The Amalfi Coast road is the Strada Statale 163 Amalfitana, a cliff-edge corniche cut into the southern face of the Sorrentine peninsula in Campania. The statale is signed at roughly 50 km (31 miles), and the postcard section between Vietri sul Mare and Positano runs about 40 km (25 miles) — a distance that sounds like an hour and routinely takes three. On a motorcycle it is one of the few places in Europe where two wheels are genuinely the right tool: the road is narrow, the buses are wide, and in summer a plate-based traffic scheme applies to cars that motorcycles are exempt from. This guide covers the ride, the restrictions, and how to time it so the road works for you.
What the SS163 is actually like
Forget pace. The Amalfitana is a single carriageway blasted into vertical limestone, with the Tyrrhenian Sea several hundred metres directly below the guardrail and villages stacked on the slope above it. Corners are blind, the surface changes from smooth asphalt to polished stone in the villages, and the traffic mix is unlike anything else on this list: SITA buses that need both lanes to swing a hairpin, delivery three-wheelers, scooters filtering in both directions, and rental cars whose drivers have just realised what they signed up for.
What makes it worth doing anyway is that the road is the view. There is no separation between riding and sightseeing here — every hairpin opens onto another cove, another lemon terrace, another village welded to the cliff. Riders report the correct approach is to treat the SS163 as a slow, attentive traverse rather than a road to enjoy at speed, and to accept that the moving average will be low. The Amalfi Coast has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, and thirteen comuni sit along it, from Vietri sul Mare in the east through Amalfi and Praiano to Positano in the west.
Route at a glance
| Road | Strada Statale 163 Amalfitana, maintained by ANAS |
| Length | About 50 km (31 miles) signed; roughly 40 km (25 miles) Vietri sul Mare to Positano |
| Region | Campania, province of Salerno |
| Realistic riding time | 2–4 hours one way in season, far longer with stops |
| Traffic scheme | Alternate number plates for cars on defined summer dates; two-wheelers exempt |
| Best months | April–May and late September–October |
| Landscape status | UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 |
Open the coast road in Google Maps — Vietri sul Mare to Positano, ready to send to your navigation before you set off.
Vietri sul Mare to Amalfi, the eastern half
Coming from Salerno, the road climbs out of Vietri sul Mare — the ceramics town — and immediately settles into its rhythm: tight left-right pairs around rock spurs, short tunnels, and long balconies above the water. Cetara is a working anchovy port rather than a resort, and it is usually the quietest stop on the whole coast. Maiori has the only real beachfront promenade and the widest section of road, which makes it the natural place to refuel both bike and rider.
Above Minori, a spur climbs hard to Ravello, several hundred metres up the mountainside. It is a detour rather than part of the SS163, and it is worth the twenty minutes: the switchbacks are tighter and quieter than the coast road, and the village at the top sits on a shelf with the entire Gulf of Salerno underneath it. Atrani, immediately before Amalfi, is the smallest comune in southern Italy by area and the road crosses straight over its rooftops on a viaduct.
Amalfi to Positano, the hard half
West of Amalfi the road narrows and the drama increases. Conca dei Marini and Furore mark the most exposed stretch — the Fiordo di Furore is a genuine fjord-like cleft spanned by a road bridge, and the parking is limited enough that a bike is the only realistic way to stop there. Praiano sits on the ridge between two bays with the best late-afternoon light on the coast.
Positano itself is the choke point. The village is built on the side of the hill, so the through road runs above it as a one-way loop, and the descent into the centre is a maze of narrow one-way lanes designed for scooters. In high season, cars queue for a long time to get through; motorcycles do not, which is exactly why so many visitors rent a scooter here. Park at the top, walk down.
The restrictions, and why they favour motorcycles
The Amalfi Coast operates an alternate number plate scheme — targhe alterne — on the SS163, administered under an ANAS ordinance and covering the coastal comuni from Vietri sul Mare through to Positano. On the days it is active, cars with odd-numbered plates may use the road on odd dates and even-numbered plates on even dates, during a defined daytime window. The scheme typically runs across weekends and holidays in early summer, daily in the peak weeks, and weekends again into autumn, with exemptions for residents, guests with accommodation bookings and various working categories.
