Welcome To The Path of The Gods

One of the most famous hikes in Italy that takes you on the cliffside high above the Amalfi coastline. The legend has it that the Gods came down to this pathway to reach the sea where the sirens that seek to entice Ulysses with their singing. It was by far one of the most beautiful walks I have ever been on, and is known as one of the world’s most spectacular panoramas. The entire trail which is about 6 hours gives you views of the coast almost the entire way. The landscape was diverse as we hiked through cliffside vineyards, small little hamlets, and areas of forest that had us walking in the trees with the sun peeking through the branches creating a path of light shining through to show us the way.

Jamie, my hiking partner and I also decided that it must be called The Path of The Gods because it took God to get us down the 3,000 stairs that sit at the end of the trail that brings you back to reality.

The area is also famous for being the chosen home of many creative minds back in the day. The likes of Goethe, D.H. Lawrence, and other writers, authors,and poets, this hike has been described as such:

“Is this the view that from on high along the Path of the Gods, opens to our sight: it is the picture of the great loop of the Amalfi coastline that looks towards the west, towards the Island of Capri, that precipitous coast, steamy, hot, with the crystalline mountains where the gods of today are forsaken and you find a lost self again. Mediterranean, before you.” - D.H. Lawrence

“A journey is on occasion which can be renewed as a choice and a measure of an interior wish: in a sense it is right to restore the fantasy again, starting from the Path of the Gods, that road suspended above the magic bay of the Sirens, furrowed again today by memory and myth.” – Italo Calvino

“From above the track hollowed out in the rock, our gaze ranges over the wide expanse of sea, over the territory of imaginary mythology, between the Douglas cliffs and the bougainvillea described by Simone de Beauvoire.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Since of course my words cannot describe it as well as the so many famous writers that walked this path before me, I’ll take you through in pictures.

Road on the path taking us through a small village:

Cliffside vineyards along the way:

View of the mountain top and the countryside:

The view of beauty along the coast:

Some snacks along the way:

The Sunset at the end of the day:

Some argue that this is one of the most beautiful coastal sceneries in the world. If you were to drive the path, that it is even a more scenic drive than the 17 mile Pebble Beach drive through Northern California. Only one can decide for themselves. I’ve now done both, and they have both managed to reach into that part of my body where I feel as if the moment couldn’t possibly be more beautiful or perfect.

Some of my thoughts jotted down while walking with The Gods:

Standing high above the water as if I could reach into the clouds, I stand leaning over the rail post completely captivated and overwhelmed by the sheer grandeur of the history. Of the beauty. Of the essence of nature. Thankful that I have had the opportunity in life to surround myself with the world’s wondrous beauty. As you my friend, have taught me many true lessons of life.

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