Wanderlines
Minori and its bay seen from the terraced hillside above
Amalfi Coast · Hike

The Path of the Lemons

The mule track the lemon carriers used, climbing out of Maiori over the headland and down into Minori through terraces of sfusato lemons under chestnut pergolas. Short, easy, scented, and finished with the best lemon pastry on the coast.

2.5 km1–1.5 hoursEasy, with stepsFree
See the routeWhere to eat after
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
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Overview

A working path through the groves

Long before there was a road, the Sentiero dei Limoni was the only link between Maiori and Minori, and it is still the way the farmers reach their terraces.

For centuries the lemon harvest came down this path on people's backs. Women carried baskets of up to fifty kilos down the steps to the boats and the market, and the terraces you walk past, held up by dry-stone walls and roofed with chestnut-pole pergolas to shelter the fruit from wind and hail, are the same ones they worked. Many are still farmed by the same families; some are now crumbling as the young leave, which is why walking here, and buying a bottle at a farm gate, matters.

The route is short and the climbing modest, about 150 metres up from the sea and back down, but most of it is on stone steps, so it is a gentle workout rather than a stroll. It suits families, a hot morning, a rest day between bigger hikes or anyone who wants to see how the coast's famous lemons are actually grown.

Which way to walk

Either way works. Starting in Maiori, at the majolica-domed Collegiata di Santa Maria a Mare, gives the steeper climb first and finishes in Minori, at Sal De Riso's pastry counter by the sea. Starting in Minori reverses it and ends on Maiori's long sandy beach, the best swim on this stretch. We describe Maiori to Minori.

The route

Maiori, Torre, Minori

Signed "Sentiero dei Limoni" with ceramic tiles at the main junctions. When in doubt, choose the stepped path rather than the road.

3002001000 m Maiori Santa Maria a Mare Torre Mortella Minori 0 km1.5 km2.5 km

Approximate profile. Heights and distances rounded.

  1. 0 km · Corso Reginna

    Maiori

    From the seafront walk up Maiori's main street, Corso Reginna, to the steps of the Collegiata di Santa Maria a Mare, whose yellow-and-green majolica dome you will see from the whole walk. The path starts behind and above the church; follow the tile signs.

  2. 0.4–1.2 km · The climb

    Steps through the terraces

    The steepest part. The path climbs in stone steps between garden walls, then opens onto the lemon terraces: rows of trees under dark pergolas, nets rolled up for winter, the smell of blossom in spring. Look back for the long curve of Maiori's beach and the Norman tower at its end. Farm stalls sell fresh lemonade along here in season.

  3. 1.5 km · About 150 m

    Torre and San Michele Arcangelo

    The high point is Torre, a hamlet of Minori that grows a large share of the valley's lemons, with the church of San Michele Arcangelo, built in the 13th century and remodelled in the 19th, and its small belvedere. From here a path climbs on to the San Nicola convent and Ravello if you want a longer day.

  4. 2 km · Belvedere della Mortella

    The myrtle viewpoint

    Descending towards Minori, the path passes the Mortella, a terrace named for the myrtle that grows wild around it, with the best view of the walk: Minori's rooftops, the bell tower of Santa Trofimena and the sea stretching west towards Amalfi.

  5. 2.5 km · Sea level

    Minori

    Lanes and steps between stone houses and vegetable gardens bring you into the centre of Minori by the Basilica of Santa Trofimena. The seafront, the Roman villa and Sal De Riso's pastry shop are a few minutes' walk away.

Make it longer: from Torre, follow the signs up to Ravello, about 1.5 hours and 300 metres more of steps, and catch the bus down; or start in Ravello and walk down to Minori and on to Maiori, which keeps most of the effort downhill.
The fruit

Sfusato Amalfitano: what you are walking through

The Amalfi lemon is a local variety, long and tapered, with a thick, fragrant, knobbly skin, few pips and juice sweet enough to eat in slices with a pinch of salt. It has a protected geographical indication, and it is grown only on these terraces, under the pergolas that give the hillsides their dark, shaggy look. The trees fruit almost all year, but the main harvest runs from February into the summer.

