2023-05-02 Amalfi-001 Amalfi Coast, Italy

<<< Summary >>>

This is a 14-day and 12-night trekking adventure along the Italian beauty of Amalfi Coast. The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline in Southern Italy that has earned a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. They are lands where the mountains, pastures, lemon groves, vineyards, and villages meet the Mediterranean Sea. They are places where we could be trekking on a mountain trail for a while then be going down through a vineyard grove and through a charming village towards the pristine colors of the Mediterranean. There are numerous towers, villages, and towns clinging to the cliffs. There is also much of history originated from the settlement of Greeks and Romans centuries ago along this amazing coast and on the famous island of Capri.

We’ll trek through these remarkable regions using the intertwined foot trails and mule tracks along the mountain cliffs and the natural and cultural treasuries. We’ll pass through these beautiful lands with memorable views from the historic towns of Amalfi, Atrani, Ravello, Praiano, Positano, Pompei, Naples including the Sorrentine Peninsula, the marine nature reserve of Punta Campanella, and the island of Capri. They are all little pearls set in this stunning stretch of the Amalfi coastal landscapes.

More info of Amalfi Coast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalfi_Coast

More photos of Amalfi Coast:

https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/amalfi-coast

<<< Logistics >>>

Our adventure is a total of 14-day from 2023 May 2 (Tue) to May 15 (Mon) including 12-night of lodging to be booked by yourselves. They are listed below.

7-night lodging in Amalfi: check in 5/3 (Wed), check out 5/10 (Wed)

4-night lodging in Sorrento: check in 5/10 (Wed), check out 5/14 (Sun)

1-night lodging in Naples: check in 5/14 (Sun), check out 5/15 (Mon)

It’ll be more convenient that we book our lodging/hotel in the same area in Naples close to our meeting place so we can easily share taxi/uber/lyft ride when we're in Naples.

We’ll use Amalfi and Sorrento as our home bases in order to reduce the number of luggage transfers we have to make during our trip. In addition there are more choices of better priced lodging facilities available in Amalfi and Sorrento than those in Praiano and Positano.

Due to its popularity among local and international visitors, the traffic conditions are normally very congested on the road of Amalfi Coast. Rental car is a very poor choice. Hence there is a major consideration on facilitating our itinerary and having easier access to the public transportation, so Amalfi and Sorrento have been chosen to be the home bases for our trip. We’ll be taking public transportation such as bus, minivan shuttle, train, taxi, and ferry. We will not use rental car.

<<< Itinerary >>>

We’ll meet first thing in the morning from Day 3 to Day 13 in Amalfi and Sorrento.

The meeting places are the town center locations. They can be found easily on Google map.

Meeting place: Piazza Flavio Gioia in Amalfi

Meeting place: Piazza Tasso in Sorrento

Meeting place: Piazza Municipio in Naples

Except Day 3, our first day of meeting, the rest of our meeting time will be determined based on the weather forecast and the bus schedule for the next day. The meeting time will be determined and provided the prior night using a group chat I’ll set up in WhatsApp.

Day01 (Tue) 2023-05-02: Take a flight to Naples, Italy (NAP).

Day02 (Wed) Take a local transportation from Naples to Amalfi, Italy. Check in the 7-night lodging in Amalfi.

Day03 (Thu) Hike in Amalfi area. Our meeting time on the first meeting day is 9:00 am.

We’ll meet and hike in Amalfi area. Valle dei Mulini loop; Amalfi - Villa Cimbrone - Ravello - Torre Dello Ziro. It’s about 7 miles and 2300 feet. (D4)

Day04 (Fri) Hike in Amalfi area. We’ll meet and hike in Amalfi area. Valle delle Ferriere – Pogerola - Amalfi loop hike is about 7 miles. We’ll take a short bus ride to Scala to start. Elevation change is about 1600 feet (D4). We’ll also explore the Amalfi area on foot after our hike.

