Pogerola's Ancient Mule-Track Stairways
Long before the coastal road was carved into the cliffs in the 1850s, Pogerola was connected to Amalfi and the surrounding hamlets by a web of paved mule tracks — scalinate — that still exist almost entirely intact. Walking them today is less a hike than a slow immersion in the texture of pre-modern Campanian life, with lemon terraces pressing in on either side and the smell of citrus blossom heav
The Main Staircase to Amalfi
The principal scalinata descends from Pogerola's Piazza San Pietro through roughly 1,500 shallow stone steps to Amalfi's Piazza Flavio Gioia in around 45 minutes. The steps are worn smooth and slightly convex by centuries of feet, hooves, and handcart wheels, and the walls on either side are encrusted with capers, wild cyclamen, and the occasional lizard sunning itself at eye level.
Halfway down you pass the old Mulino della Valle — a partially restored paper mill dating to the 13th century, when Amalfi was one of Europe's principal paper-producing centres. The mill wheel no longer turns but the stone channels that once fed it with mountain water are still visible.
Secondary Paths to Lone Hamlets
A lesser-known branch of the network climbs northeast from Pogerola toward the hamlet of Lone (pronounced 'lo-neh'), passing through chestnut woodland and crossing a ridge that looks out over the Valle del Dragone toward Ravello. Few tourists ever make this walk; you are likely to meet only the odd local shepherd or a retired farmer tending an ancestral lemon grove.
The paths are unmarked beyond the main Amalfi route, so download the offline CAI (Club Alpino Italiano) trail map for the Lattari Mountains before you set out — map sheet Monti Lattari, Penisola Sorrentina covers the area in detail.
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