Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! It probably comes as no surprise that a hike in the Amalfi Coast was one of my top priorities, and hiking the Path of the Gods (Il Sentiero degli Dei in Italian) lived up to my high expectations. The name of this trail comes from the myth of Greek gods creating this trail as they ran to save Ulysses from the sirens on the island of Li Galli. My parents raved about how beautiful the views were and every blog about the Amalfi Coast said this hike was an absolute must do. You don’t have to twist my arm!
The hike is typically done one-way starting in the town of Bomerano and ending in either Nocelle or Positano. The tricky part is getting to Bomerano from Positano. I had thought we could take a ferry to Amalfi and then a shuttle to the start, but that service was not operating while we were there. You can take a one-hour cab, but it costs almost 150 euros and that seemed rather pricey. You can also use the buses, but that could take almost two hours to get to Bomerano from Positano. The option we took was taking a twenty-five minute regional bus from Positano up to Nocelle. From there we would hike to the start at Bomerano, and then hike back to Positano. This doubled the distance, but we figured when in Rome…I mean Positano 😉
After sufficiently caffeinating, we made our way to the bus stop and it was pretty crowded. Make sure you get on one of the first buses of the day or you’ll be fighting for a spot. The bus was full of people planning on hiking, heading to a cooking class, and a few friendly locals.
The hike started slowly up quite a few stairs, but the further we went the more the crowds thinned out. A lot of people start in Nocelle and hike a little ways before turning around, so the beginning of the hike was the most congested.
The views were just stunning. After the few overcast days, it was such a relief to have hardly a cloud in the sky!
Down below is the small town of Praiano.
Once we got to Bomerano there was a little restaurant that bought some Powerades to rehydrate. You can also use the bathroom free with purchase.
There were a few parts of the hike that were pretty close to the edge, but otherwise it felt pretty safe. We just took our time and enjoyed this wonderful day.
I loved how you could barely tell where the sky begins and the sea ends. The views were just absolutely breathtaking.
I also loved how the boats below looked like they were barely moving.
Once we got back to Nocelle, we refreshed with some delicious lemon slush. We then decided to trek down the 1700+ stairs and my legs were jelly by the time we got down there. That might’ve been the hardest part of the hike because it was a little painful on the knees.
We finally made it down and took the road back to Positano admiring the views while on the lookout for cars whipping around the curves.
This is definitely one of my favorite hikes I’ve ever done and some of my favorite pictures from the trip. The views were just so stunning and most of the trail we had to ourselves. In total we hiked just over four hours, 6.84 miles, and gained 1,727 feet of elevation. We were completely exhausted from our hike and all that fresh air! Once we got back to our hotel, we ordered some delicious room service pizza and strong limoncello spritzes to enjoy on the balcony.
It was such a wonderful day! Stay tuned for our final day in Positano.
Posts in this series:
Florence
- Where to Stay & Eat
- Piazza Michelangelo & Ponte Vecchio
- Uffizi Gallery
- Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, Accademia
- Climbing the Duomo
- Duomo Museum, Bell Tower, & Baptistry
- Palazzo Vecchio & Tuscon Wine Tour
Rome
- Where to Stay & Eat
- Churches, Churches, & Churches Oh My!
- Borghese Gallery
- Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, & Pantheon
- St. Peter’s Basilica
- Victor Emmanuel Monument & Capitoline Museum
- Forum & Palatine Hill Tour
- Colosseum Tour
- Castel Sant’ Angelo
- Twilight Trastevere Rome Food Tour
- Vatican Museum – Prime Experience
- St. Peters Dome & Square
Positano
Beautiful shots from a beautiful hike Lyssy. Never underestimate the beauty and strenuousness of the high coastal hikes in Italy and Southern France. We hiked the high trail from Manorola to Corniglia in 2019 and then hiked down the Nietzsche Path from Eze-le-Village a few days later. Strenuous, but so worth it. Thanks for sharing. Allan
Thank you! We were especially glad to have the sun out this day! I’ll have to add those trails to my list 🙂
The Nietzsche path is near Nice and we have done it twice now, always downhill. Climbing up on the heat would not be fun.
Gorgeous hike! I can see why this came highly recommended by so many people. It sounds like you found a good way to do it, too, for minimal expense and to get away from all the crowds.
