Amalfi Coast Drive

The Amalfi Coast Drive along the SS163 is one of the most celebrated and most challenging coastal roads in the world. Stretching 50 kilometres from Sorrento to Salerno along the southern face of the Sorrentine Peninsula, the road was literally blasted from sheer limestone cliffs that plunge directly into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Completed in 1853 under the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, it was considered a feat of impossible engineering at the time. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the combination of physical drama, pastel-coloured fishing villages, lemon terraces, and impossibly blue water makes it one of the most photographed stretches of road anywhere in the world.

The villages along the route each have their own distinct character. Positano is the most glamorous — a cascade of white and pastel houses tumbling down a steep hillside to a small beach, with no flat ground anywhere in the village. The road passes directly through it on two levels, and the views down to the harbour are extraordinary. Amalfi itself, halfway along the route, has an Arab-Norman cathedral that reflects the town's medieval history as one of the four great Italian maritime republics. Above Amalfi, the hillside village of Ravello is accessible by a short but steep detour and offers perhaps the finest views on the entire coast — the terrace of Villa Cimbrone, suspended above the sea, is one of those places that genuinely defies description.

For a VW T3 or any wide vintage van, the Amalfi Coast is the most technically demanding drive in this guide. The road is extraordinarily narrow in places — barely two car widths — and overhangs the sea with no barrier on some sections. Buses and trucks use the road regularly, and passing them in either direction requires carefully choreographed manoeuvres at dedicated passing bays. In summer, traffic can reduce the entire route to walking pace, with the heat, the slow-moving queues, and the exposure to the sun placing significant stress on an air-cooled engine. The best time to drive the road is very early morning (6–8am), in the very low season (November to March), or outside Italy's main holiday periods. Going anticlockwise (from Salerno to Sorrento) allows you to drive on the inside of the cliff rather than the outside.

The ideal experience of the Amalfi Coast for a van traveller is not to rush it but to find a base — perhaps at the campground in Sorrento or the camperstop at Maiori — and explore specific sections by car and specific sections on foot or by ferry. The ferry between Positano, Amalfi, and Salerno is cheap, fast, and offers views of the road from the sea that completely change your understanding of the engineering achievement. October and November bring the lemon harvest, quieter roads, and warm sea temperatures that remain swimmable. The coast receives enough rain in late autumn to keep it intensely green, and the terraced lemon groves continue to produce their giant fruit long into winter.