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-   -   any guard rail on amalfi coast drive? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/any-guard-rail-on-amalfi-coast-drive-387548/)

mnatella Jan 15th, 2004 04:06 AM

any guard rail on amalfi coast drive?
 
Is there any guardrail at all along the Amalfi Coast Drive? I am a little scared to do the drive, but if it had a guardrail then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Can anyone describe the drive. Thank You!

Chiquita Jan 15th, 2004 04:22 AM

drove it last october. if i remember correctly, there are guardrails most of the time. we didn't find it as scary as a lot of folk describe - and our driving is done in flat florida. the worst part was negotiating turns when buses are coming in the opposite direction. honk before making a blind turn. the road up to ravello was the most difficult. before my trip, i researched the amalfi drive on this site. so i'm sure there is a thread with ample info and other opinions. my advice: go, do, and have fun.

nytraveler Jan 15th, 2004 04:54 AM

I seem to recall that there is a guardrail - or really a wall made out of big stones - almost the whole way. the key thing to remember is that this road is seriously narrow (in lots of places if two buses meet one will have to back up) with lost of blind entrances , etc and you will have to drive fairly slowly. You'll hear lots of honking because many of the locals honk before an especialaly tight turn to let cars in the other direction know they're coming and to hug the wall on their side of the road. (The locals tend to drive right down the center of the road - so they can go faster - unless there's a lot of traffic coming towadrs them.) If you're really nervous, do the trip in reverse direction, on the inland side rather than the sea. the views are dramatic either way and you'll be stopping several times for pix anway.

We loved the trip - and honestly didn't find it that challenging - but being from the NE we're used to Parkways with really narrow lanes/no shoulders, tight turns and low bridges so we have a head start on this type of driving.

HowardR Jan 15th, 2004 05:40 AM

nytraveler has painted a pretty accurate picture of what it's like. My understanding is that the buses always honk their horns at a curve to warn oncoming traffic.

Patrick Jan 15th, 2004 05:44 AM

One of the worst drives I've ever head was trying to return a rental car to San Francisco before noon when leaving Mendocino, California. We were headed down the coast, with my partner really flying to avoid an extra day's charge. There were no guardrails on my side, and I could press my face against the window look straight down and see sea only. It was frightening.

After that, the Amalfi drive was a piece of cake. Never saw a single area that looked like we could run over the edge without a guardrail.

ira Jan 15th, 2004 08:12 AM

Hi mn,

As noted, there is a wall along the whole length of the road.


chardonnay Jan 15th, 2004 08:31 AM

Most of the way there is a waist high stone wall, there are many turnouts to park and take in the views and where there isn't a wall there is a metal rail fence about 3-4 feet high.
There is no part of the drive where there is no guard rail at all, unlike the Highway One drive in California like Patrick says where in spots it is just the car and mid-air on the passengers side.
Just drive slowly and carefully and don't point out vistas to your driver while he is concentrating, lol.


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