Everything on the coast is made from it: limoncello from the peel, granita from the juice, the delizia al limone that Minori's pastry chefs perfected, and the lemon leaves wrapped round mozzarella on the grill. Buy a bottle of limoncello or a bag of lemons at a farm gate on the path; it keeps the terraces farmed.

Lemons in the Amalfi food guide →
A market stall piled with Amalfi lemons
Practical notes

Before you set out

Getting there

Maiori and Minori are both on the SITA bus line between Amalfi and Salerno, and on the Travelmar ferries from April to early November. Minori to Maiori is also 15 minutes on foot along the coast road if you want to loop back to your start.

When to go

  • Any month: the path is low, short and rarely closed.
  • Late winter and spring: heaviest fruit and the blossom's scent.
  • Summer: before 10am or after 5pm; the terraces are sunny.

What to bring

  • Comfortable shoes for steps
  • Water, a litre is plenty
  • Cash for farm-gate lemons
  • Swimsuit for Maiori's beach

Good to know

The terraces are private farms: stay on the path and do not pick the fruit. The steps are uneven and have no handrails in places. Guided walks from Maiori run about three hours with a pastry stop and a lemonade break, useful for the farming stories.

Before and after

Pastry, a Roman villa and the beach

Ideas from our Amalfi Coast guide for the two towns at either end.

Minori · Pastry

Sal De Riso

Minori seafront · €4–7 a pastry

Salvatore De Riso's shop by the sea, where the delizia al limone, a dome of sponge soaked in limoncello under lemon cream, was perfected. Also the ricotta e pera. The finish line of the walk.

Minori · Lunch

'Ndunderi and the Roman villa

Minori's trattorias; Villa Romana, by the church

Order 'ndunderi, Minori's ricotta gnocchi protected by Slow Food, then visit the first-century Roman seaside villa with its frescoes and pool, a few steps from the beach.

Minori and Maiori in the guide →
Maiori · Swim

The longest beach on the coast

Maiori lungomare · free and lido sections

A kilometre of sand, rare on this coast, with the Norman tower at the end. Cheaper and calmer than anything west of Amalfi, and the place to cool off if you start in Minori.

More Amalfi hikes

Where to walk next

The Path of the Gods above Positano
Moderate · The classic

Path of the Gods

The cliff-top mule track from Agerola to Nocelle, with Positano and Capri ahead.

7.5–8 km · 3–4 h
Stream and greenery in the Valle delle Ferriere
Moderate · Shade

Valle delle Ferriere

Paper mills, waterfalls and a fern from before the Ice Age, in the one cool valley on the coast.

7–8 km return · 3–4 h
The Lattari hills at sunset seen from Agerola
Hard · Summit

Monte Tre Calli

A 1,122-metre top above Agerola with the gulfs of Naples and Salerno on either side.

6–7 km loop · 3 h
Capri seen from Punta Campanella
Moderate · History

Punta Campanella

A Roman road to the temple of Athena at the tip of the peninsula, with Capri across the strait.

6 km return · 2–2.5 h
The Bay of Ieranto and its clear water
Moderate · Swim

Baia di Ieranto

The FAI's protected bay below Nerano, with snorkelling in the marine reserve as the reward.

5 km return · 2 h
Punta Carena lighthouse on Capri
Moderate · Capri

Sentiero dei Fortini

Capri's wild west coast from the Blue Grotto to the lighthouse, past Napoleonic-era forts.

5 km · 3 h
← Back to the Amalfi Coast guideAmalfi practical notes
Photography

Photo credits

Photographs from Wikimedia Commons are used under their Creative Commons licences; Pexels photographs under the free Pexels licence. Click a title for the original, its author and licence.

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