Day05 (Sat) Hike in Amalfi and Praiano areas. We’ll meet and hike from Amalfi to Praiano area. We’ll take a group bus ride from Praiano back to Amalfi at the end of the day. Bus ride is about 35 minutes. Maestra dei villaggi to Praiano hike is about 11 miles. Elevation gain is about 3800 feet. (D5)

Day06 (Sun) Hike in Praiano area. We’ll meet and take a group bus ride from Amalfi to Praiano. Bus ride is about 35 minutes. After hiking and later exploring Praiano area, we’ll take a group bus ride from Praiano back to Amalfi. Valley of Praia loop hike is about 7 miles. Elevation change is about 2200 feet. (D4)

Day07 (Mon) Hike in Praiano and Positano areas. We’ll meet and take a group bus ride from Amalfi to Praiano. Bus ride is about 35 minutes. We’ll take a group bus ride from Positano back to Amalfi at the end of the day. Bus ride is about 60 minutes. Praiano to Positano hike is about 7 miles. Our hiking today will also include a section of the “Footpath of Gods”, which truly lives up to its name. Elevation change is about 2200 feet. (D4)

Day08 (Tue) Hike in Positano area. Positano loop hike is about 5 miles. We’ll meet and take a bus ride from Amalfi to Positano. We’ll also explore the Positano area on foot after our hike. We’ll take a group bus ride from Positano back to Amalfi at the end of the day. Bus ride is about 60 minutes. Elevation change is about 1500 feet. (D3)

Day09 (Wed) Hike in Sorrento area. Check out lodging in Amalfi in the morning. We’ll move our luggage today. We’ll meet and take a group bus ride from Amalfi to Sorrento. Bus ride is about 1.5 to 2 hours depending on traffic. Check in the 4-night lodging in Sorrento by yourselves.

We’ll hike Sorrento’s charming little streets with beautiful views of the Bay of Naples. We’ll also do some easy and relaxing walk on the seashore. Our hike today will take us to the Roman villa of Pollio, beautifully located above a small natural inlet, with wonderful views over the Bay of Naples. The Villa has a natural spring, aka the baths of Queen Margherita, an ideal place for a nice picnic. We’ll hike back to Sorrento at the end of the day. (D2)

Day10 (Thu) We’ll meet and hike in Sorrento area including trails of Termini and Punta Campanella. We’ll visit a small chapel of San Costanzo. From there we’ll enjoy great views over both Gulfs (Salerno and Naples) and Monti Lattari above Positano. We’ll also hike along the impressive cliffs of the ‘Finis Terrae’ to the end of the Amalfi peninsula. We’ll eventually arrive at a headland called Punta Campanella. We’ll hike through the charming village of Nerano to the Bay of Ieranto, one of the most beautiful and unspoilt bays of the area. We’ll visit a stone tower and open air agricultural and quarrying museum. Our hike today is about 9 miles with elevation change about 2200 feet. (D4)

Day11 (Fri) Hike on the island of Capri. We’ll meet and take a group ferry ride from Sorrento to the island of Capri. We’ll take a group ferry ride from the island of Capri back to Sorrento at the end of the day. Ferry ride is about 30 minutes depending on weather conditions.

It’s not necessary to complete all the hikes in our plan today. We’ll hike from the lighthouse to the Blue Grotto with amazing views. We’ll hike from the Piazzetta in the town of Capri head down Via Vittorio Emanuele to Via Camerelle, then follow Via Tragara towards the Arco Naturale (Natural Arch). We’ll hike to the top of Monte Solaro from Anacapri. We’ll hike from the town of Capri to the Roman ruins of Villa Jovis. We’ll see incredible views and visit the archaeological ruin built 2,000 years ago by the Emperor Tiberius. We'll also spend our time in the town of Anacapri before the end of our day. Our hike today will be open ended aiming for about 10 miles between D3 and D4.

Day12 (Sat) Hike and explore in Pompei area. We’ll spend a day in Pompei, the world’s most intriguing Roman excavation over several centuries. It is one of the most popular attractions in Italy. The ruins of Pompeii cover 44 square hectares which is too big to cover them all. We’ll visit Pompei Archaeological Park and spend about 2 to 3 hours there. We’ll also spend some time to visit the historical town center of the new village along with its famous cathedral, which is one of southern Italy’s most important pilgrims’ destinations. Our day in Pompei is very open ended with maximum flexibility in mind. We’ll meet and take a group bus ride from Sorrento to Pompei. Bus ride is about 60 minutes. After hiking and exploring Pompei, we’ll take a group bus ride from Pompei back to Sorrento at the end of the day. (D2)

Day13 (Sun) Hike and explore in Naples area. Check out lodging in Sorrento. We’ll move our luggage today. We’ll meet and take a group train ride from Sorrento to Naples. Train ride is about 1.5 hours. Train ride is scheduled every 30 minutes and cost 6 to 10 Euros. Check in the 1-night lodging in Naples by yourselves. We’ll meet and do our urban hike and sightseeing in Naples area.

