Eight kilometres of old mule track along a ledge 500 metres above the sea, from the cheese-making plateau of Agerola to the hamlet of Nocelle over Positano. Capri floats off the point the whole way, and Positano appears round the final headland like a reward.
The Sentiero degli Dei is the most famous walk in southern Italy, and for once the fame is earned. It is not hard, it is not long and it needs no gear beyond decent shoes, yet for three hours you walk a balcony with nothing between you and the Tyrrhenian but terraces, goats and air.
The path is far older than the name. Before the coast road was cut in the 1850s, this was how people and mules moved between Agerola's farms and Positano's harbour, and the ruins along the way, roofless stone houses, abandoned terraces, a grotto that sheltered shepherds, are the remains of that working landscape. The name came later, from the views and from the legend that the Greek gods walked this way to rescue Ulysses from the sirens on the Li Galli islets below.
Walk it from east to west, Bomerano to Nocelle. The route is mostly level or gently downhill that way, the view of Positano stays in front of you, and the climb is left in the bus. The reverse adds about 200 metres of ascent and puts the sea at your back.
About 1.5 kilometres from Bomerano the trail splits. The lower path, signed CAI 327b and followed by nearly everyone, keeps to the cliff edge past the Grotta del Biscotto and the ruined farmsteads. The upper path, CAI 327, climbs over the Colle Serra and runs higher through scrub and holm oak; it is rougher, less maintained and much emptier, and the two rejoin about two kilometres before Nocelle. First-timers should take the lower path; walkers coming back for a second time should try the upper one.
Distances are approximate and measured from the square in Bomerano. Allow longer than the walking time: everyone stops for photographs every few hundred metres.
Approximate profile. Solid line: the trail; dashed: the optional 1,700 steps from Nocelle down to the coast road.
Get off the SITA bus in Bomerano's square, fill your bottle, buy bread and fiordilatte for the road, and find the brown "Sentiero degli Dei" sign. A paved lane, Via Sentiero degli Dei, runs downhill out of the village through vegetable plots for about 800 metres to where the asphalt ends and the path proper begins.
The trail drops to a junction with the first great view down the Furore valley. Bear left for the lower path, which most people take; right climbs to the Colle Serra on the high variant. Just beyond, a stepped mule track comes up from Praiano on the left: this is the 1,000-step approach from the San Domenico convent, and the spot where the trail's one public tap stands.
The most dramatic stretch. The path threads along the cliff past the Grotta del Biscotto, a shallow cave of layered rock where shepherds once sheltered, and a string of roofless farmhouses on terraces that nobody has worked for half a century. Below, the coast road traces every fold of the cliff; ahead, Praiano and the Li Galli islets.
The path undulates across scree and terraces, sometimes on steps, sometimes on loose stone, with short climbs and a few exposed corners that are fine with care. Goats graze the terraces; a farm hut sells lemonade and fruit in season. This is where Capri comes into full view off the end of the Sorrento peninsula.
The high and low paths rejoin, the trail rounds the shoulder of Monte Pertuso, and Positano is suddenly laid out below, the dome, the beach and the stacked houses, with the pinnacles of the Lattari behind. A bench on this stretch is the best picnic spot on the walk.
The path ends at a small shrine and fountain by the Villa degli Dei and climbs through Nocelle's lanes to the square. The Chiosco del Sentiero degli Dei, a terrace kiosk, does lemon granita and fresh orange juice. From here, take the Positano local bus from the end of the road, or walk down: the 1,700 steps to Arienzo on the coast road, or the road and stairs via Montepertuso into Positano itself.
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SITA buses run from Amalfi to Agerola in 40 to 50 minutes; get off at Bomerano. Buy tickets at a tobacconist or bar before boarding, as they are not sold on board. From Positano, change at Amalfi, or skip the bus entirely by climbing the 1,000 steps from Praiano's San Domenico convent to the trail. Drivers can park in Bomerano, but then face the bus back up from the coast.
From Nocelle, the Positano local bus (Mobility Amalfi Coast) runs down through Montepertuso to Positano; it is included in the €12 SITA day pass that covers the local lines. Or walk the steps to Arienzo and catch the SITA bus on the coast road, or descend through Montepertuso on road and stairs to Positano in about an hour.
The path is generally well marked with red and white CAI signs, but a few corners are exposed and the stones are loose after rain. Fire is the summer hazard: the September 2026 wildfire above Laurito burned slopes below Nocelle, so check the trail status locally before setting out. Call 112 in an emergency.
You do not need a guide; the route is obvious and busy. A guided walk makes sense for the high variant, for winter or for a small group that wants transport both ways. Expect €50 to €90 a person with transfers.
Ideas from our Amalfi Coast guide for the start, the finish and the evening.
Agerola is the coast's larder: buy a fiordilatte or a wedge of provolone del Monaco and a loaf at the square for the best picnic on the coast. The Punta San Lazzaro belvedere, ten minutes away, is worth the detour if you arrive early.
The family's fixed menu of antipasti, pastas, grilled meats and house wine, about €50 to €60, with the whole coast below the terrace. The natural end to a day on the path; book ahead.
More in the food guide →Walk down to Fornillo, the quieter beach past the Trasita tower, for a swim, then queue for one famous cocktail on Franco's Bar terrace at Le Sirenuse as the town lights up.
More nightlife →
Paper mills, waterfalls and a fern from before the Ice Age, in the one cool valley on the coast.
The old harvest track between Maiori and Minori, through terraces of sfusato lemons.
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From Bomerano to a 1,122-metre top with both gulfs below: the same start, a bigger day.
A Roman road to the temple of Athena at the tip of the peninsula, with Capri across the strait.
The FAI's protected bay below Nerano, with snorkelling in the marine reserve as the reward.
Capri's wild west coast from the Blue Grotto to the lighthouse, past four Napoleonic-era forts.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons are used under their Creative Commons licences; Pexels photographs under the free Pexels licence. Click a title for the original and its licence.
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