Amalfi Coast Summer Driving: What Actually Changes in August

The Amalfi Coast is not closed in August, but the single coastal road that connects its towns, the SS163, has in recent summers run under a daytime odd-even license-plate rule during the peak weeks — and whether that applies this year, and on which dates, is set by ordinance, not by habit. Planning a rental-car day around last year’s article rather than this year’s notice is how a coastal drive turns into a fine.

Why the road becomes the bottleneck

The SS163 is a single two-lane road carved into the cliff, shared by tour buses, rental cars, scooters and the local SITA buses that run the whole route. There is no parallel coastal route, so a jam on it has nowhere to go. The stated reason for summer restrictions is the volume of traffic the road has to carry in the peak weeks, which is why they are tied to specific dates and hours rather than applied all year.

The odd-even rule, and why it moves each year

In recent summers, a targa alterna system has been applied on the SS163: cars whose plate ends in an even digit may drive on even dates, odd on odd, during set daytime hours. The measure is not permanent law; it is issued as a traffic ordinance with its own dates, hours and covered stretch. As of September 2026, whether it is in force, and precisely where, comes from the published ordinance — check the road authority ANAS, the comuni along the coast and ACI’s road-info service shortly before you drive, not a travel post written in a different year.

What a rental company will and won’t flag

Do not count on the rental desk raising this on its own. Ask directly whether a coastal restriction is active for your travel dates and which exemptions apply — who is exempt, and what proof they need, is set by the same ordinance, so read the list there rather than assuming a hotel booking covers you. Get the answer in writing if you can, since a fine issued to the plate follows the same rental-company billing chain covered in our ZTL guide.

What changes for a renter in high season

Situation	What to expect
Driving the SS163 in daytime, peak weeks	Possible odd-even restriction; verify this year’s dates first
Arriving at a hotel inside a restricted stretch	Ask the property to confirm your entry is covered
Early morning or late evening drives	Hours are set by the ordinance; read them before assuming you are outside them
Taking the bus or ferry instead	Check the ordinance’s exemptions for public transport

The alternative to the rental car

SITA Sud buses run along the coast road, and in the season ferries connect Salerno, Amalfi, Positano and Capri by sea, which takes the road out of the equation; timetables are on the SITA and ferry operators’ own sites, and whether buses are covered by the plate rule is stated in the ordinance. For a coastal stay, a car you leave parked — or no car at all — removes the question of which dates you may drive. If you are weighing Amalfi against a different coastal stop for the same trip, our Sicily-versus-Amalfi comparison covers that decision directly.

Which stretch is actually affected

The restriction, when it is in force, targets the SS163 itself — the coastal corridor linking Vietri sul Mare, Amalfi, Positano and the towns between them — not the whole peninsula. Roads that only lead down into a single town from the ridge above, or the approach from Sorrento along the upper route, are a separate matter: whether they fall under the rule is stated in the ordinance itself, so do not assume either way. This is also a different mechanism from the camera-enforced ZTL zones inside historic centers: a ZTL restricts entry into a town’s core under that town’s own rules, while the coastal plate rule restricts traffic on the connecting road during a specific summer window. A renter can be caught by either, or both, on the same day, and the fine for each follows its own trail back through the rental company, as covered earlier.

Planning around it instead of fighting it

Build slack into any day that involves driving the coast road in August: a single road with no alternative has no way to absorb delays, so do not stack a ferry, a restaurant booking and a return drive back-to-back. Treat parking at your destination as a separate problem from the drive itself, and confirm with the comune or your hotel where you can leave the car before you set off. None of this is about avoiding a fine so much as keeping one road from deciding your whole day.

If the restriction is not in force this year

Ordinances are not renewed automatically every summer; the covered stretch, the dates and the hours can each differ from one year to the next, and a year without an ordinance is possible too. Do not assume this year mirrors last year in either direction — the only reliable read is the current notice, checked close to your travel dates rather than at the time you book the car months out.

Check the notice, not the calendar

The ordinance for a given year is a published document, and it can differ from the previous summer. Read it when you book your car, and again a day or two ahead of the actual drive. A working connection on the coast matters here specifically, since the notice is a webpage, not a roadside sign you can rely on alone. Italy eSIM is installed at home over Wi-Fi before departure, so nothing has to be done on arrival — no QR to hunt, no shop, no passport registration; our installation guides walk through it, and current plans are on the pricing page.