When Positano bit John Steinbeck deep, it was a sleepy fishing village painted in pastels that playfully masked a forbidding cliffside. Turkeys might fly into the sea and dandies could mingle with carpenters, all driven to the same near delirium that can only come from too many days in too beautiful a place. In Steinbeck’s day, finding the Amalfi Coast was like waking up in a dream you couldn’t possibly have invented, a place entirely worthy of its nickname “La Divina”.
These days, that singular beauty is more often the backdrop for what feels more like Amalfi cosplay, a lemon-scented simulacrum that never seems to measure up to our imaginations. The pastel houses flicker or fade according to a photographer’s filter, while an ever-increasing surge of travelers jostle their way under bougainvillea-covered alleys, often sacrificing common decency to find the best shot. We still want to believe in it because we know how special it is, but where getting here was once the greatest challenge in realizing that Amalfi Coast dream, today the biggest problem is, well, everyone else.
The Amalfi Coast is becoming a symbol of all that is wrong with travel. This tiny hamlet, perched on the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, is not alone. Over decades, tourism has exploded unchecked in towns, cities, islands, and forests that were never meant to carry such a heavy human load. Many of these places have adapted; some have mutated.
And in many cases, tourists and locals have become adversaries, making it harder to find the joy or the benefit in being (or visiting) a popular destination.
What overtourism means for your Amalfi Coast trip
“People arrive on the coast dreaming of crystalline beaches and colorful postcard villages,” says Francesca Coppola, a researcher working on overtourism and destination management at the University of Venice who returned to her native Sorrento hoping to develop workable solutions. “Instead, they’re met with endless traffic, accommodation in Positano that costs on average €500 a day, porters who charge €15 to climb 100 stairs with your luggage, and meals that can cost €150 per person. That’s not sustainable for anyone.”
Moreover, the thirteen towns on the Amalfi Coast that people mostly visit are linked by a very narrow system of roads or seasonal ferries, so a bottleneck in one place can easily overwhelm another. Try waiting for the 8am bus from Amalfi to tiny Agerola, a sprawling town high up on the mountains that’s become the de facto starting point for the Path of the Gods, and you’ll see the problem.
Hiking guides like Alessandro di Benedetto of Amalfi Coast Hikes know the challenges and even dangers of having too many people walking one narrow trail, and he also points out the futility of it. “I’d never say that Path of the Gods isn’t beautiful, but during high season it’s crowded and the hike is often slowed down by the line, or disturbed by the noise of so many hikers.”
What do the locals say?
Overtourism isn’t just a problem of unmet expectations or expensive disappointments for travelers. In overtouristed places, local resources and infrastructure can’t meet the needs of people living there. As a result, the quality of life for local residents declines substantially. Basic needs like water, housing, and medical care are often difficult to access, and when those resources are funneled to tourist infrastructure at the expense of residents, it’s not difficult to see why resentment builds.
During the high season in Positano (May to October) an average of 400 boats per day dock in a makeshift port roughly the size of two public buses. The town’s 3,800 residents have to contend for space on ferries to take them to school or medical appointments in other towns. If they stay in town, they inch behind human traffic jams that can quadruple the population of the town each day. This combination of scant resources, insufficient infrastructure, and inflated living costs is not merely unsustainable – it’s unsafe.
Travelers can be part of the solution
The problems that mass tourism has created are everyone’s responsibility to address, from travelers to service providers to travel writers. We ought to be more aware that every time we step somewhere we have an impact – we do leave a trace. We should also be a lot more conscious that people have to live in places that we visit – and it’s usually the locals who face the long-term consequences of our travel plans.
But we cannot forget that travel is an invaluable good, and it makes us better human beings. Traveling is the equivalent of dreaming whilst awake: the heightened sensations, the euphoric disorientation, the feeling of floating in some place we’ve never been before. Few human experiences combine that particular alchemy of curiosity, bravery, and liberty quite like leaving one’s comforts for an unknown place, and feeling like we’ve connected to it.
That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? So we need to do it better.
Tips for visiting the Amalfi Coast (the right way)
Traveling should always start by paying attention to the context, to discover what makes that place unique (lest we forget, overtouristed places often get that way because they’re extraordinaty). The Amalfi Coast is a perfect example of a place that you’ll need to invest your time and energy in to get it right. This applies to any destination: if you want to get the most out of your visit, put your most into it.
Don’t wing it
Listen, if your heart is set on visiting Positano, go for it. If your only time to travel is during the peak of high season, that’s ok too. Just know that the odds are stacked against a stress-free, easy holiday, and plan well. That doesn’t mean trying to book every minute of your trip ahead – indeed you’ll need to build in lots of flexibility. Lines will be long, restaurants will be crowded, and services will be scant. Book dinners in advance but allow for delays in any schedule you make, and have back-up ideas just in case.
Find travel options that don’t rely on cars or private transport
The Amalfi Coast is walkable, but it’s also very much a vertical place. Many, many stairs await but this is where you’ll discover all the corners that make this place interesting.
When you’re moving between towns, keep in mind that you’re sharing public transport with residents on their way to work or school. A private car on the other hand – apart from being wildly expensive – will take up valuable real estate on the very narrow statale.
Brave the bus and see how people really live (ask about the timetable in the local bar, they always know what’s up). It might actually be the highlight of your day.
