Amalfi Coast · With kids

The medieval shipyard by the port, first documented in 1042, now the Museum of the Compass and the Maritime Duchy. €3 for adults, free for under-13s, open daily 10:00–19:00 from 1 April to 2 November and 10:00–16:40 in winter. It also houses the town's information point.

Travelmar's run from Amalfi to Atrani is five minutes and €3; Minori and Maiori are ten to fifteen minutes for €5. On a coast where the bus means standing on blind hairpins, this is the difference between a good day out and a miserable one.

The longest run of beach on the coast, with a flat modern promenade behind it, hotels facing the sea and lidos renting loungers with free stretches between them. Fifteen minutes from Amalfi by boat, thirty from Salerno, and no steps at either end.

The town beach, a minute from the ferry berth and the bus stop: loungers for hire at the front, free sand at the edges, and the only swimming in Amalfi you can reach without a staircase. Amalfi's other beaches — Santa Croce, della Vite, Duoglio — need a boat or several hundred steps.

Atrani, Ravello and Positano are stepped lanes end to end, and the SITA buses are standing-room-only from June to September. A carrier works and wheels do not. The €10 COSTIERASITA ticket covers a whole day of hopping, but every member of the family needs their own.