A Prolonged Foray to Europe: Positano, Praiano, and the Path of the Gods

After a few days on Capri, we ferried back to Sorento and picked up our rental from the car cave. Surprisingly, we did make it on the ferry that disembarked at the timetable slot we ~arbitrarily picked when we dropped the car off, so the guy had it waiting for us, half in / half out of the car cave. Good stuff.

We hightailed it out of Sorento and headed ever further south to Positano and beyond. We originally planned to stay in Positano as our base for exploring the Amalfi Coast, but our safari travel friends advised us instead to just visit Positano and stay instead at one of the smaller towns nearby, but a little further down the coast. They didn’t have great things to say about Positano; and they were right. A little more on that later.

So, we ended up staying in one of the hotels and towns they recommended: Casa Angelina in Praiano, just 10 minutes away from Positano (and in sight of it). But first, we had to get there.

Driving the Amalfi Coast is one of the most nail-biting exercises in automobile navigation that one can undertake.

For the driver. For the passenger. It’s pretty insane.

And we’ve had insane driving experiences – along a chasm almost the width of the tiny rental car in St. Kitts; over miles of washed out, shack-lined country roads in Jamaica; and driving on 1.75-lane, 12-foot-tall-hedge-lined roads masquerading as 2-lane roads in Cornwall (all while driving on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car and with the wrong hand on the stick everywhere in the UK). But the Amalfi Coast road is a beast in a category all its own.

There’s one coast road, and it – like Cornwall, but without the hedges – has about 1.75 lanes for two-way traffic. Oh, and in Amalfi, you’re constantly one bump away from being sent hurtling down a 1000-foot cliff.

Because rock faces tumble straight into the Mediterranean in many places, the road transits a honeycomb of tunnels (also barely wide enough for two cars, let alone a bus coming the other way [one of which really did almost take us out on a turn]).

Plus, on our drive from Sorento to Praiano, where our hotel was located, we took a wrong turn and drove down the mountain and THROUGH Positano instead of skirting above it on the coast road. It was a white-knuckle affair, particularly for the WolfeStreetPassenger, who is absolutely not happy with roads like this to begin with. But at least we weren’t driving down steep, hairpin roads that are the very worst, right? And soon we’d be safely tucked away at our hotel, right?

The hotel’s driveway off the Amalfi Coast road:

Another view from a hike later in our stay to provide an even more dramatic perspective:

The hotel (white structure with windows at the edge of town) and its entrance at the terminus of the hairpin-turn-ridden ride:

The bellmen hauled our luggage and the now-catatonic WolfeStreetPassenger into the haven that we finally reached after a harrowing day of driving.

And holy shit what a haven. Amalfi is know for their lemons, and the pool had an entire, in-season, lemon tree arbor over one end:

And a cliffside view to Positano, which was pretty cool.

And the next day, we’d check out Positano up close, courtesy of our hotel’s “shuttle” (which turned out to be a little Mercedes coupe, which was nice). So, why not stay in Positano? If you perused Instagram in 2022 and 2023, you would see that THIS was the Instagrammer place of the moment, and a destination for vapid, 20-something trust fund princesses who had more resources than sense. Although the popular appeal intrigued us about Positano, the presence of these self-absorbed, superficial narcissists certainly put us off.

Most importantly, though, was the recommendation from our safari travel friends. They strongly recommended against staying in Positano because it was too touristy, and instead suggested that we stay in Praiano, Amalfi, or Ravello – towns near Positano from which you could visit, but protected you from actually having to stay there. We had already booked a hotel and two dinners in Positano by the time we had this conversation, but we trusted this couple, and changed our plans. Thankfully. It’s a shitshow.

As we noted in an Instagram post after our visit to Positano and experiencing the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds of tourists (and we were there in May) and the labyrinthine collection of alleys full of shops selling tourist crap, Positano is not the charming town visitors claim it is through their Instagram posts. It is, in fact, a land-locked cruise ship of clueless (mostly American) tourists that happens to be tumbling – in a very picturesque way! – down a hillside on the Amalfi coast. It is best viewed from afar.

Positano’s unappealing gray-sand beach:

Still – a certain appeal (from a distance):

Bell tower of the Assumption Parish of Our Lady Positano, based on the location of an abbey founded in the 10th century.

The tower’s pastrice (sea monster) bas relief on its base:

Pretty meh Renaissance interior (we prefer Medieval and, ideally, Romanesque):

After navigating around and through town, we had enough.

A reward for a job well done.

Safely back in Praiano and away from Positano.

With more rewards to celebrate our return.

Pretty cool sunset views, as well.

And our first Michelin-starred dinner of the trip:

The next day, and epic hike we had been anticipating with some relish:

The Path of the Gods!

The Path of the Gods, as we hiked it, offers a 5.3-mile trek from our hotel at the edge of Praiano up 2000 feet, then across the ridgeline to a point 1500 steps ABOVE Positano, then a knee-buckling climb down said steps.