Things to Do in Positano: Beach Days, Boat Rides & La Dolce Vita

Last Updated on October 16, 2026 by Lauren Belzer Sanford

There is a version of Positano that exists in your imagination before you arrive: pastel facades, turquoise water, and the particular light only the Amalfi Coast seems to make. And then you actually get there, and it somehow exceeds it.

I spent part of my Italian honeymoon here in June 2025, staying at Hotel Buca di Bacco with my husband, Max, and our days in Positano were some of the most beautiful of the whole trip. We weren’t racing through a checklist. We were eating too much pasta, watching the light change on the water, and climbing far more stairs than we’d planned (sometimes that’s how you get to the good stuff). I’d also visited the coast once before, on a family trip in 2019.

This isn’t everything you could do in Positano. It’s what I’d actually recommend: the experiences worth your time, worth the splurge, and worth building your days around.

The short answer: the best thing to do in Positano is take a boat to Capri, ideally private, then spend a full day at a beach club like L’Incanto on Spiaggia Grande. Add a cooking class in the hills, a wine day in Irpinia, and an afternoon wandering the staircases with no plan.

Take a Boat to Capri (and Don’t Skimp on This One)

If there’s one non-negotiable in Positano, it’s getting out on the water. The coastline from the sea is a different world: towering cliffs, hidden grottos, and scenery that explains why people come back to this part of Italy again and again.

On our honeymoon, Max and I booked a private half-day boat through Capri Dream Charter, leaving right from Positano, which is wonderfully simple when you’re already staying there. We spent the morning cruising past the coast before crossing to Capri. Having the boat to yourselves, stopping wherever you want, jumping in when the moment calls for it, talking without competing with anyone else: it’s genuinely special. For a honeymoon, an anniversary, or any milestone trip, a private boat is worth every euro.

I also did a semi-private boat tour from Massa Lubrense with my family in 2019, about twelve of us, a mix of couples and small groups, and it was just as lovely: a little livelier, a little less expensive. Both took us along the coast and over to Capri, and both were magical. I cover that first day trip to Capri in detail.

Book early, especially in summer. Private boats in peak season fill quickly, and the best captains even faster. Ask your hotel for a recommendation, or compare private and small-group boat tours from Positano and Capri boat tours on Viator.

Spend a Day at a Beach Club

Positano has beaches, Spiaggia Grande the most famous, but the beach club is a different experience. It’s less about swimming (though the water is beautiful) and more about the ritual: reserved loungers, an Aperol spritz appearing exactly when you want one, being horizontal somewhere beautiful with nothing to do.

Two things to know: most of Positano’s beaches are pebble, not sand. And clubs generally open May through October, with July and August peak madness, so reservations aren’t optional then.

On our last full day, Max and I booked front-row chairs at L’Incanto. The morning started stormy (thunderstorms roll in off this coast with little warning), so we couldn’t get down as early as planned. By late morning the skies had cleared, and because the weather had scared off the crowds, we practically had the beach to ourselves for a while. One of those unplanned, perfect moments you only get when you leave room for things to unfold.

I did a lot of research before choosing a less expensive front-row chair, so here’s what to know about the options.

Beach Clubs in and Near Positano

• L’Incanto (Spiaggia Grande): Where we spent our last full day. One of the few clubs on Spiaggia Grande that takes online reservations, which matters in summer. In 2025 they also opened Zighy Beach, a more exclusive space within L’Incanto.
• La Scogliera (Spiaggia Grande): The VIP option on the main beach, with a price to match (from around €250 for a pair of sunbeds when I researched it). A true splurge day.
• Da Ferdinando (Fornillo Beach): A local favorite with an unhurried feel.
• Arienzo Beach Club: Those instantly recognizable orange sunbeds. A free shuttle leaves from Spiaggia Grande, and because Arienzo faces southwest, it holds the sun later than anywhere else in Positano. Reserve ahead.
• Da Adolfo: The little boat with the red fish has been ferrying people to this family-run restaurant and beach since the 1960s. More rustic than glamorous, and known for some of the best seafood on the coast.
• One Fire Beach Club (Praiano): Easy to reach from Positano, and a livelier option if the main clubs are full.
• Conca del Sogno (Nerano): On the Sorrento side of the peninsula, in a crescent bay reachable by boat or a narrow road, and beloved since the 1950s. This is Nerano, home of spaghetti alla Nerano, so the seafood is legendary. Best as a destination lunch, ideally arriving by boat.
• Le Sirenuse Mare (Nerano): The family behind Le Sirenuse, Positano’s most iconic hotel, opened their first beach club in Nerano in April 2026: a restaurant, three bars, a gelato parlor, an Emporio Sirenuse boutique, and sunbeds and cabanas down to the water. Nerano is a short boat ride from Positano.

Don’t let the prices scare you off a beach day. For something reasonable, L’Incanto’s front-row chairs are worth booking ahead, and it’s a beautiful way to spend your last day, or any day that deserves to be slow.

