The Path of the Gods: How to Walk It, and Get Back

There is a way of seeing the Amalfi Coast that involves neither traffic nor parking: you walk above it. The Path of the Gods runs along the mountainside between Agerola and Positano, three hundred metres above the sea, and for seven and a half kilometres it keeps the gulf open on your right, with the cliffs of Capri on the horizon on clear days. You do not need to be a mountaineer; you need proper shoes, the right morning, and a small plan for getting back.

What the Path of the Gods is

It is an old mule track, one of those that linked the high villages of the peninsula before the coast road existed. The classic route runs from Bomerano, a hamlet of Agerola, to Nocelle, the upper hamlet of Positano: 7.8 kilometres, three to four hours including stops, graded as a hiking route — no fixed ropes, no climbing, but uneven stone underfoot and a few passages exposed to the drop.

Almost everyone walks it in this direction, Bomerano to Nocelle, for two practical reasons: the net elevation goes downhill, and the view stays in front of you instead of behind. Walking it the other way means climbing, and turning round constantly.

The walk, step by step

You start from the square in Bomerano, where signposts mark the trail as CAI 327. The first few minutes are between houses, then the village stops abruptly and Colle Serra begins: from there on you walk with the sea below you.

The most photographed stretch is the Grotta del Biscotto, a vast natural shelter under the rock where cave dwellings once stood, and the traverse above the Vallone Grarelle, where cultivated terraces step down towards the water. In the final third Positano appears — first as a white smudge on the mountainside, then as a whole town — and out at sea you can pick out the islets of Li Galli.

The trail is well marked and rarely empty: getting lost takes some doing. What is missing is shade — for long stretches you walk completely exposed.

When to go

The right seasons are spring and autumn: from mid-September to November the light is low, the air is clear and you can see as far as Capri; in April and May the maquis is in flower. Winter, on a settled day, is glorious and empty.

July and August are the worst choice, not because of the trail but because of the sun: with no shade, the middle of the day is genuinely punishing. If that is when you are here, the only sensible version is to set off at dawn and be in Nocelle before eleven. One rule holds all year: be in Bomerano by nine, before the village fills up.

What to put in your bag

• Closed shoes with a grippy sole: the ground is bare stone, often polished. Flip-flops and smooth soles cause half the incidents on this path.
• More water than you think: there are no fountains along the route. A litre and a half each is the minimum, more in summer.
• A hat and sunscreen, for the same reason you need the water.
• A light layer: the wind blows across Colle Serra even in September.
• Something to eat: there are no bars on the trail, only a couple of kiosks in Nocelle.

It is not a route for pushchairs, nor for anyone with a serious head for heights: some passages are narrow, with the drop beside you and no railing. With children who walk well, on the other hand, it is perfectly doable.

Getting down to Positano

At Nocelle the path ends, but the journey does not: the village is still four hundred metres above Positano. From there you have two ways down.

The first is the staircase: roughly 1,500 steps down to Arienzo and the coast road (estimates range between 1,500 and 1,700 — nobody has ever counted them the same way twice). Going down costs no breath, but after three hours of walking your knees will notice. The second is the local bus, which drops from Nocelle to Positano in about ten minutes: by far the more common choice, and it takes nothing away from the day.

The problem with the car

Here lies the one real complication of the Path of the Gods: you finish where you did not start. Anyone who drives to Bomerano ends the day thirty kilometres and a mountain pass away from their car, and has to go back for it by public transport — a good hour and a half when the connections behave.

There are three ways round it. Line buses: SITA Sud links Amalfi to Agerola and Positano to Amalfi, so the loop closes, but with two changes and timetables to study the night before. A loop variant descending to Praiano instead of Positano, which shortens the return but adds a staircase of nearly two thousand steps. Or being driven: up to Bomerano in the morning, picked up in Positano in the afternoon, with no parking and no connections to worry about.

One last warning for anyone driving themselves in August and September: the SS163 operates an alternate plate scheme, and the car you left in Bomerano may not be allowed back at the hour you want it.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it really take?

Three hours at a brisk pace, four with photo stops and a sandwich. Add the descent to Positano, on foot or by bus, and a full half-day is spoken for.

Is it suitable for non-hikers?

Yes, if you walk regularly and are not troubled by heights. There is nothing technical about it, but it is still almost eight kilometres over uneven stone.

Can it be walked in reverse, Positano to Bomerano?

It can, and it is harder: you climb the steps up to Nocelle and take the elevation uphill, with the view behind you almost the whole way.

Do I need a guide?

Not to find your way: the trail is marked and busy. A guide earns their keep if you care about the plants and the history, of which there is plenty and none of it on the signs.

Of everything you can do on the Amalfi Coast, this is the one people remember longest — and, oddly, one of the few that is free. It asks only to be taken seriously: the right shoes, an early start, and the way back arranged before you set off.