Get to know the place (for real)
You don’t have to read every history book, but trying to find the soul of a place is often the difference between a superficial visit and a meaningful experience. And while social media may inflate or even distort your expectations, many people give real information and history about overtouristed places. Follow Laura Thayer’s thoughtful Ciao Amalfi blog, Raffaele Salentano’s gorgeous Sorrento photography, or ZiaLucy’s lively travel tips: these are people who choose to live here and make their livelihoods in around the tourism industry. They don’t sugarcoat the challenges just as they don’t hide the rewards or the fascinating history of the coast. People like this will give you something beyond the filter to hold onto.
Pack light and stay longer
Repeat this mantra: you need a lot less than you think, and you can’t see it all in a day. The Amalfi Coast is geographically challenging, and all those charming characteristics like stairs quickly lose their allure if you’re hauling heavy bags for large parts of your stay. And the truth is, you’ll barely scratch the well-worn surface of a town if you only dedicate a few hours to it. Think about how much you’ll really need, and allow yourself to go without the creature comforts that await you at home. Then, deep dive into your chosen base and let yourself fall in love.
Go for off-hours, not off-season
Many towns, especially those with the highest concentration of tourism like Positano or Amalfi, effectively slow to a crawl from October to March, so visiting during the off-season isn’t much of a solution. But because of the high concentration of daytrippers, crowds often reduce to a manageable number by the late afternoon. Evenings and the early morning are particularly lovely. How about staying in Positano for a few nights and going against the current? Explore some incredible lesser-known towns like Vietri sul Mare during the day and return to your pastel oasis once the sun goes down.
Hotels over holiday accommodation
Like many places suffering from overtourism, rents for residents on the Amalfi Coast have increased so dramatically that many people cannot afford to live in, or close to, places where they work or go to school. A very large part of this is due to the demand for holiday accommodation, which has a higher profit margin for owners, but is detrimental to long-term residents. Choosing to stay in a hotel, hostel, or farmstay means sustaining the tourist infrastructure more productively. These structures also employ more people, offer more services – and they exist for the exact purpose of hosting visitors.
Get a (good) guide
If you’re going to invest in something, invest in people. A good local guide can change your experience of the Amalfi Coast and help you develop a connection that you’ll remember much more than eating or shopping. Lots of guides have websites where they’ll list their specialities and many have an active social media presence where you’ll get a sense of what they do. Your hotel concierge or B&B owner is also a great resource to ask for guide recommendations, or reach out to some of those content creators you’ve been following for tips. But make sure your guide is licensed, they usually study for years to become certified. By going to someone who hasn’t received that training to save yourself a few euros, you undermine the efforts of many dedicated people.
Live like a… guest
The fact is, you probably don’t want to live like a local. That would involve going to the post office, the motor vehicle bureau, or any of the other mundane tasks that you wanted to get away from when you went on this trip in the first place. But the Amalfi Coast, Sorrentine Peninsula, and indeed all of Campania are well known for the incredible hospitality they offer and you know what? It’s a well-deserved reputation.
Nino Aversa, founder of Sorrento Hiking, sums it up perfectly: “This is a place for encounters, not photos. You can experience true local hospitality in a lemon grove or a farmhouse, learn about landscapes more than panoramas, and meet farmers and shepherds at work, and they’ll treat you like friends.”
But a word for the wise: this is the moment to ditch the idea that “the customer is always right”. Being a guest in someone’s home, their town, or their restaurant means being courteous and appreciative – it goes a long way. Of course, if there’s a problem you’ve got every right to address it. But you’ve got no right to behave badly.
Move beyond the hidden gems
The Amalfi Coast, like many other places on the map, has been fairly well documented and there’s little that’s “hidden”. But so what? You don’t need to find a place that no one’s ever been. Calling someplace a “hidden gem” values its novelty over all other things. If it’s a gem because it’s hidden, does it stop being valuable once we find it? It’s a good question to ask because without realizing it, looking for the next “hidden gem” turns travelers into scavengers on a hunt, instead of humans gathering experience and memories. Instead be content to find a place that makes you feel something, or inspires you to think a little differently.
Try somewhere less crowded
There’s really nothing wrong with wanting to go to very popular tourist destinations; they’re popular for a reason, and they overwhelmingly deserve the renown that they receive. But if you want to experience the beauty of the Amalfi Coast, there are tons of places to choose from that aren’t Positano, Amalfi, Sorrento, or Capri. Try visiting Vietri sul Mare for a day of ceramic immersion, or Vico Equense for stellar pizza. Get the ferry to Ischia or Procida instead of queueing for Capri. But don’t do it because of some sort of “Amazing Race” between you and the world. Do it because they’re beautiful, unique, special places that will enchant you if you let them.
Kick the bucket list
Have you ever said, “I need a vacation after my vacation”? Maybe that trip of a lifetime you took wound up giving you whiplash because you felt you had to see everything. Your itinerary should be as light and flexible as your luggage because it too is a weight that you’ll carry. And while you may only get to travel to a place once in your life, you’ll remember how you spent your time a lot more than what you saw. Overtourism is in no small way perpetuated by the “ticking the box” approach to travel. Let your curiosity dictate your trip instead and ask yourself what kind of trip you want to have.
Remember why you travel
So how do we turn the tide of overtourism? The truth is, no one really knows yet. But if we start thinking differently about how we travel, maybe we’ll get back to that place where we dream of going places, dream of who we’ll be when we get there, and who we’ll become after. Maybe that’s where we start.
Whether we know it or not, the why of travel dictates what we want from the experience. The why is what drives us, what makes everything more meaningful. But most of all, we’ve got to remember that each of us is a tourist, and a resident of somewhere, and that’s the beauty of it. Travel is our best defense against prejudice and our greatest form of education. Seeing the world is the only way we have to find our place in it. And that’s worth doing well.