As well as its spectacular coastline, the Amalfi area is known for its brilliant hiking tracks. A dense network of trails links the coast’s mountain settlements and seaside towns. Today I ventured onto one of the best known hikes – the Path of Gods, which starts at a small village called Bomerano, accessible by bus from Amalfi. I set an alarm to wake up early to catch the 08.15 bus promised by SITA’s oneline timetable and got to the bus stop with a few minutes to spare. Several other tourists were waiting but as 08.15 and then 08.30 came and went, I approached the SITA employee selling bus tickets only to be told that the next bus was at 09.15. Along with the other early rising tourists I trudged off grumpily back into town to kill another 45 minutes, but at least I got another good view of Amalfi’s cathedral without the crowds.

When 09.15 came, so did (this time) the bus. It was a very popular hike, and I was lucky to get a seat and not to have to stand as the driver sped up narrow mountain roads, testing himself, his vehicle and his passengers as he saw how quickly he could make the trip. The views of the coast far below, best glimpsed at the road’s many hairpin bends, were spectacular but fleeting – there was no question of being able to photograph them as the bus driver tested the laws of physics and centrifugal force with his bus. We soon arrived at Bomerano, and although the bus’s route carried on further, almost everyone disembarked. Indeed, the Path of the Gods is not a hike for those seeking solitude, and I set off behind a long straggle of fellow passengers along an easy path, which usually sloped gently downhill. As expected, the views were amazing and more than made up for times I had to negotiate my way through several organised tours of slower walkers, testing my Italian for “excuse me” (Scusi! Scusi!).

The walk justified its reputation was one of the most beautiful of the Amalfi Coast – even though I felt that each view, although breathtakingly beautiful, was similar to the previous one.

After a couple of hours, which had passed surprisingly quickly, I found myself at the end of the main walk in a village called Nocello. The place was used to receiving tired and thirsty walkers and had a nice kiosk selling coffee and – even better on a hot day – lemon granite.

From Nocello there was supposedly a bus down the mountain to Positano, the nearest village on the coast. But my earlier bus experiences had so disappointed me that I did not even bother to try to find it, and set off on a path leading steeply downhill.

This might have been a mistake – there are 1700 steps on this path, and soon the calves of my little teddy legs were aching. I found this abrupt descent far harder than the steep climb up to Ravello I had made the day before. At the least the walk offered some nice views of Positano and the many boats anchored just offshore, which got bigger and bigger as I descended.

Soon I reached the main coastal road and had a decision to make – try to take a bus back to Amalfi or walk into Positano and take a ferry. Finding the bus stop answered this question quickly – there was already a large queue of hopeful passengers waiting for a bus which was supposed to have appeared ten minutes ago. I figured that even if this bus did eventually show up, the chance of me getting a space on it were as small as my little teddy legs, so I continued walking on into Positano. This is one of the Amalfi Coast’s most famous towns, but I disliked the bits I saw – narrow roads lined with shops selling upmarket goods and hopelessly crowded with fellow tourists. It took me another twenty minutes of “Scusi, Scusi!” to fight my way to the port – where my luck changed. There was a boat to Amalfi leaving in fifteen minutes, and I was soon enjoying the more civilised way to get around this region – by sea, enjoying once again the beautiful coast line between Positano and Amalfi, this time from sea level rather than from high on the mountains.

It had been a mixed day. I had underestimated the difficulty of the long descent to Positano, the crowds in this popular town, and the unreliability of Italian buses. But the amazing views from the Path of the Gods and the pleasant ferry ride back to Amalfi more than compensated for these struggles. After all, this beauty is why the Amalfi Coast is so crowded in peak season.

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