Naples International Airport to Amalfi
About 65 km around the peninsula; the published fixed taxi fare is โฌ155 and the public route needs two changes and most of a morning.
The town that gave the coast its name โ a cathedral with a Moorish-striped facade at the top of a wide stair, a small harbour, and the Valle delle Ferriere gorge climbing behind it.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Amalfi, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from โฌ140). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from โฌ16) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car โ so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo ยท 1 traveller | โฌ16 | โฌ140 | Bus |
| Couple ยท 2 travellers | โฌ32 | โฌ140 | Bus |
| Family of 4 ยท 4 travellers | โฌ64 | โฌ140 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority isโฆ | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From โฌ16, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3โ4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Taxi
The coast road beyond Positano is narrow, cliff-edged and slow, which is why an hour and forty is realistic rather than pessimistic. In July and August add more โ the road can back up for kilometres.
Where to catch it: A published predetermined fare, one way per vehicle, supplements included; tolls and the minivan surcharge are extra.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Ask the hotel where cars actually stop before booking. Porters with trolleys are a normal service here rather than a luxury, and worth arranging for the same reason.
Where to catch it: Amalfi's hotels are stacked up a ravine with limited vehicle access, and several will only take you to a drop-off point with steps beyond it.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsBus / shuttle
Under twenty euros against โฌ155, and close to three hours with the change. The SITA coast bus is also standing-room-only in summer and the road is a series of hairpins โ a genuinely uncomfortable arrival with luggage.
Where to catch it: Curreri coach to Sorrento, then the SITA bus along the coast road through Positano to Amalfi.
Best for solo & budget travellersFerry
In season this avoids the coast road entirely and is the pleasantest way to arrive โ you see the towns from the water. It runs roughly April to October only, and rough seas cancel it without much warning.
Where to catch it: Alibus or taxi to the port at Molo Beverello, then a seasonal fast ferry down the coast to Amalfi.
Best for scenic harbour crossingsAmalfi & Naples in photos
Buying tickets in Naples
Naples has no airport rail link and does not need one: the Alibus shuttle leaves from directly outside arrivals, costs โฌ5, and reaches Piazza Garibaldi (Napoli Centrale) in 20โ30 minutes before continuing to Piazza Municipio by the port in 35โ40. The detail most arrivals miss is that the ticket is integrated and valid for 90 minutes across other urban services โ so if your hotel needs a metro or funicular leg afterwards, the same โฌ5 covers it. Buy from the machine, the ANM app or on board, and validate. For onward journeys, the Curreri coach runs from the same area down the peninsula to Sorrento, and the Circumvesuviana commuter railway from the lower level of Napoli Centrale serves Pompeii and the coast cheaply โ get off at Pompei Scavi for the ruins, not plain Pompei, which is a different line and a 20-minute walk away.
Taxi scams & safety in Naples
Naples does something no other airport in this guide does: the city publishes binding fixed taxi fares with every supplement already inside the number โ airport pickup, night, holiday, luggage and radio booking included. โฌ21 to Napoli Centrale, โฌ24 to Piazza Municipio, the port and the ZTL historic centre, โฌ125 to Sorrento, โฌ145 Positano, โฌ155 Amalfi, โฌ160 Ravello, one way per vehicle. Say "tariffa predeterminata" and name the destination as you get in, and the meter should stay off; motorway tolls and a minivan supplement are the normal exceptions. If a driver starts the meter for a listed destination, repeating the phrase is the correct response and an entirely routine one. Use the official rank rather than an approach inside the terminal. Do not hire a car for a Naples city stay โ the centro storico is a camera-enforced restricted zone and parking is genuinely hard; hire later for Pompeii or the coast instead.
Getting from NAP to Amalfi
Sixty-five kilometres, and an hour and forty minutes. That ratio tells you most of what you need to know about reaching Amalfi. The distance is short and the road is not โ once you round the peninsula the coast road narrows to a cliff-edge ribbon with hairpins, buses reversing to pass each other, and in July and August a queue that can extend for kilometres. The published fixed taxi fare of โฌ155 is priced for that road, not for the distance.
The three ways down
By taxi at the fixed โฌ155, supplements included and tolls extra. By pre-booked transfer at roughly the same money. Or by coach โ Curreri to Sorrento, then the SITA bus along the coast โ for under twenty euros and close to three hours with the change. There is a fourth, and in season it is the best of them.
The ferry, from April to October
Get to Molo Beverello in Naples by Alibus or taxi, and take a coastal fast ferry down to Amalfi. It costs a fraction of a car, it avoids the road entirely, and you see the towns the way they were built to be seen โ from the water, stacked up their ravines. It runs roughly April to October, it does not run in rough weather, and cancellations come without much warning. When it works it is the best arrival on this coast by a wide margin.
Why the SITA bus is cheap and hard
It is a public service bus on a road of continuous hairpins, standing room only through the season, with your suitcase between your legs. Locals use it and it is perfectly safe. But arriving in Amalfi after three hours of that, in August heat, is a genuinely unpleasant way to start a holiday, and it is worth knowing that before choosing on price alone.
Where cars actually stop
Amalfi is built into a ravine and the hotels climb its sides. Several are reachable only by steps, sometimes a great many. Ask your hotel where vehicles stop and what lies beyond before you book any transfer โ porters with trolleys are a normal service here rather than a luxury, and arranging one in advance is the difference between an easy arrival and a bad one.
What the town was
A maritime republic, in the same league as Venice and Genoa, with its own navigation code and trade running to Byzantium and North Africa. The cathedral at the top of its wide stair has a Moorish-striped facade and a cloister that would not look out of place in Andalusia. The paper mills up the valley worked for centuries and one survives as a museum. It is a small town with a very large past.
Walking out of it
The Valle delle Ferriere gorge climbs behind the town through ferns and waterfalls into a nature reserve, and the Path of the Gods from Bomerano to Nocelle is the walk most people come for. Both start higher than Amalfi itself, so the usual approach is a bus up and a walk down.
Plan the departure early
An early flight from Naples means leaving Amalfi in the dark, before the coast road fills, and that is a two-hour drive at best. Book the transfer when you book the room. Waiting until you arrive, in August, is how people end up paying more and leaving earlier than they need to.
Using Amalfi as a base
It is the most connected town on this coast, which is its practical advantage over Positano. SITA buses run both directions along the cliff road, boats leave the quay for Positano, Capri and Salerno in season, and the bus up to Ravello takes twenty-five minutes. If you intend to move around the coast rather than settle in one place, Amalfi makes that easier than anywhere else along it.
Ravello, and why it is separate
Three hundred and fifty metres above Amalfi, up a road of switchbacks through the Dragone valley, and worth the climb โ two villa gardens on a cliff edge, a summer music festival held outdoors above the sea, and a quiet that the coastal towns lost decades ago. It has its own fixed taxi fare from the airport, โฌ160, and its own hotels. Many people who find Amalfi too busy end up here.