The important part for this guide: motorcycles and scooters are exempt, as of August 2026. Two-wheelers may use the road on any date. That single fact changes the economics of visiting the Amalfi Coast entirely, and it is why the coast is thick with rental scooters in July and August. Dates are set by ordinance and change from year to year, so check the current ANAS notice and the comune websites before you plan around them. Separately, several coastal villages operate ZTL restricted traffic zones in their historic centres, enforced by camera — the rules differ village by village, so read the signs at each entrance rather than assuming.
Fuel, timing and the practical stuff
Timing beats everything. The single biggest lever on this road is the clock. Riders consistently report that the coast between roughly 07:00 and 09:30 is a different road from the one at midday — the tour buses have not started their runs, the day-trippers from Sorrento and Naples have not arrived, and you can actually look at the view. The same is true after about 18:30. If your schedule only allows a midday crossing, plan for it to be slow and enjoy it as sightseeing.
Season. April to mid-June and mid-September to October give you warm weather without the peak crush. July and August are hot, crowded and the height of the plate restrictions. Winter is quiet and often pleasant to ride, but many businesses close and rain on polished village stone is genuinely slippery.
Fuel. Stations exist in the larger towns — Vietri, Maiori, Amalfi, Praiano — but they are small, sometimes awkward to enter from a narrow road, and can have queues. Fill up in Salerno or Sorrento before you commit to the coast rather than hunting for a pump between hairpins.
Surface and hazards. Watch for stone paving and drain covers in villages, gravel washed onto the road after rain, and buses taking the whole width on blind hairpins. Sound your horn on blind corners like the locals do. Scooter traffic filters unpredictably in both directions, and pedestrians step off narrow pavements without looking.
Gear notes for the Amalfi Coast
Two things about this road put specific demands on a setup. The first is navigation: village lanes, ZTLs and one-way systems mean the route your phone suggested at breakfast may not be the route you can legally ride, and the coast has patchy mobile coverage under the cliffs. Cached maps that keep working without signal, on a screen you can read in hard Mediterranean sun, save a lot of stopping — our guide to setting up motorcycle navigation covers what to prepare before you leave, and a fixed riding system display keeps your phone out of the heat and away from the vibration that kills camera modules. If you are still using a handlebar clamp, the risks of phone-mount navigation are worth ten minutes of reading before a trip like this.
The second is the traffic itself. This is a road where a bus mirror and your shoulder can occupy the same space, and where a dashcam recording is the difference between a conversation and an argument. Riders touring further into Italy after the coast should also keep an eye on pressures: hot asphalt, low speeds and a fully loaded bike are a combination that hides slow leaks, and a TPMS sensor reports it live rather than at the next fuel stop — the tire pressure guide explains what heat does to the numbers you set cold. The JADO S6 combines the navigation screen, front and rear cameras and the pressure readout on one unit, which is one less thing to manage on a road where your attention is fully committed.
FAQ
Can motorcycles ride the Amalfi Coast road during the plate restrictions?
Yes. Motorcycles and scooters are exempt from the alternate number plate scheme on the SS163, as of August 2026. Cars are the target of the measure. Confirm the current ANAS ordinance before you travel, since the dates are reset each year.
How long does the Amalfi Coast road take on a motorcycle?
Allow two to four hours for the roughly 40 km from Vietri sul Mare to Positano in season, and a full day if you want to stop in the villages. Early morning is dramatically faster than midday.
Is the SS163 dangerous to ride?
It demands attention rather than skill. Speeds are low, but corners are blind, buses take the whole road, and village surfaces are polished stone. Ride defensively, use the horn on blind bends, and it is manageable for any rider comfortable in traffic.
What is the best time of year to ride the Amalfi Coast?
April to mid-June and mid-September through October. You get warm, stable weather, open businesses, and far less traffic than the July–August peak.
Where should you base yourself?
Salerno or Sorrento for cheaper parking and easy access to the motorway network, or a coastal village such as Praiano or Maiori if you want to ride the road at dawn. Confirm secure motorcycle parking before booking — space on the coast is scarce.