Beach Clubs on Capri

• La Fontelina: The one. Perched on the rocks directly facing the Faraglioni, with blue-striped umbrellas and a seafood lunch that will ruin you for other meals. It’s been drawing a glamorous crowd since 1949 and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Reach it by boat from Marina Piccola or on foot via the steep descent from the Punta Tragara viewpoint. A €200 minimum spend per person makes this a deliberate splurge, not a casual stop, so plan accordingly. And book well in advance — this one fills up fast, especially in July and August.
• Da Luigi: The slightly more relaxed neighbor to La Fontelina, sitting in a tiny natural cove directly beneath the Faraglioni on the opposite side. Open since 1936, it has been drawing a celebrity crowd for decades. Expect colorful sundecks that seem to merge right into the rocks, fresh seafood, and spaghetti tossed with the catch of the day.
• Le Ondine: The more approachable option at Marina Grande, right near the port where your boat will likely dock. Connected to the longstanding restaurant Da Gemma, it’s a relaxed, traditionally Mediterranean spot with sunbeds, umbrellas, fresh pasta, and seafood at prices that feel almost reasonable by Capri standards. A good choice if you want to spend a couple of hours on the water without the full La Fontelina production.

Take a Cooking Class in the Hills

I’ll be honest: we didn’t get to this on our honeymoon, and it’s the thing I most wish we had. We ate so well in Positano (pasta, seafood hours out of the water, lemons so fragrant they felt like a different fruit), and it wasn’t until I was home that I realized I wanted to know how to make all of it.

Many classes here happen in private homes or farmhouses in the hills above town, in places like Montepertuso, just a short drive up from the water. You’ll spend a few hours making fresh pasta, gnocchi, or tiramisù with a local host, then sit down to eat it with local wine and an impossible view. Browse cooking classes in Positano on Viator to find one that fits your days.

A cooking class in nearby Praiano, between Positano and Amalfi, comes up again and again as one of the most authentic on the coast. They grow their own ingredients and make their own wine, and guests describe it as less a class than Sunday lunch in someone’s home.

Explore Campania Wine Country

Here’s something most Amalfi Coast visitors miss: one of southern Italy’s most compelling wine regions is about an hour away. A full-day wine tour is the perfect contrast to a beach day: you’ll wind through the Campania countryside with a private guide, visit two estates, walk the vineyards, descend into cellars, and taste six wines. The Private Irpinia Wine Tour from Positano is exactly this, and the reviews make you want to book on the spot. It’s on my list for a return trip. If you love wine and have more than a few days, I’d prioritize it.

Get Lost in Town (Seriously, Just Wander)

Positano isn’t a town you experience by following a map. It’s a town you experience by giving yourself a few hours with nowhere to be and following the staircases.

The lanes wind upward through small shops, gelato stands, ceramic studios, and restaurants with terraces narrow enough to seat four people, and four people only. Lemon-printed linens hang in doorways, aperitivo spots look like they’ve been there since the ’50s (some have), and viewpoints stop you mid-step. There’s always another staircase, always something around the next corner. Let the afternoon find its own way. The best version is the one where you stumble onto perfect gelato at four o’clock and end up sitting on a wall watching the boats for an hour.

Hike the Path of the Gods (If You’re the Outdoorsy Type)

Straight talk: I’m not a hiker, and I didn’t do this trail on our honeymoon. But outdoorsy friends of ours have come back raving about the views, and everything I know about it says it earns that. The trail runs from the village of Bomerano toward Nocelle, just above Positano, with some of the best views on the coast: Capri in the distance, cliffs falling away below. Expect three to four hours, a moderate rating, and many stairs on the descent into Positano. Spring and early fall are best, when the heat is manageable.

If you’d rather not navigate alone, a guided Path of the Gods hike handles the logistics and adds context along the way. Maybe I’ll be convinced someday. Until then, I’m happy to point you toward it and let you report back.

What to Pack for Positano

Positano is a place to dress the part. Think breezy linen, a flowy dress for dinner on a terrace, a swimsuit you love for beach club days, and flat sandals with real grip for all those stairs. Everything I’d bring is in my Euro summer outfits collection, and for beach club days and dinners by the water, my resort style collection has you covered.

Where to Stay in Positano

Hotel Buca di Bacco – Spiaggia Grande (Where We Stayed)

We stayed at Hotel Buca di Bacco, right on the main beach, and loved being steps from the water and the boats. I wrote about it in full in our stay at Hotel Buca di Bacco. For every other option, see my guides to the best boutique and luxury hotels in Positano, the best Airbnbs and vacation rentals in Positano, and the best hotels on the Amalfi Coast by town.

Positano rewards the people who slow down inside it. Let yourself sit on a wall somewhere and watch the light do what it does here, something you’ll be trying to describe for the rest of your life. And for where to eat between all of it, I have a few strong opinions: the best restaurants in Positano has everything you need.