‘This coast is saturated’: Italian village braces for post-Ripley crowds

Airbnb says it recorded a 93% increase in bookings to the Atrani area after the release of Ripley this month. Photograph: bluejayphoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto

When Andrew Scott’s eponymous character in the hit new Netflix series Ripley travels from Naples to the village of Atrani, the rickety bus has the road almost to itself; a solitary Vespa passes going the other way. When he tracks down Dickie Greenleaf at the beach, the rich American and his girlfriend are the only people sunbathing on the pristine sands.

Visitors to the Amalfi coast today will note the contrast. Unlike in 1961, the road between Positano and Salerno is now known as much for its traffic jams as for the views. Atrani may be less busy than its neighbour Amalfi, but in summer its beach is taken over by rows of umbrellas and sunbeds. A small area, perhaps a fifth of the space, is public spiaggia libera.

In the village, which has one four-star hotel and a few B&Bs and holiday lets, some businesses are pleased about the Netflix exposure. Antonio Buonocore, who runs the beachside restaurant Le Arcate, said: “The impeccable photography has certainly brought our little village extra publicity.”

But others worry how sustainable this will be. Antonella Florio, of Maison Escher apartments, said: “This coast is saturated with overtourism. If more visitors come because of the series, I sincerely hope they come in low season.”

Luisa Criscolo, property manager at Chiara’s House, agreed: “If tourism does grow, the risk is that it’s not managed intelligently. Our village can’t cope with huge numbers of tourists. Cars, buses and motorbikes leave the traffic paralysed. The authorities need to keep a decent amount of places open longer so some visits can be channelled to other times of year, and must also encourage use of waterborne transport, and offer more frequent services on smaller buses.”

In Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 book The Talented Mr Ripley, Greenleaf is living in fictional Mongibello. The TV crew switched to Atrani after searching the coast for a location to suit their black-and-white period style (inspired by the 2018 illustrated book Neorealismo: The New Image in Italy 1932-1960). The series’ production designer, David Gropman, told Netflix he loved Atrani’s “incredible geography … the relationship of the main square to the beach, all of those unbelievable paths, that maze of stairs and corridors”. These all help make early episodes visually arresting. “Su, su, su [up, up, up],” says post-office operator Matteo, directing Tom Ripley up to Greenleaf’s house.

That opulent villa, however, is not actually in Atrani, but on the nearby island of Capri. Villa Torricella was built in 1902 in eclectic style – turrets, Moorish colonnades, pointed arches and twisted columns – for an earlier pair of American socialites, Kate Perry and Saidee Wolcott, who hid their gay relationship by portraying themselves as sisters.

The villa, whose onion-domed tower is easily spotted from the ferry, is privately owned, but a one-bedroom apartment with panoramic terrace and the gorgeous tiled floors Johnny Flynn as Dickie is seen pacing around on, is for rent on Airbnb from £189 a night. There is still some summer availability, and plenty in autumn, though this may soon change.

After Ripley was released, Airbnb said it had seen a 93% increase in bookings to the Atrani area, which includes Ravello, a larger town a few miles north-east.

Canny beachgoers can avoid the crowds, though. The London-based musician Adam McCulloch visited last October, taking a bus to Positano – “the beach was rammed” – then a ferry to Amalfi. “We left the crowds behind and walked to Atrani over hills via Torre dello Ziro. Up there, you see no one. After steep steps down to the village, we had a swim, and a drink at Bar Nettuno, then walked the coast road back to Amalfi.”

The makers of Ripley closed the centre of Atrani for a month in October 2021 to take it back to the early 60s, paying local businesses for the disruption. (A year later the cameras descended again for filming of The Equalizer 3, also starring Dakota Fanning, who plays Dickie’s girlfriend, Marge.)

Later in the Netflix series, Ripley’s misdeeds take him to Naples, Rome, Palermo and Venice. In each city, writer-director Steven Zaillian uses paintings by Caravaggio to mirror the 20th-century con artist’s descent into violence, and perhaps his repressed sexuality.

But Rome and Venice are no strangers to film crews or mass tourism. Atrani, permanent population of about 800, is braced for change.