The Amalfi Coast of Italy is a hot topic right now, ever since a TikToker slammed influencers who neglected to mention the steps it takes to get there and the stairs involved (see here for the TikTok video and related article).
My family took a cruise excursion to the Amalfi Coast from Naples for the day in combination with a brief visit to the Pompeii ruins. We didn’t have any luggage to schlep around, and the excursion provided all the transportation. So, we didn’t have the same issues that the TikToker had getting around.
I do agree with the TikToker’s video on one main point: These cute little towns on the Amalfi Coast are not equipped to handle all of the tourism that is pouring in thanks to social media influencers!
Touring the Amalfi Coast from Naples
Our cruise excursion picked us up from the port in Naples, and we boarded a bus to Salerno. The drive was about 40 minutes and included some fun facts about the area from our tour guide.
In Salerno, we boarded a boat for our cruise up the coast:
The boat was actually quite crowded and held multiple tour groups. There was both inside and outside seating. I highly recommend the outside seating.
The views of the Amalfi Coast from the water are spectacular. I don’t think anyone can debate that. Here are a few photos from our ride up the coast:
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Our boat took us to the town of Amalfi, where we had 90 minutes to explore on our own. Our tour guide told us we MUST sit in an outdoor cafe and taste some lemon cake, which is one of the things this area is famous for. We discovered that this little town was PACKED with people, and finding a cafe with five open seats was very challenging. But, we finally found a spot and had the cake. And indeed, it was delicious.
Amalfi is a gorgeous little town with narrow streets and good shopping.
Amalfi also has a nice beach:
90 minutes was definitely not enough time to explore Amalfi. But, it did give us a taste of the town.
After meeting back on the dock, we rode the boat back to Salerno. It was nice to get a second viewing of the Amalfi Coast on the way back.
Visiting Pompeii
After returning to Salerno, we boarded the bus for the 30-minute ride to Pompeii. Outside of the ruins, we stopped for a delicious lunch. Then, we headed inside Pompeii with our tour guide.
Pompeii is huge. I don’t think you can possibly see everything even in a full day. We only had about two hours to see the highlights. Since it’s so big, it didn’t seem as busy as Ephesus (see my previous post here).
Just like in Ephesus, I highly recommend using a tour guide at Pompeii and bringing lots of water.
We learned a lot from our visit. Even my kids/teenagers were engaged during the tour.
Similar to Ephesus, Pompeii has a lot of uneven and slippery walking surfaces. I saw some people wipe out. Wear good shoes and watch your step.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the Pompeii tour for me was seeing the casts of people who were covered with ash.
Final Thoughts
Our excursion to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii was a very long day. Our tour was 10 hours long, and we made it back to the port just in time for our cruise ship sail-away But, even though it was an exhausting day, seeing the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii was totally worth it. The scenery, the history, the food…all of it was spectacular.
Have you been to the Amalfi Coast or Pompeii? Is this area on your travel bucket list?
Perhaps these posts from entitled princesses will reduce the number of such people. People have some depth will know why they are going there, they will know that this is a difficult time to travel to a warm climate. Perhaps she is from TexAss or Jawja.
Honestly, this is a silly Tok Tok rant about first-world problems. Amalfi coast is amazing, and worth visiting. Yes, it’s hot and crowded in the summer, but a couple of minutes of actual research would tell you that. Also, the complaint about transfers is puzzling. We took a taxi from Naples to a village above Sorrento, and could have gone all the way to Positano. Sure, it will cost more, but such is life.
@Leana Her anti-Amalfi coast rant made her go viral, which I’m sure is what she wanted. She didn’t do any research at all!
Pompeii was amazing, when I was there in April. I can’t imagine going during the height of summer. And yes, it’s very slippery. Too bad you didn’t have more time in Amalfi. The cake, yummmm.
@BKAloha I’m glad you enjoyed it in April! While we were there it was threatening to rain, and I was getting a bit nervous about the slippery marble streets inside. Thankfully, the rain held off.
Ooof, I can’t even imagine it with the rain…You guys really lucked out.
We plan on going to both places while we’re staying in Sorrento in late October. Hopefully the crowds won’t be too bad.
@Chris How wonderful! Hopefully the crowds will be lower then.
what cruise line did you use? And was the excursion a cruise ship sponsored excursion? I ask because there are some cruise ship ports where I feel more comfortable with the cruise line purchased excursion.
@CJH We were on Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas and booked the excursion through the ship. Since it was an all-day excursion, I didn’t feel comfortable doing it on our own in case we were late back to the ship.