Tours
Ravello
Above Amalfi, at 350 metres. Two villas with gardens straight over the sea, a centre without cars, and far less noise.
The terraced hills around Ravello, with the sea beyond.
- From Naples
- 1h 55min
- Visit
- half a day
Ravello stands 350 metres above the sea, on the shelf that divides the Dragone valley from the Reginna, looking out over the whole gulf of Salerno. You get there from the coast road by a climb full of bends: we drive it, and you watch it from the window instead of counting curves at the wheel.
The centre is walked and cars stay out of it. To set passengers down, private-hire drivers book the permit on the council ZetaPass portal; the car then waits outside the zone for as long as you want. Both villas — Rufolo on Piazza Duomo, Cimbrone on via Santa Chiara — are reached on foot only.
Photo: Deror_avi · CC BY-SA 4.0
What you see
At 350 metres above the sea
Ravello sits on the shelf between the Dragone and Reginna valleys, above Amalfi, with the gulf of Salerno laid out below. The climb is done by car, the rest of the day on foot.
Villa Rufolo
The entrance is on Piazza Duomo, next to the cathedral. The gardens and the tower museum are visited with a ticket: you buy it through the villa itself, so you pay the price and not a booking fee.
Villa Cimbrone
On via Santa Chiara: from the centre you walk there, through lanes and steps. The gardens are open to the public with a ticket and run out to the Belvedere dell’Infinito, looking from Cilento to the headlands past Amalfi.
A centre without cars
The traffic zone covers the old centre, and setting passengers down needs a permit that private-hire drivers book on the council ZetaPass portal. The car waits outside: there is no hour by which you have to be back.
Getting there with us
- You come up to Ravello from the coast road by car; the old centre, though, is a traffic zone and is walked.
- The passenger drop-off stop is booked on the Ravello council ZetaPass portal, which covers tourist coaches and private-hire cars.
- Between the centre, Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone you move on foot: lanes, steps and cobbles.
Worth knowing
- The climb from the coast is one bend after another: anyone who suffers in a car should sit in front and tell us to slow down, and we will.
- Entry to both villas is paid separately and booked through official channels. Neither is visited by car: you arrive on foot, and there is walking inside as well.
- The villas’ opening hours change with the season: worth checking them before we fix a departure time, so the day is built around them.
- The route between the centre and Villa Cimbrone is entirely pedestrian and partly stepped: with a pushchair or a wheelchair, think it through beforehand.
On the same day
Amalfifrom Naples 1h 45minThe cathedral at the top of the steps, and the coast that takes its name from here. The centre is a traffic zone: we drop you at the edge and wait there.
Positanofrom Naples 1h 30minHouses stepping down to the sea. The road through town is not closed: it is a one-way loop, and the last stretch is on foot.