Quick answer: Positano to Amalfi: take the boat. A 25-minute Travelmar crossing skips the plate-restricted SS163 stretch entirely — the same stretch that runs east from Positano through Praiano toward Ravello. Capri is a separate case: it's an island reached by sea, not by that road, and rental cars are barred from it outright between 30 March and 2 November 2026. Ravello is the trip where a car rental earns its place, provided your plate is legal on the date you travel; there's no direct boat, and the SITA bus needs a change at Amalfi. Sorrento and Pompeii sit the other direction out of Positano, on a stretch the plate rule doesn't cover at all, so weigh parking cost against a SITA day pass and pick whichever suits your group. If Praiano, Amalfi or Ravello is on your list, check your plate against today's date before you decide anything else — the rule runs 10:00–18:00 on restricted dates.
Fares, timetables and the plate calendar checked against official sources on 14 September 2026.
| Destination | Drive (without traffic) | Parking there | Boat | SITA bus | Our pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Praiano | 7.3 km / 12 min | €3/hour blue lines (€12 for 10:00–14:00) | No direct Travelmar sailing from Positano | ≈15 min (Praiano→Positano on the timetable) | Compare parking (€12 for 4 h) vs the bus pass (€10 pp) |
| Amalfi | 16.4 km / 24 min | Luna Rossa, €5/h 09:00–19:00 (+€2/h for each of the first two hours, i.e. €7/h hours 1–2), €4/h 19:01–08:59 | Travelmar, 25 min, €10 one way | ≈40 min (Amalfi→Positano), COSTIERASITA day pass €10 | Boat |
| Ravello | 22.8 km / 31 min | Not published by the Comune | No direct route | Change at Amalfi (Amalfi→Positano ≈40 min on the timetable) | Car, plate permitting — confirm access and parking |
| Sorrento | 17.5 km / 24 min | Vallone dei Mulini, €18 for 6 h, €25 for 8–12 h | No fare or timetable confirmed | ≈60 min, COSTIERASITA day pass €10 | Compare parking (€18–35) vs the bus pass (€10 pp) |
| Pompeii | 36.9 km / 47 min | Not published | No boat route (inland site) | SITA to Sorrento, then Circumvesuviana to Pompei Villa dei Misteri | Car, or the train combo |
| Capri | No road access (island) | Not applicable | Positano Jet, about 30 min Capri→Positano, fare not published | Not applicable | Boat only — rental cars banned until 2 November 2026 |
Drive times are measured on a routing engine without traffic.
On an even-numbered date, plates ending in an even digit may not use the SS163 between 10:00 and 18:00; on an odd-numbered date, odd digits are barred. The rule covers only the SS163 from Positano east to Vietri sul Mare; the road west to Sorrento and Pompeii is outside it.
No. Campania's DPGR No. 22 of 25 March 2026 bans non-resident cars — rental and foreign-plated vehicles specifically included — from the island between 30 March and 2 November 2026, and again 28 December 2026–3 January 2027, with fines from €430 to €1,731. Leave the car in Positano and take the ferry instead.
No. The restriction bans only the digit that matches the date's own parity: on an even-numbered date, plates ending in an even digit are barred 10:00–18:00; on an odd-numbered date, odd-ending plates are barred. An odd-ending plate is free to drive on an even date, and vice versa — on 16 September 2026 (even), a plate ending in 4 is barred while one ending in 3 is not.
Not really — it's close to a tie: for two people sailing from Positano around 09:00 and back from Amalfi near 16:00, the Travelmar round trip runs about €40, and parking a car at Luna Rossa for that same window comes to about €39, so it's the boat's convenience that actually decides it, not the price. The SITA bus undercuts both at €20 for two with a COSTIERASITA day pass, if the extra travel time doesn't matter.
Yes, plate rule permitting. It's 22.8 km and 31 minutes from Positano without traffic, on the restricted SS163 east of Positano, so check your plate's last digit against the 2026 calendar before you go. There's no ferry to Ravello and no direct bus — public transport means changing at Amalfi — so a legal car is usually the more straightforward option — once you have confirmed Ravello's access rules and parking.
Yes — the COSTIERASITA 24-hour ticket. It costs €10, covers unlimited SITA Sud travel across the coast, including Positano, Amalfi, Praiano, Ravello and Sorrento, for 24 hours from first validation, and is sold at tabaccherie, bars and shops displaying the SITA Sud logo. Buy it before boarding where you can; we could not confirm a 2026 single-ride fare.
No. The official notice defines the restricted zone as the SS163 Amalfitana between Vietri sul Mare and Positano only, and is explicit that any other road is not concerned — the stretch west of Positano toward Sorrento and Pompeii falls outside the restriction entirely. Separate local orders can still apply on top, though: Sorrento's own ZTL Centro, for one, restricts the historic centre on its own schedule regardless of your plate's last digit.
Open the interactive planner to check your plate and compare car, ferry and bus.