Il Sentiero Degli Dei

Talking to lizards along The Path of the Gods, the most famous walk in the Amalfi Coast

22nd July 2016

Italy called us again. And mamma mia if we answered! This time we spent a weekend with Martina's family in Naples, and since the weather was so warm and sunny we went for another hike, slightly more difficult than last time though.

This time we chose Il Sentiero Degli Dei, a 3.4km walk starting from Agerola and going down the mountains all the way to Nocelle, a little village part of Positano. The path is not too difficult, even though it has some steep and narrow sections, and most of it goes nicely along the edge of the mountains.

We wanted to start out as early as possible, to avoid the crowds and the hottest hours of the day, which can get up to the mid thirty degrees¹. Transportation from outside of Amalfi is tricky, so Martina's dad was very kind to drive us to the starting point in Bomerano at 6:30 in a Friday morning. The drive itself was already an experience, with the winding roads climbing the mountains, and the other Italian drivers doing risky manouvers the whole time.

The walk starts very easy in a paved downhill, following the red and white signs with the number 02. Since we started very early, the weather was cool and we were basically the only ones on the path. If you disregard the little lizards, that is. The whole path is full of them, and even if you can't see them, you can hear them moving in the bushes. For some reason Julio liked them so much that he would say "Hello Mr. Lizard!" every time he would hear one.

After you clear the short paved part, the walk gets steeper and more technical (for us hiking newbies, at least), and you have to divide your attention between the rocks where you can step and the beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea and the Amalfi coast. Even from all the way up it's possible to tell apart the rocks inside the water, which should tell you how clear the water is.

The entire mountain sides seem to be covered with colorful vineyards and little farms, and also quite a few abandoned houses. People living up there probably are not very bothered with how difficult it is to get home from the supermarket. Nevermind that they probably live off their own land.

Even though Strava says we moved for only 45 minutes, the entire walk took 3 hours and a half. By the time we got to Nocelle there were already more than a couple of people on the path, and everyone was kind and would say "Buongiorno!" everytime they passed us. We stopped at Il Chiosco Del Sentiero Degli Dei for a lemon granita, but they had just finished it, so we settled for a very refreshing lemonade on their little terrace with a sea view, and a last little lizard to keep us company. Best way ever to finish an excruciating hot half of day.

Naturally, if it's not on Strava, it didn't happen. So here it is. We'll try to keep recording our upcoming hikes to see how much we have progressed. And more hikes will definitely follow. We're liking this thing.

After our little pause for a lemonade, we decided to take the bus to Positano, since we were too tired for the 1.500 steps that we would otherwise do on foot. Which would probably be more attractive if we had know how the bus ride would be. The driver was just as reckless, the roads even narrower, and the route much closer to the edge of the mountain, and we were in a big bus instead of a tiny car. But hey, it's Italy!

We had lunch and spent the rest of the day walking up and down in Positano, eventually taking the ferry back to Amalfi, so we could take another bus back to Agerola and meet Martina's family for a delicious pizza dinner with the most amazing and fresh cheese Julio has ever tasted. It is Italy, after all!