the Amalfi Coast there are better places to visit on the Amalfi Coast which are less crowded, much, much more affordable and just as beautiful, if not more so.

Positano seems to have become the well known jewel in the crown of the Amalfi Coast but to be honest the whole area is beautiful and there’s no real need to travel to Positano inparticular.

Saying that, I will probably visit Positano again as I would love to walk the Path of the Gods (a 5 mile hike around Positano area) which I haven’t done yet as it’s just been too hot when I’ve visited.

Travelling is subjective and a place that one person thinks is wonderful, another will really not like so keep reading to discover if Positano is a place worth visiting for you.

Things to know about Positano before you visit

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Positano has incredibly steep terrain

Ok, this may be obvious after looking at the pictures of Positano but I think it’s important to mention this. Positano is built into the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, meaning that navigating its streets involves a lot (and I mean alot!) of stairs and steep pathways. Be prepared for uphill walks and numerous steps, which can be challenging if you have mobility issues or heavy luggage.

I have only visited Positano for day trips so I tried to put a positive spin on it and took the steep terrain and all the steps as a good way to get my daily exercise in, then indulge in a delicious fire roasted pizza later that evening. If I’d have been in Positano any longer than a day I could imagine having to walk up and down so much to get anywhere would get pretty tiresome pretty quick, especially in the height of summer when it’s hot.

Positano is overwhelmingly overcrowded

Perhaps the biggest reason why Positano is such a turn off is the sheer volume of people. Positano is heavily overrun with tourists.

It wasn’t always this way though. Positano was once a laid-back fishing village but in the 1950s it landed on the tourist map and has been gaining in popularity ever since. Thanks to many reasons such as the Under the Tuscan Sun movie and now the endless social media posts we see Positano’s popularity has grown so much in the past decade.

The times I have visited Positano it was just outside the height of the season and it was pretty unbearable in terms of crowds so I’d hate to imagine what it’s like in the middle of August. We often had to queue on the narrow streets to allow for foot traffic and walking what should take only 5 minutes often took us 20 minutes or more.