I am taking my 65 y.o. mother to Italy and will be staying on the AC for 3 nights in Sept. Where do you recommend staying in Positano? and will an older woman with bad knees be all right- i understand there are a lot of stairs?
All insight is greatly appreciated!

There are lots of stairs; we stayed in a hotel on one of the upper streets, and there were lots of stairs to get up to the reception area of the hotel, to say nothing of all the steps involved if you wanted to go down to the sea. I think I would choose Amalfi for someone with bad knees.

Hey, I'm 65 and I just came back from Positano. I have a little trouble with one knee, but I had absolutely no problems doing the stairs and uphill trek to the bus stop in the pouring rain. And I was carrying luggage.

You also have the option of staying at a hotel on the water. We stayed at La Caravella right on the water. Just arrive and depart by ferry. And she can go up as many steps to shop as she wants.

PS.....I didn't know I was elderly!

I would choose one of the hotels that are closest to "ground level", aka the beach and dock. Three to look at are: Bucca di Bacco, Palazzo Murat, and Covo Dei Sarceni, all of which are very close to shopping and restaurants, too.

That being said, Positano is a vertical city, and many of the hotels have steps leading up to the main reception areas. So do some of the restaurants. Shops on the main street are on a fairly flat street, but some of it does wind up to the top of the town.

Depends on how bad the knees are. Like grandmere, I would choose Amalfi over Positano if stair climbing was any kind of problem. Also, I would check out the hotel carefully. Some have lots of steps to different rooms.