Walking guide to Amalfi Coast, Capri, Ischia - Italy, Europe

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Reviews
• Further Reading

Sketch maps are provided alongside the walk descriptions in this guidebook. The idea is to provide as much useful detail and as many key landmarks as possible, space permitting. Acquiring a larger commercial map is also warmly recommended for identifying distant points of interest and for plotting your own routes.

One map that covers nearly all the walks in this guide is 'Monti Lattari, Penisola Sorrentina Costeria Amalfitana' 1:30,000 published by SELCA (www.selca-cartografie.it) and on sale locally. Its only drawbacks are the indistinct contour lines and the lack of detail in villages with their maze of alleys.

Several 1:10,000 carta dei sentieri walking maps (www.carteguide.com) are available locally. They show paths in greater detail, though the coverage means multiple maps are needed. Their downside is the incomprehensible dearth of landmarks and names. There are currently three useful maps: 1 does Vietri sul Mare (close to Salerno) as far as Minori, 2 Maiori to Furore, and 3 covers Conca dei Marini to Positano.

Both the Ravello and Amalfi Tourist Offices have free maps showing walking routes in their districts.

The promontory centring on Massa Lubrense is covered by an excellent 1:18,000 map available free of charge at the Tourist Office, courtesy of local expert Giovanni Visetti, also responsible for the 1:12,500 'Monte Faito & S. Angelo a Tre Pizzi', easily the clearest map for that area.

For Capri a decent if small map can be downloaded from the Capri Tourism website, www.capritourism.com; it shows the paths used in Walks 5, 7 and 8, though not Walk 6. They've also put out a 1:10,000 map – available at €1. At the time of writing it needed updating as many key paths were missing. Otherwise Kompass do a good 1:7500 map 'Isola di Capri'.

Ischia is a bit of a no-man's land. Kompass has done 1:15,000 map n.680, easily the clearest on the market, however it too contains a number of unfortunate inaccuracies.

Walking maps are available from leading map suppliers in the UK such as Stanfords www.stanfords.co.uk or The Map Shop www.themapshop.co.uk and through Libreria Stella Alpina in Florence www.stella-alpina.com.

Italian terminology commonly found on maps can be found in English translation in Appendix A.