Do People Actually Live in Positano?

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Is this a place where people actually live or is Positano only here for the tourists? I found myself wondering this as I watched teams of laborers carrying load after load of beer and wine by hand up the steep and narrow streets in this Mediterranean town.

The town itself is situated on picturesque hillsides and clifftops overlooking the Mediterranean Sea south of Napoli on Italy's western Coast. Positano seems less popular and less well known than the largely similar but distant Cinque Terre towns to the north, but nonetheless seemed wholly consumed in the tourist trade.

Positano is only accessable by road or by sea, and as I understand it the drive into Positano is quite treacherous and buses can be less than realiable and frequently overcrowded. So, we opted to arrive in Positano by way of high speed ferry from neighboring Sorrento (about at 45 minute journey). The ride on the ferry was beautiful as we zoomed through the blue Mediterranean far below the rocky cliffs towering above. Before long the Island of Capri came into view, but we didn't find time to visit there on this trip and we continued straight on to Positano.

Once in Positano we just began walking around the town to get our bearings. Aside from one road that serves to connect Positano to the neighboring towns all the streets in Positano are only wide enough to accomodate pedestrians. Frequently and without much warning these sidewalks tend to become stairs, similar to what you would find in San Francisco.

Before long our seeming endless walk up stairs had made us tired and we found our way to a local cafe. From there we waundered around the souvenir markets and visited the town's church. Then we had realized we had essentially seen all there is to see in Positano.

I had hoped to find a little more life here, but everything in Positano seemed to cater almost exclusively to tourists. There was really no center to this town and even the "public beach" had an entrance fee. I am really happy I got to visit Positano as it truly is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, but now that I have seen it once I don't think I would be all too eager to make the time to see it again.

So, at the end of our half day in Positano we found our way onto another high speed ferry, this time to carry us to Amalfi - the Mediterranean town that lends its name to this entire coastal region.

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Comments

[John]

Not quite on track
Hi. Just a couple of corrections. Positano is on the Tyrrhenian sea not as you advised. The 'sidewalks' do not turn into stairs, There are paths and stairs. The public beach is just that;' public' you do not pay. Yes there is a part of the beach that you can pay but every beach in Italy must have a 'free beach'. Does there have to be a 'centre'? If you had stayed long enough you would have seen the locals every afternoon walking down the road talking to friends, family etc. On the main road if you sit there long enough, that becomes the centre, many locals spend hours just watching the world go by. As is the case in most of Italy, people do cater for the tourists (which is what you were doing here) but they also carry one much as most people would do in the world. They go to work, earn a salary, pay bills etc. Obviously in a place such as Positano there are going to tourist ( which is what 5 million people do every year: come to Italy) I would suggest that rather than 'doing' one place in a day you take some time to slow down and enjoy what there is, this life is not a rehearsal! bella vita John