I recently had the luxury of visiting the Amalfi Coast, and after our trip I am firmly in the camp that Praiano is the best place to stay, and I want to prove it with a little Praiano, Italy Travel Guide! Praiano is the city that sits between Positano and Amalfi on the Amalfi Coast. And after visiting all three cities, I really don’t think I can recommend staying anywhere else. Here’s a breakdown of our trip to the Amalfi Coast, filled with tips for transportation, undiscovered beaches, amazing restaurants and fun, secret places to go on your trip.
Everywhere you go on the Amalfi Coast will feel a bit touristy, but Praiano feels untouched in a way. Quiet, calm, and filled with great food and small rocky beaches. The most challenging part is getting around, but after that everything is easy-breezy. We found that since we were staying outside the months of July/August, we didn’t need any reservations or plans. Which for me, was a relief.
Where we stayed
We hopped between two airbnbs during this leg of our trip, but of the two, I cannot recommend La Barbera Bed & Breakfast enough. At €390 a night it is a bit on the pricier side, but the views were stunning and the hospitality was off the charts. We skipped our welcome drink because we were tired, but when we came down later to get some spritzes, they made us up a whole little (complimentary!) aperitivo. AND YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT TARALLI.
Also, get the cake at breakfast. You must.
How we got around
We rented a car through Sixt at the Naples airport. Driving in Naples and to the coast is a bit nuts, but very doable, and just gives you an extra level of freedom for getting to/from the beaches I’m about to mention.
We also used the bus system. Praiano has two bus systems that are incredibly easy to navigate. One will take you to Positano and back, and one does an internal loop in Praiano, which saved us from so…so many stairs. The bus schedule was pretty accurate, which made planning easy.
And yes, boats! In Positano, instead of taking the bus back, you can just walk up to one of the boat companies on the beach and asked if they can ferry you to where you need to go. For us, this was Marina del Praia (the main beach in Praiano), and for €30 we got an immediate private boat taxi back to where we needed to be. Our driver (captain? idk) took his time and gave us a tour of the blue and green caves along the coast line, probably because I look like a person who tips. But either way, it was a great way to save money compared to proper boat tours, while still getting a similar experience.
Where we beach-ed
The beaches were my favorite part. The first one is definitely “discovered,” but the second one I still can’t find on Google Maps, which makes it all the more precious to me. And let’s be clear, no beach is a bad beach. I just like to think of the beaches in Positano like a bachelorette party, and the beaches I’m about to list here are like your grandma’s backyard in the summer.
Fiordo di Furore – a free, small beach where you can rent lounge chairs from a nice guy for €10, and he probably makes a killing. We got there around 10am and had the place nearly to ourselves. There is a bus line that goes directly here, but we parked at Ristorante Euroconca, which looks like a tourist-bait place to eat, but they kindly let us park for €15 for the whole day.
The unnamed beach in Conca dei Mari – to find this beach you have to map a route to this restaurant, La Tonnarella, and then you’ll get your reward. It’s a tiny beach (where you can also rent lounge chairs!), but it was definitely a 70/30 split between locals and tourists. While it is small, it felt comparable in size to Marina del Praia, just way less crowded. La Tonnarella boats people in from Amalfi for lunch, but that saddest thing was seeing them come, eat, then leave. To get the full experience, I highly recommend getting to the beach, having a long lunch, then lounging and swimming until 4-5pm when the sun finally leaves the beach. It felt like our own version of the Da Adolfo Beach Club, just on our own schedule (and budget).
And of course, it’s crowded, but the water at Marina del Praia is bluer than I’ve ever seen. It’s worth a stop by, maybe not to stay, but definitely to see!
Where we ate!
This is what you came for, no? While I might not be supremely confident in my trip planning, I am SUPREMELY confident in my ability to sniff out what’s a tourist trap that has bad food, a tourist trap that has good food (they exist!), and a gem. Here were my favorite gems in Praiano:
Kasai – for the best pasta in Praiano, we still talk about the sea urchin and hazelnut linguine. This place you might want a reservation for, although it’s not impossible to be a walk-in. Also great for lunch.
Che Bonta – this one errs on the side of tourist-trap-y, but the food was amazing. Get the pizzas, skip the pastas. Get any anchovies they are frying that day.
La Tonnarella – I’m not sure why this place has anything less than raving reviews, we went twice and had a great experience both times. The best thing was watching them deliver boxes of pasta to old Italian men on the beach (this familial service is reserved for older Italian regulars and not American tourists, sadly).
Cafe Mirante – A bar you should absolutely go to for sunset. Amazing drinks, really nice people. And taralli <3
La Moressa – On the fancier side, but the best pizza we had of the trip. And that’s not just because I made friends with the man shaping pizza dough while I was waiting for the bathroom.
Luisa gastronomia artigianale – Okay, a rare Amalfi mention, but this place is such a gem! I found it by following an older Italian couple who were buying prosciutto, which can only be a good sign. Get your beach sandwiches here and skip all the busy spots on the water. The owner here was so, so nice.
*Also, breakfast isn’t really an easy thing to find here. I recommend staying in a place where breakfast is provided, since that will always be a bit better than what you can find in town!
And that’s it for my top tips for a visit to the Amalfi Coast! My one big thing to note though is, be warned, there are many, MANY stairs. You’ll either be walking on a road where cars drive, or up many flights of stair cases that run in between the buildings. I might be looking like I’m having fun in the photo above, but really, I’m sweating through my pants. Pack light and your legs will thank you!
But truly, a visit to the Amalfi Coast is a dream. Just avoid staying in the touristy towns of Positano and Amalfi, and jump into the gems like Praiano and Ravello. I hope this travel guide might help you as you plan your trip! And feel free to let me know any comments or questions below!
Hello… In Praiano we’re you able to walk to restaurants? Also we have a 30 year old traveling with us who wants to be able to have a little night life fun. Nothing crazy just somewhere to hang out a night or two. Are there any bars in the area?
Thank you
Hello! Praiano is very walkable, but be warned, it’s mostly sloping enclosed sidewalks or very very steep stairs. If you have mobility issues, the Praiano bus (linked in the blog post) is great internal transport! As for bars, Cafe Mirante is the best bar I went to, but you’d have to rely on the locals for asking for proper places to go out. There are touristy clubs and nightlife in both Positano and Amalfi, but I didn’t hear of anything similar in Praiano that I can recommend!