3. Southern Italy: Amalfi, walking from Ravello to Positano

This is a Grade 3 walk (click here details).  The walks take between 3 to 5 hours.  The distances are short but the paths for two of the walks run approximately 400 metres above sea level meaning a stiff climb up old stone stairs to get to the start.  For this reason we have introduced shorter, lower, less demanding alternative walks on Days 2, 4 and 5 (see the daily itinerary for details).  While the walks generally follow clearly marked, centuries old paths, there are a couple of sections, where you will have to have a good sense of orientation. 

The self-guided itineraries are rewalked and the notes updated each year.

Hidden Italy tours use the best available accommodation.  On the Amalfi Coast walking tour this means staying each night in very good, centrally located, hotels (most with swimming pools) with whom we've been working for years.  The Standard option uses 3-star hotels while the Superior option uses 4-star hotels.   We request rooms with sea views.  All rooms have en suite bathrooms.

The one time capital of a kingdom, Naples, and the surrounding region of Campania, is a land of contrasts and this is reflected in region's cuisine.  The poorest and most authentic cooking is intermingled with that of the nobility, which draws heavily from French traditions.  With pasta and spaghetti, Campania created dishes that are not only part of the national cuisine but also international gastronomy.  But it is much more than this, particualry around the Amalfi Coast, where the cooking is simple, preserving the freshness of its ingredient, including its exceptional vegetables and fruit, grown in volcanic soils, as well as its abundant fresh fish.  Campania's excellent wines, which grown around Ischia, Capri, Vesuvius and the Sorrentine Peninsula, have a very long history, dating back to Greek and Roman times.

Generous breakfasts are included each day (you'll need them for your walks).  With notice, the hotels wil be able to prepare a cut lunch for the walk.  A range of restaurant recommendations with contact details for booking your dinners in each town/village will be included in your tour notes.

Take the hydrofoil from Positano wharf to the nearby island of Capri where you will spend the next two nights in a 4-star hotel a short walk from the legendery 'piazzetta' the heart of Capri town.  It includes a loop walk to the famous 'faraglioni' lookout and the site of Roman emperor Tiberius' estate, from where here ruled the empire for the last 10 years of his life. At the end of your visit, you will take a hydrofoil from here to Naples, where you'll be met and driven to Naples railway/airport.  Please note that this option does not include the hydrofoil tickets.

To guide you through this wonderful walk, you will receive:  the Hidden Italy roadbook (an eighty-page A5 booklet that includes comprehensive daily walking notes accompanied by detailed maps, updated and revised each year);  access to the exclusive Hidden Italy App to complement the roadbook (the App is downloadable to Apple and Android devices and features information about the routes: maps, GPS tracks, altimetric profiles, etc; GPS navigation on all the routes; an alert function if you stray off the track; and an emergency function);  twenty-four-hour phone support from our Florence-based Operations Manager.