While Seth and I were in Italy last summer, we decided to do some hiking on the famous Path of the Gods! When I was planning our trip to the Amalfi Coast this hike kept popping up on blogs, pinterest, and travel sites. Seth and I love hiking so we knew that we would want to do this magical hike while we were there! Lets just say, it was an adventure we won’t forget.
What to Bring
We were backpacking on this trip so we didn’t have much supplies to begin with. But, there are a few essentials. The trail is decently long and it can get hot during the summer. So it is essential that you bring water! We both picked up huge water bottles at the start of the hike and even though they were bulky, they were well worth it for the relief the water brought us along the way. I would also recommend some study tennis shoes. The shoes I had with me didn’t have great support so it wasn’t the easy to climb over the rocks along the way, but I made it through. If you can handle the weight, definitely bring a camera! The views along the hike are so stunning and we stopped for pictures frequently. Finally, most people choose to do the hike from Agerola Bomerano to Positano and then take the bus back to Amalfi. This is what we did. So, you will also probably want to pack a change of clothes for when you get to Positano. We cooled off in the ocean before changing into nicer clothes to enjoy our evening at a nice bar – Franco’s!
Length
The hike took us about 2-3 hours to complete from our bnb near the trailhead to Positano. We stopped frequently for pictures but we also hike at a solid pace so I would bet that it takes most people this long to do the hike. The overall length is over 4 miles. Some people end the hike before they get to Positano so it may not take that long, but we went the full way!
Trail
The trail is very well marked and easy to follow. The trailhead starts in Agerola Bomerano and it’s very easy to spot (and is also on Google maps). The trail itself is a good trail that isn’t too intense. It’s well marked throughout and easy to follow. However, towards Positano there are a lot of rocks that you have to climb over which is where having good shoes will come in handy! I would definitely recommend making sure you are somewhat in shape before attempting this, but you don’t have to be an experienced hiker. Towards the end of the path, it turns into stairs to get you down in elevation to Positano. Apparently there are over 1500 steps to get from Nocelle (the end of the real trail) to Positano. We eventually lost count but it definitely felt like 1500 steps.
Views
Alright lets talk about those views!! There’s a reason its called the Path of the Gods… the views of the ocean stretching as far as the eye can see are unmatched. Once you get close to Positano, you also start seeing beautiful views of the cute town and the boats in the area. Not to mention all the vineyards you pass by in the mountains on the journey! The pictures do not do it justice.
Positano
If you do the hike like we did, you’ll end up in the cute town of Positano! We walked all the way down to the beach which meant even more stairs, but also meant that we passed by a ton of cute shops along the way. I ended up buying a cute pair of shoes and Seth got a new hat! We stopped for lunch and hung out in the water. The beaches in Positano are beautiful, but sooo rocky! And since the rocks are black it hurts to walk on them. So if you can fit them in your pack – I recommend some flip flops to walk from your towel to the water. We also didn’t pack a towel so we ended up using our dirty clothes from the hike since we brought nicer clothes. You do what you can do! In the evening, we went to a super nice bar with a beautiful view called Franco’s. We got there 30 minutes before it opened and there was already a line! But we got so lucky and landed one of the spots by the edge so we had a perfect view of Positano while I enjoyed my wine and Seth had a beer. After that we took a sunset ferry ride back to Amalfi! The ferry was definitely the better choice over the bus because the view of the coast from the water is amazing!! Not to mention, the buses are crowded and rickety.
Conclusion
If you’re headed to the Amalfi Coast – definitely add this hike to your itinerary. It might even be reason enough to take a trip to Amalfi! This was my favorite trip we’ve even done and I just can’t get over how beautiful these towns are, how tasty the food is, and how welcoming the people are. Seth and I both highly recommend it!
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