Capri & the Amalfi Coast: 4 Days
From Positano: Private Boat Tour to Capri or Amalfi
Quick answer: Four days, two bases, all about the water. Split your stay between Positano (or Praiano) and a touch of Capri, and see the coast the way it’s meant to be seen - by private boat, with sunset cruises and swim stops, not from a crowded bus. This is the upscale, romantic version: fewer ruins, more aperitivos, and the views you came for.
| Where | Positano, Capri, Amalfi, Ravello, Praiano |
| Cost | luxury tier — private boats and premium coast hotels are the main spend |
| Time needed | 4 days, boat-led, minimal walking beyond town stairs |
| Getting there | private/small-group boats, no car |
| Best time | late May, June, September — boats run roughly April to October |
This is the indulgent route. No Pompeii, no museums, no early-morning archaeology - just the sea, the cliff towns, and the light. The structure leans on boats because the Amalfi Coast and Capri are genuinely more beautiful, more comfortable and more private from the water than from the SS163 road, where you’ll otherwise spend the trip in a hot bus on hairpins.
Budget for it accordingly. Private boats, sunset cruises and the better Positano hotels are not cheap, and that’s the point - this itinerary spends on experiences that earn it and skips the ones that don’t (the Blue Grotto queue, chief among them).
Day 1: Arrive in Positano, settle and sunset
Arrive on the coast and let the day be about Positano itself. The town tumbles down the cliff in tiers of pastel houses, and the only real activity is to wander down through the boutiques to Spiaggia Grande, claim a sunbed or a beach-bar table, and watch the light change.
Don’t underestimate the stairs - everything in Positano is up or down, and a lot of it. Wear flat shoes by day; save the heels for dinner that doesn’t require a climb.
End the first evening on the water. A Positano sunset boat experience with a glass of prosecco as the cliffs turn gold is the right way to open this kind of trip - low effort, high reward, and the best seat in town. Dinner back ashore at a terrace restaurant above the beach.
Day 2: Capri by private boat
Today you go to Capri, and you go in style. Rather than the public ferry and the day-tripper scrum, take a private or small boat across so you can swim the sea caves, drift under the Faraglioni rock arch, and reach the Blue Grotto when the light and swell are right rather than queuing for hours.
A private Capri boat tour with Blue Grotto gives you the island’s coastline on your own schedule - the Green Grotto, the Lovers’ Arch, hidden swim spots - and an honest read on whether the famous blue cave is worth the wait that day (often it isn’t; the boat ride around the island is the real star).
Ashore, ride the funicular to Capri town for the Piazzetta and the Gardens of Augustus Faraglioni view, then escape the crowds in Anacapri via the Monte Solaro chairlift, the island’s quiet high point. A long lunch, a little shopping, and the boat back.
Day 3: Amalfi, Ravello and a sunset cruise
A coast day, top to bottom. Hop along to Amalfi - by far the easiest by boat - for the dramatic striped Duomo di Sant’Andrea and its monumental staircase, then take the short bus up to Ravello.
Ravello is the coast’s most romantic stop and the antidote to Positano’s bustle: high, hushed, and built around two extraordinary gardens. Villa Rufolo’s belvedere (the one that inspired Wagner) and Villa Cimbrone’s Terrace of Infinity, lined with marble busts over a thousand-foot drop, are the two sights that justify the whole day. This is the place to propose, if you’re going to.
Close the day back on the water with a private sunset cruise along the Amalfi Coast - aperitivo in hand, the cliffs glowing, the crowds left ashore. If you’d rather a single seamless coast experience instead, a private Positano-Capri-Amalfi boat day can fold the highlights of Days 2 and 3 together.
Day 4: Praiano and a quiet finish
Spend your last day in Praiano, the understated village between Positano and Amalfi that the crowds skip. It has no big beach and no marquee sights, which is exactly its appeal - just steep lanes, the San Gennaro church with its majolica-tiled dome, and the famous sunset over Positano from the terrace.
If you’re up for it, this is the trailhead end of the Path of the Gods, the cliff-top walk between Bomerano and Nocelle. You don’t need to do the whole thing - even the first stretch delivers the best high-level coast views there are. Otherwise, a final swim from the rocks at the Marina di Praia, a long lunch, and a slow transfer out to Naples airport or station.
A general Amalfi Coast boat tour is a good fallback here too if the weather scrambles your plans and you want to bank one more day on the water before you leave.
Where to stay
For this trip, base on the coast itself - the price is the price, and proximity to the water is the whole point.
Positano (nights 1-2): The iconic choice, with the best hotel terraces and sunsets on the coast. Accept the stairs and the premium; you’re paying for the view and you’ll get it.
Praiano (nights 3-4): Quieter, more private, often better value than Positano for the same sea outlook, and the best sunset position on the coast. A romantic, low-key place to wind down.
You could base solely in Positano and day-trip the rest - simpler, but you’ll miss Praiano’s calm. Ravello is an alternative upscale base if you prefer hills and gardens to beach access, though it’s a drive above the water. Capri makes a stunning (and very expensive) overnight if you’d rather sleep on the island than day-trip it. The where to stay on the Amalfi Coast guide breaks down all four bases in more detail if you’re still deciding.
How the two headline days compare
| Day 2: Capri | Day 3: Amalfi & Ravello | |
|---|---|---|
| Pace | Boat-led, one island, unhurried | Two towns, more movement |
| Best for | Grottoes, swimming, the Faraglioni | Architecture, gardens, romance |
| Crowd level | Heavy at the port, quiet on the water | Moderate, thins by late afternoon |
| Don’t miss | Anacapri and the Monte Solaro chairlift | Villa Cimbrone’s Terrace of Infinity |
If you’d rather read a full comparison before you commit four days to this pairing, the Capri boat tour guide and the Amalfi Coast by boat guide both go deeper on operators, routes and what each stretch of coast actually looks like from the water.
Is the Blue Grotto worth the wait?
Almost every Capri boat sells the Blue Grotto as the headline, and almost every honest local will tell you to hold it loosely. The cave itself is a genuinely strange, luminous few minutes, but the entrance is a single low rowing-boat queue that can run 45 minutes to over an hour in peak season, weather-dependent, and closes outright in any swell. Our Capri day trip guide and the dedicated blue grotto reality check both cover what the wait actually looks like on a bad day. On this itinerary, treat it as a bonus if the sea and the queue cooperate, not the reason you booked the boat — the coastline cruise around Capri, the Faraglioni, and the swim stops are the real value.
Practical tips
- No car. On a boat-led luxury trip a car is pure liability - nowhere to park, ZTL fines, white-knuckle roads. Private transfers and boats handle everything.
- Book boats and top hotels early. The good captains and the best Positano/Praiano rooms sell out months ahead for summer.
- Boats are seasonal and weather-dependent (roughly April-October). Build in a flexible day in case the sea kicks up; reputable operators reschedule.
- The Blue Grotto is optional. Treat it as a maybe, not a must - the island-circuit cruise is the real highlight.
- Best months for this trip: late May, June, and September - warm seas, long light, fewer crowds than peak August.
- Tip your boat crew and carry cash for beach clubs and small village cafés.
- Pack flat shoes. Every one of these towns is built on stairs.
- Check the best beaches on the Amalfi Coast guide if a proper swim stop matters more to you than sightseeing — some of the best coves are only reachable by boat, which this itinerary already has you on.
Top experiences
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