Idyllic Year-Round Walking on Italy's Amalfi Coast

© Cicerone & Gillian Price

The steep southern edge of the Sorrento peninsula on the Gulf of Naples goes by the name of the Amalfi Coast. Famous for its medieval villages perched above plunging cliffs with near-vertical vineyards, lemon orchards, and the idyllic islands of Capri and Ischia, this whole region makes a perfect holiday destination for walkers.

Routes lead across a wonderful range of landscapes, and the crowds and hustle of the coast are left quickly behind. In their place are soothing green landscapes with a riot of wild flowers and aromatic herbs, not to mention dreamy panoramas of great inspiration. In essence, this is a veritable paradise for walkers of all abilities and levels of experience.

This southern Italian region also has superb food. A mouth-watering survey of dishes to look out for is given here. After all walkers deserve a good feed after a day out in the open air!

When to go? The Amalfi Coast is a beautiful destination at any time of the year. Spring is recommended for lovers of wild flowers. Midsummer can be pretty hot, though sea breezes can usually be counted on. Autumn brings crystal clear skies, russet colours in the woods and quieter paths. Winter can be superb with few other visitors and low season prices.

The following route is an extract from Cicerone's Walking on the Amalfi Coast by Gillian Price, which describes 30 walks in this perfect holiday destination for walkers.

More information about the Cicerone Guide: Walking on the Amalfi Coast

Last leg to the summit of Monte Epomeo  © Cicerone & Gillian Price
Last leg to the summit of Monte Epomeo
© Cicerone & Gillian Price

Route map  © Cicerone & Gillian Price
Route map
© Cicerone & Gillian Price

Over Monte Epomeo

At 787m Monte Epomeo is the highest peak on the island of Iscia, and one that regales spectacular views over the beautiful coast. Visible from all over the island, this landmark outcrop has a castle-like summit of so-called green tuff which has weathered into photogenic cavities. In all a memorable day's walk!

From the panoramic piazza at Fontana, with its ochre-white church and Christ statue with outstretched arms, turn W along the main road in the direction of Serrara. Turn up the first steep surfaced lane R (signed for Epomeo). You join a wider surfaced road but soon leave it for an atmospheric sunken way through chestnut wood due N. The road is followed once more for a matter of metres to the car park and corner café-restaurant Grotto di Mezzavia.

The rock chapel of San Nicola, Monte Epomeo  © Cicerone & Gillian Price
The rock chapel of San Nicola, Monte Epomeo
© Cicerone & Gillian Price

To the L of the buildings, a lovely lane climbs through beautiful chestnut wood. It narrows to a path cut into tuff then emerges on fern-covered slopes with stunning views. Steps lead across rock slopes, bearing R (NE) up via an inviting café terrace and eatery. Continue past the modest buildings but watch your step as it is a little exposed. Close by is the airy, amazing, wind-sculpted top of Monte Epomeo. The spectacular outlook takes in Forio and Lacco Ameno at your feet and the spread of the island's north coast.

Backtracking, only metres below the summit lookout is the rock chapel of San Nicola, once home to a hermit. Return downhill below the café on the path followed earlier for 5min to a pair of iron gates – turn R on a white dirt lane in descent WSW flanked by bushy vegetation and masses of scented broom. Ignore the path turn-off R (an alternate shorter route for Santa Maria del Monte and Forio). Along the edge of a bowl-shaped depression, continue SW with brilliant views as far away as Vesuvius and the Monti Lattari on the mainland as well as Capri. A stretch S passes the prominent Pietra dell'Acqua outcrop and an ingenious old rock cistern with grooved channels for collecting water, essential for the crops grown up here. Between ferns, red valerian and brambles the rough lane loses height passing a couple of huts.

Keep your eyes peeled for a wooden arrow (for Santa Maria del Monte) where you turn off R (W). Soon yellow paint dots lead between two huge rocks – keep R here. The broad gully NW drops through a wood of perfumed white-blossomed acacias below Pietra dell'Acqua. Wind down alongside a stretch of low old stone wall, keeping R at a junction. Despite the jumble of fallen rocks and overgrown stretches, the old stepped way is recognisable. An arch acts as an opening through a dry stone wall (which marks the intersection of the shorter variant from Epomeo, while L is a 'via panoramica' to Serrara.) Cut down through the trees W to reach Belvedere dei Fratelli, the 'brothers' being three truncated stone pillars. The wonderful lookout takes in the sweep of Ischia's W coast, beyond a maze of roads and cultivated fields.

Turn R (N) down a broad flight of steps that soon narrows to a scenic path cutting the western flank of Monte Epomeo. After a couple of huts is a pretty walled stretch on the edge of chestnut wood, a former hunting domain of the royal family from Naples.

Turn sharp L (W) alongside the tiny domed church for a steep staircase and lane in gentler descent past houses. At a Christ statue ignore the ramp downhill and stick to the lane L (S), surfaced albeit rife with potholes. Below is a curious giant split boulder, its surface grooved by man-made water-collecting channels. You soon fork R on a concrete lane and realise that the rock has a house beneath it! This is Pellacchio. A rough path now tests knees as it plunges mostly NW down a cool gully, finally reaching another concrete lane. Ahead is a junction with a stone bench, only metres from a shrine to Sant'Antuono. On a quiet surfaced road now, turn R then immediately fork L as signed for Forio.



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