On foot in the Sirenian Mountains

SorrentoWalks and Camminate are organizing 2 circular walks which start from Sorrento and, with appropriate links, connect various sections of a dozen different itineraries of Giovanni Visetti's Progetto Tolomeo.  
Saturday’s itinerary (21km + 700m asl.) skirts the center of Massa, going as far as Termini before continuing along the well-known and highly appreciated Santa Croce loop (over 4km along trails immersed in nature), where there will be time to stop and have a snack, admiring the island of Capri. The return runs almost parallel to the outward journey, but at higher altitude, touching the villages of Monticchio, Acquara and Priora. The last stretch passes through the little-known forest of Lamia before descending the many ramps of the ancient mule track of Monte S. Antonio, with continuous views over the historical center of Sorrento.  
Sunday’s circuit on the other hand crosses the ridge to the Salerno side of the peninsula to walk 5 km of the Alta Via dei Monti Lattari, before returning to Sorrento via the hills of Sant’Agnello. It starts up the historical Circumpiso route, reaching Sant'Agata along tracks through the woods of Acquacarbone and Olivella. It continues along the first part of the Giro dell'Isca (Cafariello) descending to the Alta Via, following it eastwards through Torca. From Torca you then go up to Pontone and down to Casarlano by Via Zatri, returning to Sorrento along the Via delle Sciuscelle (Villages of the Sorrento Valley – itin. 22). This loop is only 17 km but has a greater difference in elevation (900m approx.) than Saturday’s walk; by adding the tour of the Walls and Gates of Sorrento (itin. 11) you will have covered a total of twenty km.  
The circuits cross a vast variety of rural, historical and naturalistic environments including woods, scrubland and Mediterranean maquis, keeping to a minimum the sections along roads or through urban areas. They include many kilometers of extremely panoramic trails (Alta Via, Santa Croce loop with Monte San Costanzo, Giro dell'Isca and Sirenuse Trail), but even along the more rural sections you will enjoy splendid views of Capri, Ischia and Procida, the Neapolitan coast and Vesuvius, Li Galli islands and the Amalfi Coast.