Similar to Monaco or St. Tropez, the Amalfi Coast is known as the place where the beautiful and rich like to vacation. However, as my cost breakdown will show, it doesn’t need to be that way. Keep reading to find out exactly how much money you need to travel the Amalfi Coast!
Some general comments
Flight cost excluded
I excluded the costs for our flight to Naples (this is the closest airport to the Amalfi Coast) from the expense analysis below, since this highly varies from your destination of origin. I personally flew from Basel (Switzerland) and I paid 251 CHF for a return ticket. We went around Easter, which meant that prices were probably slightly higher than during a regular week in off season. I cannot speak for the high season in summer, I’m sure they are higher then as well.
Everything paid by credit card
Secondly, I used my credit card for all transactions. Hence, the expenses also include a small exchange rate fee. I usually use Revolut – check it out, I can highly recommend this card for traveling! If you use a different card, your fees might differ and lead to slightly higher prices.
Costs in CHF
Since I am Swiss, my expenses are obviously all calculated in Swiss Francs. However, lucky for me the Swiss Franc is basically on par with the USD and the Euro. This means, if you’re currency of reference is any of these you can just take the numbers as they are without converting them!
Trip for two
I was travelling with my boyfriend on this trip. That means, we were able to split the cost of our hotel room. Other than that, the costs for a solo or group trip should not vary greatly. I will break down the cost per person in this post, so whatever your preferred style of travel is you can take this number as a reference…
Trip costs correspond to 4 full days on the Amalfi Coast
We arrived on Thursday evening and left late on Monday morning. In other words, we were there for basically 4 full days and 4 nights.
So how much money do you need to travel the amalfi coast?
Here are the most important stats:
| CategorY | total cost | % of total cost |
|---|---|---|
| Food | 178 | 36% |
| Transport | 90 | 18% |
| Hotel | 179 | 36% |
| Activities | 49 | 10% |
| Total | 496 | 100% |
Excluding the flights, my extended weekend trip to the Amalfi Coast therefore cost me just shy of 500 CHF. This averages out to approx. 125 CHF per full day, including accommodation. But let’s dig a bit deeper, shall we?
Accommodation
As always, accommodation of course makes up a large chunk of the overall cost. Upon reading many blogs online, we decided to base ourselves in Sorrento. For one, the town itself apparently has lots to offer. Secondly, I read that it is significantly cheaper than any other town that is actually on the Amalfi Coast. In our experience, this is true. We spent a total of 179 CHF / person for a private room at a B&B. This averages out to approx. 45 CHF per night, which is really not bad at all!! And as a bonus, the B&B’s we stayed at offered free breakfast! If you’re interested, we stayed at Lemon Factor Sorrento (approx. 15 min uphill/downhill walk to the city center), and Sorrento Comfort Rooms (approx. 10 min flat walk to the city center). I would rather recommend the latter, since it is not in the hills and the breakfast was awesome!
Food
Next up, food. Funny enough, we spent just as much on food as we did on accommodation, aka around 180 CHF. Per day, this again averages out to roughly 45 CHF per person per day. Looking back, this seems kind of high in comparison, especially since breakfast was already included in the room price.
Our most expensive meal of the day was usually lunch, which we had in different Amalfi Coast towns. Once in Positano, once in Ravello and then on Capri. For lunch, we spent approx. 25 CHF per meal. These meals included an occasional alcoholic beverage. Our dinners only cost around 12 CHF per meal mostly without alcoholic beverages. This seems quite reasonable. However, I need to mention that we always had dinner in Sorrento, never actually on the Amalfi Coast.
Snacks and other drinks also make up a significant portion of the food spending. Here I included all the occasional gelatos, Aperol spritzes, extra coffees during the day, etc… Here we spent another 16 CHF per person per day. Which makes sense, since any alcoholic beverage will likely already cost you around 10 CHF to begin with.
In summary:
| Meal type | Average Cost (in CHF) |
|---|---|
| Lunch | 25 |
| Dinner | 12 |
| Snacks & drinks | 16 |
Transportation
We decided to use public transport for all our journeys. The cost for a 24-hour ticket for the Amalfi Coast bus is 10 CHF, which is not too bad given that you are granted unlimited rides. Hence, the biggest chunk of the cost can be attributed to the ferry ride to Capri, which cost us around 40 CHF for a return ticket. I would recommend to buy the tickets directly at the marina. Additionally, we paid for a bus from Naples airport to Sorrento, and for a train and bus ticket back to the airport. Overall, this somehow led to a transportation related cost of approx. 20 CHF per day. While paying for transportation is not a fun way to spend money, it’s an integral part of sightseeing unfortunately.
Some people prefer to rent a car, but that will be a lot more expensive, so keep this in mind!
Highest single costs
Let’s break down my top three highest single costs:
- Hotel: This is an obvious one, and one you can’t avoid. In my case that was 45 CHF per night or a total of approx. 180 CHF for the entire stay. We stayed at Lemon Factor Sorrento and Sorrento Comfort Rooms and I would recommend both!
- Ferry to Capri: While it is expensive to get to Capri, it is sooooooo worth it. Whatever ferry company you choose, expect to pay around 40 CHF for a return ticket from Sorrento to Capri.
- Lunch at Chez Black: This was a beautiful seaside restaurant in Positano. For lunch we paid around 37 CHF per person. The food was excellent, the vibe was great and the location is A+. If you can afford it, definitely worth a visit!
Final remarks
I hope this breakdown of my costs helps you estimate the budget for your own travels! In case you’re not sure what there is to see and do on the Amalfi Coast, check out my itinerary here! If you’re curious about cost breakdowns of other destinations around the world check out this page here.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I’d love to chat <3