Like Amalfi itself, Positano is another insanely situated village on the Amalfi coast. Great walks can also here be done straight out of town.

Positano is perhaps even more up-market than Amalfi, this is where the jet-setters and film stars go on vacation. And prices for food and accommodation match this.

Selected walks: For walks in the area, see Landscapes of Sorrento, Amalfi and Capri by Julian Tippett (referred to below as “/Tippett/”). There is also Walking on the Amalfi Coast by Gillian Price.

•1 POSITANO – MONTE PERTUSO – CASERMA FORESTALE – SANTA MARIA DEL CASTELLO – POSITANO (my total time 4h22; 931a 819d; net walking time 3h15): This walk consists of segments 18-22-23-24 in /Tippett/.

My timing start from Hotel Royal Prisco (OBS: as does ALL my timings from Positano, not that it makes a huge difference) and not from the beach. Where to go was still rather obvious even if the distances at the start of the walk are a bit off in the book. The rest of the walk was done in a very relaxed tempo as there was some sort of race (!?) going on along the official paths that made me have to step aside and wait for running people all the time… One thing is completely missing from the book, and I lost a lot of time for investigation here, after turning left up steps just after Monte Pertuso, you have to turn up LEFT again IMMEDIATELY up more steps, do not just continue onward. After that there is not much doubt, although the start of segment 24 was somewhat overgrown. This was actually cleared later during my stay. Mind that I also cut directly towards segment 24 from Santa Maria del Castello without actually visiting the church, so I saved a few minutes there. I visited the church on a later walk (walk 3 below). After all, a very nice walk.

•2 POSITANO – NOCELLE – COLLE LA SERRA – VÈTTICA MAGGIORE (my total time 6h12; 1141a 1080d; net walking time 4h50): This walk consists of segments 21-26-28-32-33 in /Tippett/.

This is the famous Sentiero degli Dei, “Path of the Gods”. And good it is, except that the book made a good effort at ruining the entire day. In segment 26 the book never tells you to do the upper or lower path (there is a completely unmentioned crossroads, but visible on the map, where the instructions are for the right-hand lower path). I used the upper path as I considered the lower path to be descending a lot for no reason. This way my approach towards Colle la Serra was different from the book, but everything is marked so you cannot loose your way. After Colle la Serra (following segment 28) I cut directly to segment 32 so I never actually entered Bomerano. Starting with segment 32 the instructions in the book are horrible and made it impossible to find the correct way. BTW, segment 31 is also completely wrongly described, after the steps it of course goes immediately LEFT. Continuing on segment 32 the book explicitly tells you to “continue ahead to a small col between the mountain on the left and a small rocky knoll.” This is utterly wrong, as you should go RIGHT at an again completely unmentioned crossroads and not LEFT up to the col (again refer to the map). The left turn only took me up to the main road, for a long road walk until getting back on track again. Where it again went wrong from the word go. The book says “beyond this a long flight of steps”. Beyond where and what??? What happened to right or left??? I tried right, saw no steps, tried left, finally found steps, but seemingly not he right ones. Where they ended there were no continuation what so ever. I tried right again, but saw nothing and had to walk left back to the main road again before I finally fond continuing steps. Now I was approx. a kilometer out the road from Sant’Elia where I wanted to be. I cut straight towards segment 33 from here.

•3 POSITANO – SANTA MARIA DEL CASTELLO – POSITANO (my total time 3h19; 690a 585d; net walking time 2h41): This walk consists of segments 25-24 in /Tippett/.

Once you have started up segment 25, just DISREGARD ALL INSTRUCTIONS IN THE BOOK. Follow the main marked path at all times, it will take up to a slightly different spot, but the going ahead is obvious, and you can eventually choose between path and track towards Santa Maria del Castello.

•4 POSITANO – MONTE PERTUSO – NOCELLE – MONTE PERTUSO – POSITANO (my total time 3h24; 546a 610d; net walking time 2h40): This walk consists of segments 18a-20a-20b-18b(alt.2) in /Tippett/.

Encountered no big problems here, but do take care to go right at what at least looks like another (unmentioned) T-junction not far down segment 18b(alt.2).

•5 POSITANO – MONTE PERTUSO – POSITANO (my total time 2h25; 479a 376d; net walking time 1h47): This walk consists of segments 18b(alt.2)(in reverse)-19 in /Tippett/.

No problems en route. Be sure you do not miss the excellent segment 19!

 
• Good starting points: • You are already there…

• How to get there: • By bus • By ferry

• More info: • SITA S.p.A. has bus schedules for the area, but in Italian only • Public Transportation in the Amalfi – Sorrento – Salerno – Naples Area by SITA is an English language digest of the SITA bus information • Sita Bus is another English language version of the bus schedules • Trenitalia.com has English language train information for the area, and you can also purchase tickets online • Amalfi Coast Web has English language bus and ferry information • travelmar has some ferry schedules for the area • METRÓ del MARE has more ferry schedules • Unico Campania has information about all public transport in the Naples area • Alibus runs the Naples airport shuttle • Curreri runs a Naples airport transfer service to/from Sorrento • Transport strikes in Italy should be checked for information about strikes in public transport • Italian Transportation Strikes is another site to check for information about strikes