Santa Croce
Amalfi
KnownFree beaches
The story
Reachable by sea or down a long stairway, a cove beside a rock arch the sea has hollowed out; the water here is the green of glass.
Access
FREE in parts
More gems in Amalfi
Sacred artDuomo di Amalfi
Amalfi
At the top of a steep stairway, the striped Arab-Norman façade; beneath the altar rest the relics of Saint Andrew, brought here from Constantinople.
Sacred artChiostro del Paradiso
Amalfi
Interlaced Moorish arches and palms that filter the light: a thirteenth-century cemetery made for the nobles of Amalfi, as silent as a garden of the East.
- History & archaeology
Antichi Arsenali di Amalfi
Amalfi
Stone vaults opening onto the water, where the Republic built its galleys: the only medieval arsenal left on the coast, memory of Amalfi's sea power.
- Free beaches
Spiagge del Duoglio
Amalfi
Four hundred steps drop from the main road to a beach of pebbles and clear water, the hard-won prize for anyone wanting away from the crowds of Amalfi.
HikingValle delle Ferriere
Amalfi (SA)
Above Amalfi the trail climbs a damp valley of waterfalls and prehistoric ferns, among the ruins of the old ironworks swallowed by the vegetation.
History & archaeologyMuseo della Carta
Amalfi (SA)
In an ancient thirteenth-century paper mill, in the Valle dei Mulini, hammers driven by the water of the Canneto still bring Amalfi's handmade paper to life, sheet after sheet.
More gems: Free beaches
Free beachesIsola
Posillipo
The "cursed" island: owners struck by suicides and misfortune (Agnelli, Getty); a marine protected area with submerged ruins; guided snorkelling with CSI Gaiola ~€20, glass-bottom boat ~€12; 150 steps.
Free beachesParco Sommerso della Gaiola
Posillipo
Two islets of tufo (volcanic tuff) joined by a fragile arch, a marine protected area: you swim above submerged Roman ruins while the legend speaks of a cursed island.
- Free beaches
Lido delle Monache / spiaggia libera di Posillipo e Riva Fiorita
Posillipo
Tiny coves among the rocks, once the bathing place of the nuns of a convent above the sea: almost secret free beaches, reachable mostly from the water.
- Free beaches
Baia di Trentaremi
Posillipo
A bay closed in by high cliffs of yellow tufo (volcanic tuff), with caves cut by the Romans: no road reaches it, only the sea and the kayaks slip in among the rocks.
- Free beaches
Capo Miseno e porticciolo di Acquamorta
Bacoli/Monte di Procida
The headland that closes the gulf and, at its foot, the little harbour of Acquamorta with the boats hauled ashore and the water shallow and clear.
Free beachesBaia di Ieranto
Nerano
The bay protected by the FAI that looks across at the Faraglioni of Capri, reachable only on foot among olive trees and scrub, with the clear water of an old quarry.