After a wonderful breakfast on the balcony overlooking Amalfi, it was a left turn out the Villa Lara’s gate onto the Valle dei Mulini (Valley of the Mills) running slightly uphill. Amalfi was a center for papermaking in the 12th century. Natural waterpower ensured cost-effective handmade paper but a major flood in 1954 closed most of the mills for good. We passed by the Museo della Carta with paper samples, old machinery, etc. but didn’t go in. The day was too beautiful to be indoors. There were many streams and trees, the path was good and headed up towards Pontone after 1-1/1/2 miles.

Pontone is a pretty little village (aren’t they all) with a drinking fountain in the square but instead of lingering, we walked through the square, past the Church of San Filippo Neri and continued up to Minuta. This section was more strenous but only about a half-hour from Pontone At Minuta, we had a choice. Should we head back down to Amalfi or continue going on to Ravello visible in the distance? Towards Ravello it was…

portion of a typical walking map
It was less than 40 minutes downhill from Minuta to the main Ravello road which then led up to Ravello’s main square. Ravello is much smaller than Amalfi with a cathedral and two villas: Rufolo (13th century) and Cimbrone (19th century). Richard Wagner spent time in Ravello, along with Greta Garbo and they told us that Gore Vidal also had a villa which we strolled by on the downward leg.

It’s a very easy descent from Ravello to Atrani only 20 minutes by road from Amalfi. The path ran along the cliffs, terraced fields, olive and lemon groves with more wonderful views and we saw many other walkers who had taken a bus up to Ravello and walked down. You don’t have to be a heavy-duty hiker or walker to do any of this. The SITA buses travel to all these destinations, and you could walk just a small portion enjoying the ambiance.

Amalfi map, Italy
We definitely earned a good, caloric dinner at “Il Mulino”, a little Ristorante Pizzeria close by the Villa Lara. After all the walking we did today, the shorter the distance to a restaurant, the happier we were. Small, untouristy with good cooking! Yummy…


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