Italy’s glamorous Amalfi Coast has long been a summer playground for the elite, from the days of the Roman Empire right up to the dolce vita heyday of the 1960s, when Sophia Loren had a villa there and Jackie O would go yachting around Capri. It’s no wonder this little stretch of paradise is so beloved—the way the sunlight shimmers on the sea, turning it a thousand shades of aquamarine, emerald green, and deep cobalt as it laps against the rocks; the verdant landscape where bougainvillaea and jasmine bloom; the beach clubs with their neat rows of umbrellas in bright orange, blue, or white all combines to create an irresistible mystique.
Days spent on the beaches of the Amalfi Coast are the picture of il dolce far niente. You might bring a book to read as you sunbathe in the morning; go for cooling dips in the sea; toss on a caftan for a long, lazy lunch of spaghetti with clams and crisp white wine on the deck of a beach club; and take a post-prandial nap in the shade of an umbrella before freshening up for an aperitivo and dinner out on the town. From long stretches of sandy beach to little rocky coves, these are our favorite beaches on the Amalfi Coast.
Marina Grande, Positano
Is it the most pristine beach? No, but it is one to make a beeline for if you want the most Instagrammable views of Positano with those jaunty orange umbrellas in the foreground and the pastel-hued buildings seemingly tumbling down the mountains in the background. There are a handful of beach clubs here; we recommend La Scogliera, which is the one farthest from the ferry docks.
Fornillo Beach, Positano
Just behind all the kiosks selling tickets for the ferries, there’s a steeply sloping pedestrian-only street called the Via Positanesi d’America—so called for the town’s many emigrants to the United States. Follow it up and walk about 10 minutes, passing by the old Torre Trasìta watchtower, and you’ll end up at this pretty little beach, which tends to be favored by locals. The beach clubs here are a bit more spartan than the ones on the main beach and you can still get an Aperol Spritz for under $10.
