Amalfi Coast. Hiking on the Path of the Gods

Where to go during these corona times? Where is the infection rate low and which flights are not cancelled? After a tip and further information, we decide to go to the Amalfi Coast.

2020-10-07, Wednesday is the day.

With Wizz-Air from Dortmund to Naples. At the bus stop there, we give in to the insistence of a taxi driver and let him drive us to Vietri sul Mare at a rapid pace for 40€. We check into a small room with a small window in the center that we had booked through B&B, and start directly on a tour of the village with a view of the sea. The cliff coast is already impressive.

We want to walk along the entire southern coast, but we don't want to carry the luggage, so we want to make day hikes from various overnight locations and also use the Sita bus. To get started, we hike on Thursday over Monte San Liberatore and make a detour to Castello di Arechi in Salerno. We quickly realize that it is not the distance that is strenuous, but the ascents and descents. From the palm-lined promenade in Salerno, we still find a little insecurely with the help of Mr. Google and locals who show us where to get the tickets, the bus back.

On Friday we go west over 1200 meters and 15 km. From Veitri down to the beach, then slowly ascending on stairways parallel to the road until we cross it. Now it gets steeper. We go up the small road to Albori via Raito. There would have been a bus here too, at least there is one here. Now the mountain path begins. There is another spring in the forest that I also use. We leave Monte Falerio behind to the left, because the view from the rest area at Cappella Vecchia is already beautiful. The path now ascends less and we have great views of Cetara and the sea again and again. A small figure of Christ makes a beautiful photo motif and another spring refreshes us until we reach Monte dell Avvocata, 1014m. We can now look far to the west, along the entire coast. Past caves and over the poorly maintained and closed Santuario della Madonna Avvocota, we now steeply descend through forests to Maiori and take the bus back. Now we want to go out for Ulla's birthday and have chosen the Peschadore on the beach for that. So down again and up again! What a full day!

2020-10-10, Saturday. We take the bus to Amalfi, leave our backpacks at a pizzeria and go in search of accommodation. We find it at Baia directly at the pier. They have the nest with terrace and mini room under the roof available. Spontaneously, we get on a boat and drive along the coast to the Grotta dello Smeraldo. From the sea, you have a great view of the sheer cliff coast with its cliffs and houses in between. In the stalactite cave, we get into a rowing boat and circle once through the illuminated cave, past beautiful stalactites. At one point, a blue light shines through the water from the outside, great. On the way back, we still go to Ravello for a walk in the evening light. We walk past magnificent houses to the garden of Villa Cimbrone. On the children's terrace, Ulla also discovers a bust with the features of a child with Down syndrome. In the last daylight, we walk down to Atrani and after a pizza in Plazza Umberto I, we go back in the dark through the pedestrian tunnel.

Sunday is a day of rest? We take a small hike to the Ice Valley. Because a lot of rain is expected today. Alternatively, the paper museum is open, but we ignore it because the sun shines warmly through the clouds. The path always follows the stream up the valley, and when we can no longer see Amalfi, several ruined industrial buildings from the 18th century appear one after the other in the forest. The valley becomes narrower and we climb up to 500m. We reach the turning point at a small waterfall, and the path follows water pipes while staying at the same altitude. It becomes wider and easier now, but we only meet 5 other hikers all day long. After a coffee break in Scala, we take the bus back. I quickly take a swim in the sea, and then the heavy rain starts.

The Monday starts with rain. But when we get off the bus at the start of our hike in Pogerola, the rain stops after the second coffee. We climb up to the Chiesa di Fuondi on good paths and realize behind the next hill that we have strayed from the trail and that this path is not passable due to landslides. So we go back to the last marker to follow it. Appropriately at the break in the ruins of the little chapel behind Conento di Cospita on the steep slope, a thunderstorm with rain showers moves in for an hour. Then we go all the way up to the steep slopes of Mont Murillo. We slowly descend and at the entrance to the village of San Lazzaro, we dig out our masks and put them back on when the first people pass by us. Although there is a bus from here to Amalfi, we choose the path through the beautiful Penisola Gorge because I still wanted to go to the Fiordo di Furore. But then I notice that my hearing aid is no longer in my pants pocket. After thinking for a while, I decide to take the next bus back to San Lazzaro and look for the hearing aid where I put on the mask. And luckily I actually find it there!!! Meanwhile, Ulla has gone back to the accommodation and I now follow her on foot because the next bus doesn't leave for another 90 minutes, and I can walk there by then.

2020-10-13 Tuesday. The ferry to Capri does not depart from Positano today. Either the sea is still too stormy or it is simply not worth it anymore. We have to make a last-minute change and take the bus to S. Agata, Villa Teresa is our new accommodation only 10 minutes from the bus stop. Unfortunately, we have to wait an hour until the owner lets us in, but there is coffee and delicious lemon cookies made by Mama. Although rain is still forecasted, we hike up to Torca passing vineyards and fig trees. We can also snack here. Mmhm, delicious. The path down to the Torre and into the Fiordo di Crapolla is seldom used, poorly marked, and accordingly difficult but with great views. We have the fjord all to ourselves again and I swim past some caves until I come into the sun. Now we have to go back up 400m to about 1000 steps. When a heavy shower passes through, we can take cover in a mini shed and use the time to eat.