Walking the Amalfi Coast

“I like to be encouraging”.  Our “Route Manager” Stefano trying to explain to Alex why he said it was 500 steps up the from the Fjord rather than the actual 1000, this on a day that according to Alex’s pretty accurate smart watch, we walked 14.5 kms including an equivalent of 141 flights of stairs. Even Stefano’s beautiful Italian accent did not completely excuse his “encouraging” tactics! “Oh and by the way 4 people died on The Path of the Gods last year, 3 from heart-attacks and one from falling.” WHAAAT?

It was our friend Susie Beaver who suggested the walking and cycling tour company ATG, (Alternative Tour Group, based in Oxford).   ATG organises walks in many parts of Italy.  They book lovely authentic accommodation in beautiful places and then provide you with a guide book and Route Manager who is a local and gives advice on excellent resturants and local history and culture. They also take your bags are from hotel to hotel so we could just walk.

Stefano met us at our amazing hotel in Amalfi.  The Hotel Luna Convento.  The hotel, is a former monastery which St Francis of Assisi had a hand in founding in 1222. It has hosted guests including Wagner, Ibsen, Mussolini, Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman and now Rob Thorman and Alex Sloan.

Stefano is Amalfi born and bred, the youngest of 4 brothers who all own and run a local restaurant.  Stefano has a Doctorate in Economics and a Masters in Marketing and Tourism.  He is erudite, charming and of course encouraging.  “You will find the path very characteristic, full of flowers, fruit trees, it is very pretty”

We bought our panini and candied Amalfi Lemon Rind from a lovely girl who when she found out we were walking to Conca Dei Marini said “I think it would be better if you take the bus?”

But Stefano was right, it was full of flowers, fruit and very, very pretty.

There are many many many stairs.  But at the end of your journey an Amalfi Lemon Soda is there to bring you back from the brink.  This one at a bar of another monastery, Monastero Santa Rosa, now a very expensive hotel.

The walk Day 1: Amalfi to Conca Dei Marini, Day 2: Conca Dei Marini to Vettica Maggiore, Day 3 Vettica Maggiore, via Path of the Gods, to Positano.

For the first two days we really had the path to ourselves, walking past people’s front doors, gardens, and on to narrow over-grown paths on the sides of cliffs.  We really were away from the crowds.

The further you followed the steps and pathways away from the roads, the more the beautifully constructed terraces become overgrown and abandoned

Stefano booked in advance for us to have lunch at Serafina Agriturismo and we were met by the lovely Rosa. She  showed us their produce, from olive oil, dried tomatoes, olives, cured meats and salamis, cheeses, walnuts and various fruits.

We had a lovely selection of Bruschetta, cold meats and olives and thought we’d had a lovely lunch, then came a serve of Ravioli, and then a delicious dish of beef in a tomato sauce, all made from ingredients from the farm.

Rosa’s family is rare, they are maintaining the farming tradition and are diversifying, with a number of rooms available for a B&B and the arrangement with ATG which brings in a small number of visitors for the lunch that we enjoyed.

Rosa told us that many of the neighbouring farms were abandoned during the 50’s and 60’s with many people emigrating to Australia, Canada or Germany. With the farms now deserted and the climate changing, with more intense summer heat waves, fires are becoming a more serious threat.  You can see evidence of the intense fires last summer that have also taken out some of the walking tracks.

Looking out at this beautiful cultivated landscape you do wonder how much longer it will last.  How many young people will want to undertake the hard work of tilling the terraces, when they are all connected to the internet, many learn English at school and have options to live and work elsewhere.

Stefano told us that there is a growing awareness among young people about mass produced food and pollution and the value of  healthy nutritious food, and many local young people are returning to the villages.

The Path of the Gods

The booklet does give some indication of what we were in for on the third day – written in upper case NB THIS WALK IS NOT ADVISABLE FOR VERTIGO SUFFERERS NOR IN THE CASE OF BAD WEATHER.  It didn’t mention the 4 people had died in the previous year, three from heart attacks and one falling off. Stefano only told us that after we’d finished the walk.  (It would not have been “encouraging”)

Positano

We arrived in Positano where we treated ourselves to an extra day at the delightful Palazzo Murat.  It’s not peak season yet but Positano is crowded with tourists, including a lot of Italian weekenders.  Tourism is having big impacts on the Amalfi coast.  Stefano told us that 6 larges cruises came to Amalfi last week each with 5,000 passengers who come ashore.  There are also 50 tourist buses that come in from Sorento and stop for an hour or two in a number of the villages.  This is making it difficult for the locals to get around with congestion on the very narrow roads.

Affordability of housing for young people is an issue.  People who own homes can rent then out short periods over summer at high rates.  They will only rent them to local people over the winter.  Then where do they go? back to live with their families for the summer? This is Stefano’s experience.