Hiking Positano and Sorrento Penisula
Mar 19th, 2007, 06:12 AM
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Hiking Positano and Sorrento Penisula
Three of us just returned last week from three days of hiking in the Sorrento Peninsula. This is a trip report for upcoming travelers.
Our plan was to do at least two hikes: the much-talked-about Sentiero degli Dei (trans: Pathway of the Gods), and the trail to Punta Campanella and back. Because it was march, and the only life after sunset can be found in Sorrento city, we chose to base ourselves at the youth hostel Le Sirene, in Via degli Aranci. For a bunk bed in a room with capacity of 10 people using one bathroom, the cost was 16 euro. For a private double bed with its own bathroom, it costed 52 euro for two people (26 each person). We took the first bus out of the Sorrento train station that went to Positano-Amalfi at 6:25 AM, and got off at Praiano. From there, by intuition and asking people, found steps reaching the higher homes of Praiano Alta, and the trail head that leads to Colle della Serra, where the Sentiero degli Dei passes by. We walked to Bomerano and back, and followed the red and white trail blazes of the trail maintained by CAI - Club Alpino Italiano, to Nocelle. From there, the option was to either descend to Positano, or to continue up to the Forestale, connect to the Alta Via dei Monti Lattari, trail "00", and reach S. Maria del Castello, and then descend to Positano from there. We opted for the latter. After reaching Positano and its two beaches, we picked a return bus to Sorrento.
The following day I took a bus from Sorrento to Termini (direction Nocera), and from there, took an easy hike to Punta Campanella. From there, continued on the 00 trail to reach Nocera, Marina del Cantone, Recommone, Torca, S.Agata, and Sorrento, all on foot. A warning on the 00 trail just uphill from Recommone: the blazes are old and the trail is overtaken by vegetation, and one must have superb sense of orienteering to find trail. I've emailed the CAI at Cava de Tirreni, and suggested to them they should send volunteers to get it back on shape.
about hiking maps: the best source of information is the website www.giovis.it . It has great maps online, and the trail status is posted. The blazes of the trails are well maintained. The map by the austrian publishing house Kompass (7 euro) has a scale of 1:50000 and as such it is unsuitable for precision hiking. It is at best a good looking vacation map. Furthermore, it incorrectly has trails that the giovis website reports as not transitable anymore. There is a more detailed hiking map published by the CAI (12 euro) and its scale, 1:30000, is more suitable for precision hiking, but it is based on a photosurvey of 1958, and it only has the trails maintained by CAI, and not the other numerous trails. I saw online a reference to a trail map titled "Sentieri di Positano" in scale 1:5000 and apparently available at newstands, but have not seen it. The same organization that published that map, has a map in scale 1:25000 of the Sorrentine Peninsula for hikers, of which scanned image is viewable at www.montilattari.it , but have not seen that map for sale at bookstores in Sorrento. The Azienda di Soggiorno e Turismo office in Sorrento was misleading in information about hiking and trail conditions, so I would use the giovis website as best source of updated information. For a great place to swim in privacy, go next to Punta Campanella in the small bay of Jelanto.
Our plan was to do at least two hikes: the much-talked-about Sentiero degli Dei (trans: Pathway of the Gods), and the trail to Punta Campanella and back. Because it was march, and the only life after sunset can be found in Sorrento city, we chose to base ourselves at the youth hostel Le Sirene, in Via degli Aranci. For a bunk bed in a room with capacity of 10 people using one bathroom, the cost was 16 euro. For a private double bed with its own bathroom, it costed 52 euro for two people (26 each person). We took the first bus out of the Sorrento train station that went to Positano-Amalfi at 6:25 AM, and got off at Praiano. From there, by intuition and asking people, found steps reaching the higher homes of Praiano Alta, and the trail head that leads to Colle della Serra, where the Sentiero degli Dei passes by. We walked to Bomerano and back, and followed the red and white trail blazes of the trail maintained by CAI - Club Alpino Italiano, to Nocelle. From there, the option was to either descend to Positano, or to continue up to the Forestale, connect to the Alta Via dei Monti Lattari, trail "00", and reach S. Maria del Castello, and then descend to Positano from there. We opted for the latter. After reaching Positano and its two beaches, we picked a return bus to Sorrento.
The following day I took a bus from Sorrento to Termini (direction Nocera), and from there, took an easy hike to Punta Campanella. From there, continued on the 00 trail to reach Nocera, Marina del Cantone, Recommone, Torca, S.Agata, and Sorrento, all on foot. A warning on the 00 trail just uphill from Recommone: the blazes are old and the trail is overtaken by vegetation, and one must have superb sense of orienteering to find trail. I've emailed the CAI at Cava de Tirreni, and suggested to them they should send volunteers to get it back on shape.
about hiking maps: the best source of information is the website www.giovis.it . It has great maps online, and the trail status is posted. The blazes of the trails are well maintained. The map by the austrian publishing house Kompass (7 euro) has a scale of 1:50000 and as such it is unsuitable for precision hiking. It is at best a good looking vacation map. Furthermore, it incorrectly has trails that the giovis website reports as not transitable anymore. There is a more detailed hiking map published by the CAI (12 euro) and its scale, 1:30000, is more suitable for precision hiking, but it is based on a photosurvey of 1958, and it only has the trails maintained by CAI, and not the other numerous trails. I saw online a reference to a trail map titled "Sentieri di Positano" in scale 1:5000 and apparently available at newstands, but have not seen it. The same organization that published that map, has a map in scale 1:25000 of the Sorrentine Peninsula for hikers, of which scanned image is viewable at www.montilattari.it , but have not seen that map for sale at bookstores in Sorrento. The Azienda di Soggiorno e Turismo office in Sorrento was misleading in information about hiking and trail conditions, so I would use the giovis website as best source of updated information. For a great place to swim in privacy, go next to Punta Campanella in the small bay of Jelanto.
