Amalfi, which is the town that gives its name to the whole of the Amalfi Coast, is certainly the main stop for those who find themselves passing through, whether for a holiday or a business trip, in these parts.
The question, for those who find themselves in a place as beautiful as the Amalfi Coast, can only be the usual one: What to see in Amalfi in a day?
Often, however, time is a constraint and does not allow us to get lost and miss all that is necessary for a proper stay in Amalfi: we often have to hurry, as the times of modern life dictate, and for this reason we end up having only one day to discover this enchanted corner of the world.
Can Amalfi be visited in a day? Don’t worry because we can certainly explore Amalfi and get a significant taste of it even if we only have 24 hours at our disposal.
Let’s discover together, therefore, how to organise a mini-tour in one of the places to visit in Campania that is absolutely world-famous for its extraordinary beauty.
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Visiting Amalfi in a day: the first two hours are for a carefree, watch-free walk!
Visiting Amalfi and appreciating its spirit also means getting rid, if only for a short time, of time and clocks.
Arriving early in the morning allows us to have a good breakfastand, then dedicate a couple of hours or so to going where the heart takes us and where the eyes take us.
Stopping by stalls, admiring a corner of the sea, walking up a hill: everything tastes different when the city has just woken up.
We have said yes to forgetting time, so if the 2 hours become 3, it will not be a problem. After getting lost, we try to find ourselves in what is the orthogonal centre of the town, namely Piazza del Duomo.
Piazza del Duomo: the obligatory stopover
Few churches in the world deserve such an obligatory stop as the one we will have to include in our very short stay in Amalfi.
St Andrew’s Cathedral dominates Amalfi’s main square and not just figuratively speaking. In fact, it is located at the bottom of a very long flight of stairs, placing it in a position above the entire square.
The first time one encounters it, one breathes in the Mediterranean in all its aesthetic power: it may remind one of the beautiful North African mosques while retaining the style of the churches found a little further north.
For €3 you can enter the Cloister of Paradise and the Basilica of the Crucifix. It is worth it, both in terms of time and money.
The whole thing, and excuse us if we keep bringing up the time (it is after all you who need to visit Amalfi in 24 hours) should not take you more than 1 hour. We are still mid-morning and have already packed more than one memorable experience.
A visit to the Sant’Andrea fountain
Despite passing almost completely unnoticed, the Fountain of St Andrew is a magnificent piece of art. Dedicated to the same saint as the cathedral, it depicts a typical Fountain scene (pass us the term) with fine sculptures.
We are on our way back from the centre and could take the opportunity to have the first break of our trip. It should be around lunchtime and we can opt for one of the many restaurants along the seafront for a quick but nevertheless satisfying meal.
Our advice? A seafood first course and a lemon dessert, the most authentic scent of the entire coast and Amalfi in particular.
Coffee, limoncello for those who like it, and a few minutes’ rest, then ready to go.
The Vagliendola district
Rione Vagliendola is one of the most characteristic of the town and one of the best preserved. There you can find the old aristocratic houses, the towered houses and you can walk to the Cappuccini hotel, what used to be the Convent of San Pietro della Canonica, of very ancient foundation.
Once in the district we can also visit Piazza dello Spirito Santo and see the popular Paper Museum, where the machines that were used in this area to make paper have been painstakingly collected. Amalfi’s papermaking tradition is one of the most important in the world and one of the distinctive features of its wealth.
Other notable buildings include the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, where the town hall is now housed, and the church of Sant’Antonio, extremely valuable buildings that tell of the town’s extraordinarily rich past.
The Arsenal
Returning in the direction of Piazza dei Dogi, we can reach the remains of the ancient Arsenal of the Republic, the shipyard where the bulk of the city’s life took place when it was a powerful and respected Maritime Republic.
This is the right place to buy some souvenirs to remember what was a short but intense day, which took us through the main ganglia of Amalfi in less than 24 hours.
Is 24 hours really enough time to visit Amalfi?
Visiting the Amalfi Coast, at least in our view, also means trying to experience it as much as possible, even outside its more artificially touristy context. Twenty-four hours is certainly not enough time to get a real taste of what these lands can offer, but this should in no way mean that one should give up visiting Amalfi just because one only has 24 hours at one’s disposal.
It is a glimpse that in case we return will have laid the foundations for our next visit and in case we don’t get the chance, it will still have given us the opportunity to experience the first impression that Amalfi is able to make on visitors, an impression that can leave us stunned, that can make us fall in love and win a piece of our heart forever.
A 24-hour visit to Amalfi can also be part of a longer tour of the coast, within which we may not have been able to set aside more time for the town.
No matter, with this tour we have designed we will still come out well, and in case we do not have to leave before dinner we will also have the chance to say goodbye to the sea in the most appropriate way, that is, by dining on fish and good wine in one of the many extraordinary restaurants in the area.
