Positano is a town built on a staircase. Houses in pink, ochre and white pile up the steep hillside above a small, pebbly beach, so close together that they seem to hold each other up, and from the coast road above, the whole place looks like a painting hung on a cliff. It is the most photographed town on the Amalfi coast, and the view of it from the road, with the sea spread out below and the green-domed church at the bottom, is the reason for the stop.
The place has a story of its own. In the mid-twentieth century, it was a poor fishing village that attracted artists and writers, and the American author John Steinbeck, who visited in 1953, wrote an essay that helped make it famous, saying that Positano bites deep, and is a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there. The church of Santa Maria Assunta has a dome of coloured majolica tiles, and below the beach, three small islands called Li Galli are said in legend to be the home of the Sirens who tempted Odysseus.
The road is the Amalfi Drive, the SS163, a narrow ribbon cut into the cliff above the sea, with hairpins, tunnels and blind corners at every turn, and it is one of the great coastal rides of Europe, though not an easy one. In summer the traffic is heavy, with buses, cars and scooters, and the road is so narrow in places that buses and large vehicles have to wait for each other. A motorcycle makes much better progress than a car, but you need to keep your wits about you, watch for oncoming buses and expect the road to close for roadworks or rockfalls. Rules on traffic and parking change from season to season, so check them in advance.
There is almost no room in Positano for parking, and fuel is not easy to find along the coast, so fill up in Sorrento or on the plateau at Agerola, about five kilometres away, before you start. The town itself is a maze of steep stairs, boutiques, cafés and restaurants, with lemons and ceramics at every corner, and prices that match the view. Early morning or late evening are the best times to visit, when the day-trippers are gone.