On the south side of the Piazza Municipio, we'll visit the five-towered Castel Nuovo, also known as the Maschio Angioino, was the residence of kings and viceroys of Naples. Its history reflects the various rulers - French, Aragonese, Spanish, and Austrian, each adding and renovating to suit the times. We plan to visit the 12^th-century Castel Ovo, the oldest castle in Naples and its 1.5 miles beach Lungomare on the coast. This is the historical gate way to the Mediterranean and the world for ancient Naples. 

We’ll take an urban hike on the well-known Riviera di Chiaia along the coast with many ancient villas built by aristocratic families between the 16th and 19th centuries. Mark Twain calls this street "Riviere di Chiaja" in his book The Innocents Abroad.

The San Domenico Maggiore built in 1300 filled with Early Renaissance work; the Cathedral of Naples dating back to the late 13th century; and Naples National Archaeological Museum are all extremely interesting spots on our agenda. Our schedule is very open ended today. We’ll go with the flow with maximum flexibility in mind. We’ll have a farewell group dinner in Naples. We’ll decide our dinner time and location before the end of our group activities. (D2)

Day14 (Mon) 2023-05-15 Check out lodging in Naples. Our group adventure ends today. Take a flight back home, or continue additional travel journey on your own.

<<< Difficulty Level >>>

Our event will be at the AOC D5 difficulty level. The continuous nature of daily hiking adds another layer of difficulty which requires full preparation and training before taking this trip.

<<< How to prepare >>>

We all have to be physically prepared and trained well before taking on such an epic trip. Best physical conditions enable us to take in everything surrounding us and fully enjoy the amazing natural beauty rather than being out of breath and feeling tired every time going uphill. We must do fitness training a couple of times a week for a minimum 6 to 9 months, and also hiking the steepest mountain hills available to us. My favorite is Kennesaw Mt. which is local, beautiful, and very convenient.

Following guide books are excellent resources for the preparation of Amalfi Coast trip.

Sorrento, Amalfi and Capri: 7 Car Tours, 72 Walk Segments from Sunflower

Lonely Planet Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast 7 (Travel Guide) Paperback – Folded Map

Fodor's The Amalfi Coast, Capri & Naples

<<< How to get there >>>

Take a flight to Naples, Italy and arrive on the next day local time. Take a local transportation from Naples to Amalfi, Italy. You can choose any local transportation from Naples to Amalfi. Minivan shuttle is my preferable transit service. Travel time is about 1 hour and 40 minutes. It costs about $56 one way for each adult passenger. Minivan shuttle info is here https://12go.asia/en/travel/naples/amalfi

<<< How to sign up >>>

This web page is designed so that you can only put yourself on the waiting list. Once you’re verified to be suitable for this trip, you will be moved to the participant list.

<<< How to qualify >>>

You can easily finish my Kennesaw 10 hike in 4 hours; or personally I know your hiking ability and fitness condition is qualified.

The payment of $25 only covers AOC Service Fee. All costs (transportation, lodging, meals & drinks, and etc.) are paid by members on their own. All costs are non-refundable.

Itinerary is subject to change at the discretion of the trip leader.

Transportation

Everyone is responsible for his/her own transportation the entire trip, i.e. flights and local public transportation.

<<< Local transit information >>>

Ferry Ride

https://www.directferries.com/amalfi_sorrento_ferry.htm#:~:text=The%20Amalfi%20Sorrento%20ferry%20route,a%20duration%20from%2040%20min.

The Amalfi Sorrento ferry route connects Italy with Italy and is currently operated by 2 ferry companies. The NLG service runs up to 14 times per week with a sailing duration of around 1 hour 10 minutes while the Alilauro Gruson service runs up to 14 times per week with duration from 40 minutes.

Bus Ride schedule along Amalfi Coast

https://www.positano.com/en/bus-schedule

Lodging

We will stay in the area not too far from the meeting place in Amalfi and Sorrento as our home bases. There are plenty of lodging options to choose from.

VRBO, Airbnb, Booking.com, Hotels.com, Expidia.com are popular sites among many others to compare, search, and book for lodging.

I’ll set up a group chat in WhatsApp for our group conversation once our roster is set. You can use it to facilitate sharing lodging conversation.

Weather

There are numerous restaurants and grocery stores in the area to choose from.

A non-refundable AOC Service Fee $25 required by AOC.

If you miss the payment date, you will be removed from the list.

There is no refund for cancellation.