Linda Shewey
Waking up to the smell of coffee and freshly baked sweet bread… what could be better? Waking up to these after hiking along the magnificent Amalfi Coast in Italy, of course!
Such mornings were typical for our hearty group of Mountaineers during the Amalfi Coast Global Adventure in April 2023.
Farm to table lodgings
One of the best parts of Mountaineers Global Adventures is the opportunity to combine hiking with rich cultural experiences. At the beginning of our Italy adventure, we stayed in agritourismos, a lodging accommodation that combines agriculture and tourism. Our agriturismo, Le Tore, is often arrived at by foot through the breathtaking paths of the Alta Via dei Monti Lattari.
Like many others, we hiked the Alta Via (medieval mule tracks) to the highest mountain in the area, Mt. San Michele, where we (could have) enjoyed beautiful views of the Amalfi Coast (if it weren’t for the fog) as we ate our lunch. After lunch, we descended steeply through a wooded area of cypress trees and olive groves and arrived to the warm hospitality of Vittoria, the agriturismo owner and hostess, who introduced us to her organic farm, including several thousand fruit and olive trees, 60 free-roaming, egg-laying hens, and cattle.
Vittoria served us a bountiful buffet breakfast made with farm-fresh ingredients (homemade jam, fresh bread, fresh[1]squeezed fruit juice, and eggs), as well as an equally flavorful Mediterranean dinner in the evening. She described the eco[1]sustainable, responsible tourism practices of her farm, such as recycling, composting, energy conservation projects, and agronomic farm methods.
Hiking through paradise
Our group spent the next few days walking along a ridge with the Bay of Naples on one side and the Gulf of Salerno on the other. We passed beautiful fields with wild orchids and Mediterranean herbs, small hamlets, medieval churches, and watchtowers. As we descended to the seashore, we entered the city of Amalfi, where we had a personal tour of a working lemon farm that has been in the Salvatore Aceto family for six generations and cultivated the unique lemon variety “sfusato Amalfitano.” As a special treat, we got to taste their delicious limoncello.
Further exploration of the Amalfi Coast led us through trails such as “Valley of the Dragon” and “Valley of the Mills,” and the nature preserve “Valley delle Ferriere” which features beautiful waterfalls. We spent our final days hiking the coastal trails in the Cilento National Park as our guides regaled us with tales from Greek Mythology along this “Path of the Sirens.”
It isn’t Italy without pasta
Our final cultural experience took place in the town of Santa Maria di Castellabate, where a group of local women taught us how to make the famous "fusilli del Cilento." Making pasta by hand is a traditional activity that women in Italy have passed down through generations. We made dough out of semolina flour and water, and took turns painstakingly rolling each individual pasta strand around a metal skewer.
After our final Italian meal, we returned home enriched by the land, people, and culture of the Italian Amalfi Coast, never to think about pasta in the same way again. Buonissima!
This article originally appeared in our summer 2024 issue of Mountaineer magazine. To view the original article in magazine form and read more stories from our publication, visit our magazine archive.
