Positano

The sea is the reason most people come. Spiaggia Grande sits under the town, a broad curve of dark grey sand and pebbles lined with rows of loungers, and a cliff path leads west to Fornillo, smaller and a little calmer. Further along, Arienzo and Laurito are reached by long stairways or a short boat ride, and from the harbour small boats run to coves along the coast and across to Capri.

The water is clear and deep blue, warm enough from June to early October and around 25°C in August. The shore is coarse and steep, so water shoes help, and in high summer every patch is taken by mid-morning. Out of season the beaches empty and many loungers are packed away.

Eating here means long lunches on terraces over the sea: spaghetti with clams, grilled local fish, scialatielli with seafood, mozzarella from the plains inland and desserts built on the coast's thick-skinned lemons, finished with a glass of limoncello. A handful of hotel dining rooms aim at fine dining, and the views are part of every bill.

The range is narrow for all that. Most menus repeat the same coastal dishes, the town is small, and there is little everyday eating, street food or market life. Many kitchens close between November and Easter.

The sight is the town itself: pastel houses stacked up a ravine to the sea, stairways and lanes, and the green and gold majolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta, which holds a Byzantine icon of the Virgin. Beneath the church, the excavated rooms of a Roman seaside villa with painted walls survived the eruption of Vesuvius under ash and mud.

Beyond those, there are watchtowers on the headlands and little else to visit. A couple of hours covers it, and anyone after museums and monuments goes elsewhere on the coast or to Naples.

Evenings centre on aperitivo with a view and a long dinner. In summer a few wine and cocktail bars near the beach stay busy, and a club set in a cave at the end of Spiaggia Grande draws a dressed-up crowd late into the night. That is close to the whole scene, and it fades once the season ends. Couples looking for a calm, romantic evening will be content; anyone wanting a real night out will not.

Positano sits where the Lattari mountains drop sheer into the sea, and the landscape is the most dramatic on the coast. The Path of the Gods runs high along the cliffs from Bomerano to Nocelle, the hamlet above town, with views over terraced lemon groves to Capri. Steeper trails climb through chestnut and holm oak woods to Montepertuso and the ridges, some over 1,000m.

On the water, kayaks and rented boats follow the cliffs to grottoes and the Li Galli islets. Spring and autumn are best for walking, as summer heat makes the climbs punishing in the middle of the day.

Few small towns have this much within a day. Ferries run along the coast to Amalfi, with its cathedral and paper mills, and on to Ravello's gardens and villas high above the sea. Capri is about half an hour by boat, and Sorrento a short ferry or bus ride. Pompeii and Herculaneum are reachable via Sorrento and the local train in roughly an hour and a half, and the Greek temples of Paestum lie about two hours south.

The catch is logistics. Most ferries run only from spring to autumn, the coast road is narrow and slow in summer traffic, and winter trips mean buses and patience.

Positano is hard going with young children. The town is built almost entirely of stairs, so pushchairs are useless, and there are no attractions aimed at children beyond the sea itself. The beaches are pebbly and drop off quickly, though the water is usually calm and warm in summer. Older children who enjoy boat trips and swimming will be happy; families with toddlers usually do better on flatter parts of the coast.

The town is small enough to cross on foot, but almost every walk involves hundreds of steps. A local bus loops up the single road through the upper town, and regional buses along the coast road fill quickly and crawl in summer traffic. Ferries from the main beach are the easiest way to reach neighbouring towns, though mostly in season.

A car is more hindrance than help, as parking is scarce and the coast road is narrow. Many visitors arrive by transfer and then rely on boats and their legs.

Positano has its own style, and shopping it is a big part of a visit. The lanes leading down to the beach are lined with boutiques selling the loose white linen and brightly printed resort wear known as moda Positano, and sandal makers will cut a pair to fit while you wait. Hand-painted ceramics, lemon soaps and limoncello fill the rest. It is all one look, though, and there are no department stores, markets or wider fashion beyond it.

This is one of the most expensive places to stay in Italy. Sea-view rooms in summer cost far more than in most European capitals, loungers and umbrellas on the main beach are priced accordingly, and restaurant terraces charge for the view. Boat trips and transfers add up quickly. Staying in Praiano or Sorrento and visiting by bus or ferry saves a great deal, and the shoulder months of May and October are noticeably kinder.

There is little to attend in the town itself beyond occasional summer concerts in churches and squares. The main draw lies along the coast: Ravello's long-running summer festival of classical music, with concerts on a terrace hanging over the sea, is reachable for an evening. For opera and theatre, Naples is the place.

There is no bathing tradition here, and wellness comes from the upscale hotels, several of which have spas, treatment rooms and pools cut into the cliff. The setting does much of the work: a slow lunch, an afternoon on a terrace, the sea below.

In July and August the lanes and beaches are crowded and noisy, and the stairs make even a short errand tiring. May, June and late September give the town its most restful side.