Avoid the Amalfi Coast crowds this summer and head for the hills

Telegraph

05-04-2025

There was a slight chill in the air as my guide and I descended a forested path to the valley floor. The air smelled of wet moss and, curiously, like pepper spice. To our right was a stone wall with small wooden platforms, each holding a round gourd ripening in the early winter sunshine. On our left, a beautiful green valley spilled out before us, the hillsides carpeted with oak trees that tumbled down towards the shimmering Mediterranean Sea.
A church bell rang out in the distance, but my hiking guide Gianluca Paolillo and I were otherwise alone with our thoughts.
As we rounded the corner and turned into woodland, I heard the thunder of a waterfall before I saw it; a skyscraper of foliage towering up in front of us as water cascaded down mossy tendrils, like upended candles dripping their wax into the deep pool below.
I'd arrived on the Amalfi Coast the previous evening, and had spent the morning walking away from the famous coastal towns and into the Ferriere Valley, which stretches almost four miles from the hilltop town of Scala to the town of Amalfi below. It is one of just 41 biogenetic reserves in Italy.
Each year, around 20,000 tourists hike the coast's most popular route, Path of the Gods, and, in summer, the trail becomes so crowded that it can take more than one hour to walk just one mile. To avoid this, Paolillo, along with a number of volunteers, has been quietly rediscovering old pathways that weave into the interior of the peninsula, excavating old trading routes that once linked the towns of Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, Atrani, Minori and Maiori.
Once completed, the trails will offer visitors a new way to discover the region, away from the tourist throngs. The latest is Fontana Carosa, a five-mile trail that Paolillo worked to resurrect during the pandemic. The one we had been hiking that morning, however, was Paolillo's favourite secret route.
My base for the weekend was the remarkably beautiful hilltop town of Ravello, home to Villa Cimbrone with its enchanting gardens and Terrazza dell'Infinito lookout platform (providing spectacular views of the entire coastline), 11th-century Villa Rufolo, home to stunning Moorish mosaics and beautiful gardens, and Ravello's Baroque and Romanesque duomo.
I stayed at Palazzo Avino, a plaster-pink palace built in the 12th century as a residence and restored to glory by its current owners, sisters Mariella and Attilia Avino, who have filled it with an astounding collection of antiques and artworks.
With tiered gardens, pools and a club house with sea access (taking in the views which tumble away below), staying here made for a delightful way to immerse myself in the town.
The morning's hike had begun in Scala, another pretty town not far from Ravello. As we walked, Paolillo pointed out the ruins of paper mills and an ironworks (ferreira), from which the valley takes its name. These Middle Age relics reveal Amalfi's important past as a paper-manufacturing hub, made using cotton shipped over from Egypt; the Paper Museum in Amalfi tells the story in wonderful, vivid detail.
After poking our heads into several of these ghostly, pepper-scented chambers, Paolillo pointed to a giant fern, called woodwardia radican, with fronds three-metres wide – rare, prehistoric species that are classed as living fossils. They were discovered in 1710 by the botanist Pier Antonio Micheli, along with a black-and-yellow spotted lizard that hides amongst the vegetation.
Ducking under a fallen chestnut tree, we emerged into golden sunshine. A stepped path flanked with heady lemon and fig trees led down to Amalfi town, with its beautiful St Andrew Cathedral and sparkling seascape. We stopped for an espresso, and Paolillo – who had packed a thermos and lemon biscuits for the break – suggested I try my coffee the 'Amalfi way', laced with candied lemon peel.
'When people visit this coastline, they come for the famous towns – Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento – but then they miss out on the gems in the hills,' he said. 'For me, Ravello and the hills surrounding it are the real Amalfi.'
As the afternoon wore on, we headed further into the lush Lattari Mountains (from the Italian word for milky; a nod to the dairy cows and goats that graze there), an area known for its vineyards, pizza and fior di latte mozzarella. Gradually, we made our way to Tramonti, one of 13 hamlets in the area, founded most likely in the 5th or 6th century by Picentine refugees, who came here to escape Roman occupation of the towns along the Reghinna coast (now known as Minori and Maiori).
There, we visited Tenuta San Francesco vineyard, where 300-year-old pre-phylloxera vines are still producing exceptional wines. It is one of four wineries that form a collective in the valley, mostly producing easy-drinking whites and rosés, served in the region's best restaurants, but also award-winning DOC and DOCG white and red wines, made with local grapes such as peachy falanghina and smooth, earthy tintore.
Turning back along the path to Ravello, we called in at cheese factory Caseificio Staiano Ravello, where we were shown how to stretch mozzarella by owner Biagio and his wife Karolina, then tasted the delicious fresh fior di latte, with its salty undertones.
That evening, after martinis at Palazzo Avino's courtyard bar, I returned to Scala for the evening, stopping for dinner at superlative seafood restaurant Da Lorenzo, then strolling through the town. To my delight, a chestnut festival was in full swing, with row upon row of stalls selling freshly barbecued chestnuts, chestnut cake, chestnut spread and bread, while a folk band performed and preparations for a bareback donkey race were made. This was a far cry from the endless harp music and restaurant speakers blaring out That's Amore in the popular tourist towns down by the water – and all the better for it.
This part of the Amalfi Coast is about to become even easier to reach, thanks to easyJet's new twice-weekly flights from London to Salerno, launching in July. But my advice? Don't hurry – wait for shoulder season, when this gloriously offbeat part of the region offers warm days dappled in sunshine and excellent deals on accommodation. And, above all, don't be tempted to stay on the crowded coast: instead, do as the locals do, and head for the hills.
Essentials
Emilee Tombs was a guest of Palazzo Avino, which has rooms from £1,255 per night, including breakfast, and can arrange guided hikes, winery visits, pottery workshops and cheese-making classes. Arrange your hike independently with Gianluca Paolillo through Trekking Ravello.
EasyJet will fly direct from London to Campania from July 2025, from £23 one-way. Alternatively, Ryanair flies to Naples from £24.99 one-way.