The Fiordo di Furore (Furore Fjord) is not a fjord in any geological sense. It is the drowned mouth of a ravine that slices through the cliff between Praiano and Amalfi, at km 23 of the SS163 coast road. The road bridge crosses roughly thirty metres above it; below sit a handful of old fishermen's houses pressed against the rock and a pebble beach you measure in paces rather than metres.
It is one of the most photographed spots on the coast and one of the most misunderstood. Arrive at midday in August and you find a funnel of people; arrive by boat at nine in the morning and the inlet is more or less yours. The whole difference is in the how and the when, which is why the two-hour boat tour from Amalfi — €36 per person on GetYourGuide, price checked — remains the simplest answer.
Where it actually is
The SS163 at km 23: the bridge over the fjord is one of the narrowest points on the entire road.
Furore is a scattered hillside village with no seafront centre at all — the fjord is its only opening onto the coast. Drivers pass it without noticing, because the bridge is only a few metres long and the lay-by on the Praiano side holds ten vehicles at best.
The coordinates are 40.6139 N, 14.5543 E. From Amalfi it is about six kilometres west along the coast road, from Positano a dozen kilometres east, and from either direction you pass Conca dei Marini and the Grotta dello Smeraldo on the way.
Getting there: four options, one of them comfortable
| How | Time from Amalfi | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boat (2 hr tour) | departs Molo Pennello | €36 per person | sees the inlet from outside, swim stop included |
| SITA bus line 5070 | a few minutes | single fare; day pass €10 | stops on the bridge, then the stairway |
| Car or scooter | 15 minutes | parking almost non-existent | targhe alterne in high season |
| On foot from the trails | varies | free | steep descents, proper shoes needed |
By bus, without a car
SITA line 5070 links Amalfi to Positano and stops right on the fjord bridge.
SITA line 5070 Amalfi–Positano–Sorrento stops at the bridge. Tickets are not sold on board: buy them first at a bar or tobacconist displaying the SITA sign, or through the Unico Campania app. If you expect to make more than two journeys in a day, the COSTIERASITA pass at €10 valid for 24 hours pays for itself; it rises to €12 if you include the local Positano buses. The last service passes at around 22:00, so do not count on it for the trip back after dinner.
Amalfi to Positano takes about fifty minutes end to end, and the fjord stop comes well before that. Every other way of reaching this stretch of coast is set out in getting to the Amalfi Coast.
By car: read up on targhe alterne first
Roadside parking is scarce and entirely unsupervised. Through August and September the targhe alterne (alternate number-plate) restriction normally applies every day between Vietri sul Mare and Positano from 10:00 to 18:00, and at weekends and on public holidays from 1 June to 31 July and throughout October, under an ANAS order that is reissued each year with slightly different dates. Even-numbered plates on even-numbered dates, odd on odd. Motorcycles and scooters are exempt, as are residents of the thirteen coastal municipalities plus Agerola, taxis and licensed private hire, and hotel guests on their arrival and departure days with the booking to hand.
If you leave the car in Amalfi instead, the municipal Luna Rossa garage charges €4.00 an hour from 1 June to 30 September and €3.00 in the shoulder seasons, with a long daily rate of €20 (€25 in August).
The beach: what it is really like
The coast between Praiano and Furore: vertical rock and very few ways down to the water.
Pebbles, almost no sand, no facilities whatsoever. No toilets, no showers, no bar, no sunbeds for hire. The water deepens within a few metres of the shore and stays cooler than the open sea, because the inlet is in shadow for most of the day: welcome in July, less so in May.
The usable space runs to a few dozen square metres. From 10:00 onwards it is full, and turnover is glacial because hardly anyone climbs back up the steps before late afternoon. Bring water — there is nothing to buy down there.
Swimming falls under the bathing regulations of the Salerno coastguard: motorised craft must stay more than 100 metres off rocky shores, so boats do not enter the inlet but hold position in front of it. Anyone swimming beyond the marked limit must tow a float carrying a diver's flag. Other swim stops along the coast are covered on the page about snorkelling on the Amalfi Coast.
The fjord from the water: which boat to take
| Trip | From | Duration | Price | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fjord tour with swim stop | Amalfi | 2 hrs | €36 per person | coastline, fjord, one swim stop |
| Caves and drinks tour | Amalfi | 4–8 hrs | €86 per person | longer run to Positano, two stops |
| Licence-free rental | Positano, Amalfi | 4 hrs | from €350 per boat | go where you like, engine up to 40.8 hp |
Tour prices from GetYourGuide; the rental price is the rate published by Lucibello. The two-hour trip is the obvious choice if the fjord is the point of the day; the caves tour from Amalfi makes sense if you also want Positano and more time in the water. If you would rather drive yourself, the limits and the cautions are set out under boat rental — you cannot take a boat into the inlet under power.
What to combine in the same morning
- Marisa Cuomo, the Furore winery founded in 1980 on roughly ten hectares at five hundred metres altitude: free visits at 09:00 or 10:00 by reservation, tastings with food from €60 per person, open Monday to Saturday 09:00–18:00 and Sunday 09:30–14:30 to the end of the season in late October. The rest of the region's producers are covered in Amalfi Coast food and wine.
- The Grotta dello Smeraldo (Emerald Grotto) at Conca dei Marini, €7 admission, open 10:00–16:00.
- The paths above Furore, which join the network described in hiking trails and the Sentiero degli Dei.
- Positano, fifty minutes west by bus: jetties, beaches and logistics in boat tours from Positano.
When to go
From May to early July the mornings are clear and the stairway is bearable. August is the worst month of the year here: a saturated beach, a jammed coast road and targhe alterne every single day. September brings the sea back to an average of 24.9 °C with half the crowds. In winter the beach is often pounded by swell and the place loses its point, though the bridge remains one of the finest viewpoints on the whole road.
The Fiordo di Furore rewards whoever turns up early, or looks at it from the water. If you have only one morning, the two-hour tour from Amalfi is the efficient choice: check availability on the first departure and leave the stairway to people with time to spend queuing.
