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The fishing village that never became a resort, where anchovy essence drips from chestnut barrels, and the ceramics town at the end of the coast, where lemons, fish and saints are painted on every plate and tile.
East of Maiori the coast gets quieter and more local, and two towns keep crafts that are centuries old.
Cetara still lives from the sea. Its fleet fishes for tuna and anchovies, a Spanish watchtower guards the point, and its shops sell colatura di alici, the amber anchovy essence descended from the Roman garum and protected since 2020. Salted anchovies are pressed in chestnut barrels for months, and the liquid that drips out is spooned over spaghetti with garlic and parsley. In December the Notte della Colatura serves it all over the village.
Vietri sul Mare, at the Salerno end, has made majolica since the Renaissance. The dome of its cathedral, San Giovanni Battista, is covered in coloured tiles; the Solimene factory works in a striking 1950s building; the ceramics museum is in a villa at Raito, just above; and the main street is lined with plates, tiles and painted lemons.
Together they make a relaxed day away from the crowds of Positano and Amalfi, with the best fish lunch on the coast in the middle.
Ferry to Cetara for lunch, then bus on to Vietri.
Arrive by ferry and watch the fleet in the harbour below the village.
Walk out to the tower on the point for the view back over the village.
Eat it where it was invented, then buy a bottle in one of the village shops.
Bus to Vietri, see the tiled dome of San Giovanni Battista and the shops of the main street.
Visit the Solimene factory, then the museum at Raito; Salerno and its trains are minutes away.
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Travelmar ferries from Amalfi and Salerno stop at Cetara from April to October; SITA buses run between Amalfi and Salerno all year.
Cetara has three of the coast's best fish restaurants; book lunch at weekends.
Vietri is ten minutes from Salerno station, so this day ends well before a train home.
Amalfi Coast practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences; some are our own.
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