It was so stunning and the perfect day!
What spectacular views (and great photos) – understandable why it’s such a popular hike.
Thank you! If felt like hiking in a painting 🙂
I can understand that
What a gorgeous hike, Lyssy! I couldn’t have done the 1700 stairs, but those views are spectacular. That pizza looks spectacular too!
Those stairs were pretty painful! I was thinking about the pizza on the way down haha
Wow, what a fantastic hike – it’s easy to see why the Path of the Gods is considered one of the best hikes in Italy. It would probably take me twice as long to complete it as I would be tempted to stop every few meters just to take in the stunning scenery with those magnificent views of the Amalfi Coast. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
It was so stunning! It was hard not to stop every second for a pictures. It was even harder narrowing them down to fit in this post. Hope you have a great day too 🙂
A gorgeous, never-ending blue on the Path of the Gods! I love a scenic hike, and I never did one while in Amalfi…I’ll have to return to check this out! Looking forward to reading about your last day in Positano!
You’ll have to do this hike when you go back one day, it’s so incredible!
Wow, this is the most epic hiking spot I have ever seen. The landscape looks simply magnificent!!!!
It truly was such a magnificent hike! I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.
That sounds (and looks!) like an incredible hike!! Those views are unbeatable.
It was so stunning! Definitely worth the hassle figuring out how to get up there.
The views are absolutely stunning! I had the opportunity to visit Positano two months ago and completely fell for it. If you happen to still be there, I highly recommend trying spaghetti alle vongole – their traditional dish of seafood spaghetti. It is incredibly tasty and a must-try! 🙂
It was such a beautiful hike! We were there in May but I think I’ll have to go back and have some spaghetti alle vongole! It sounds delicious 🙂
Fabulous views and a fabulous hike down +1700 steps ! Wow !
It was such a stunning hike, if only there was an elevator to take us down all those steps 🙂
What a beautiful coastline and the water colour is gorgeous. Maggie
It was such an incredibly beautiful hike!
What a wonderful trail – such views!
It was so beautiful!
What a fabulous place Lyssy – all that blue sky and sea, sunshine and wonderful hillside villages. Good to see you enjoying yourselves!
Thank you! We had such a wonderful time hiking this beautiful trail!
How stunning! The views are absolutely amazing! I can understand why it is marked as a must do!
It was such a beautiful hike! I couldn’t stop taking pictures.
This looks like a fabulous trail. Glad you had such nice weather to enjoy the beautiful views. Your pictures are breathtaking.
The perfect weather really made this hike incredible. The water just sparkled!
Gorgeous photos Lyssy brightening my day as it’s very rainy here. I don’t think we made it to Positano so it was great to see it through your lens.
Beautiful
Stunning. The bluest of blues that sea, such lovely colour. This is perhaps my favourite post from your Amalfi Coast series. Would love to do this hike some day!
Ooo it’s just stunning and you totally earned those pizzas! The water looks so beautifully blue! 🙂
“After sufficiently caffeinating…” – love that 🙂 Safe to say you’ll never surpass this hike with anything in the States, even those beautiful ones you’ve shared north of you. I was going to ask if you brought water or not but probably better you purchased drinks along the way. Couldn’t help but notice Jon’s shoes and wondered how he fared on all those stairs at the end? My favorite photos are the ones where you can see the path far, far ahead of you along the cliffs. Reminds me of Interstate 70 heading west out of Colorado. You descend into the Utah desert and see the ribbon of highway 50, 60,0 70 miles ahead of you. Of course, I’d describe that as “desolate”, and the Italian coastline as “stunning”.
Oh, another reminder of the stunning Amalfi Coast line. That hike is definitely one of the best I’ve ever done with my daughter, In comparison to our hike in upstate New York in the Adirondacks. Loved the Adirondacks but once at the top of Mt. Marcy it was nothing but fog so a clear view while on the “Path of Gods” is something I’m glad you were able to witness. We hiked the Amalfi in late September so the weather was absolutely beautiful for the two weeks we were in Europe (Italy, France). Thanks for this beautiful reminder of this once in a lifetime hike.
The more I see of the Amalfi Coast, the more I think it’s a great place to visit. It’s not the Italy of art and history, but coastal life is also a part of Italy. Your photos show just how spectacular the cliffs are.