Is Positano expensive?

Yes, and the reputation is earned. Positano is a small village with very little flat land, most of it facing the sea, and almost everything a visitor pays for is priced against that view. The useful question is which costs follow the view and which do not, because a few of the largest can be cut without losing much of the place.

What the view adds to each bill

A room is priced first by what it looks at and second by how many steps separate it from the beach. Sea views from a terrace near the bottom of the village sit at the top of the market; the same standard of room further up, or facing the hillside, comes in well below. On the beach, sunbeds and umbrellas on the main sand are charged by the day, while the free public stretches are smaller and fill early. At the table, a terrace over the water costs more than a table one lane back serving the same lemons, the same anchovies and the same pasta.

Getting about

Transport is where an unplanned trip leaks money. Taxis and private drivers along the coast road are expensive, and a hire car brings the coast road's narrow bends and very scarce, very costly parking. The public bus along the coast is cheap and slow in summer. Ferries to Amalfi, Capri and Salerno sit in the middle, and they are often the quickest way between villages as well as the prettiest.

The calendar

May, June and September are the months the village is built around, and July and August are the peak of both price and crowding. Late in the autumn many hotels and restaurants close for the winter, and the ones that stay open price accordingly, which suits a quiet visit and little else.

Where to stay

Splurge

Hotel Montemare, set into the cliff on the road above the beach, is the bill at its highest, and it shows plainly what the money buys: terraces that look straight down the coast, a spa and a restaurant, and the sea below the rooms. If the view is the reason for the trip, this is where paying for it makes sense.

Mid-range

Hotel Royal Prisco, on the main road threading down through the town, prices the village without the cliff edge. A hot tub, a bar and a tour desk come with it, and the beach is a walk down the stepped lanes. The money saved goes on the days rather than the nights.

Good value

Pensione Maria Luisa is a two-star pensione above the quieter of the town's beaches, with plain rooms and a sun terrace. It is the plainest of the three and does not pretend otherwise, and what it leaves in the budget pays for the boat.

Where the boat money goes

The Private Amalfi Coast Boat Trip from Positano, Praiano or Amalfi holds a boat and a local skipper for your party for the day, with stops decided aboard and a choice of hull at booking. It costs what a private charter costs. The Positano Sunset Boat Tour | Amalfi Coast Cruise with Prosecco is a short shared cruise at the end of the day with a drink aboard, and it gets you onto the water for a small part of that outlay. The Ravioli & Tagliatelle Cooking Class at a Local's Home in Positano ends at the table with what you have made, which makes it a lunch as well as a lesson.

Comparing current stay and experience options across your exact dates is worth doing before anything is booked, because the same room can price very differently a month apart.