There are two walks under one name — a short 4 km stroll to the point, and a 7.4–9 km loop over Monte San Costanzo. Both begin at Termini. Guides confuse them constantly.
The direct walk is easy in one direction only: you descend to the point and climb back, in full sun, on a headland with no shade and no water. The loop is a genuine day on the mountain — three and a half to four hours, with 450 to 547 m of ascent and scrub you will want long trousers for. Neither needs a guide.
Published figures for “the Punta Campanella trail” run from 4 to 9 kilometres. This is not carelessness. It is because 4 km, 7.4 km and 9 km describe three different walks, all sold under the same name. There are really two: the direct out-and-back to the point, and the long loop over Monte San Costanzo. Here they are, side by side.
Both start from Piazza Santa Croce, Termini. Both are almost shadeless with no water on the route. One is a stroll; the other is a day on the mountain. SorrentoHikes does not publish a GPS distance it has not walked — when we have, this table will say so.
Termini is the last inhabited village at the western end of the peninsula, in the comune of Massa Lubrense. Both walks begin from its square, Piazza Santa Croce.
Buses run from Sorrento toward Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi and pass through Termini. Check current timetables before you set out — services are not frequent.
Set the navigation to Piazza Santa Croce, Termini. Park in the square — it is paid parking — and continue on foot from there.
If you plan to swim at Cala di Mitigliano, there is parking near the trailhead. Published prices vary between €5 and €10; check on the day.
Verify departure times on the day — bus services to Termini are not frequent and change seasonally. More detail on the Getting around page.
From Piazza Santa Croce, take Via Campanella; after roughly four hundred metres, keep right at the fork. From here you are on the Via Minerva, a Greek-Roman mule track built in the 4th century BC. Parts of the original Roman paving survive beneath the asphalt laid in 1962, and in places you can still see it.
The path drops through olive groves and Mediterranean scrub as Capri opens up ahead. To the right stands the Torre di Fossa di Papa, and a signed detour descends to Cala di Mitigliano, a pebble cove where you can swim. Keep straight for the point; the track steepens, and then the tower and the lighthouse appear.
This is the headland the Greeks called Athenaion. The Li Galli islands offshore — the Sirens’ islands — are visible from the ridge, and by tradition it was after passing them safely that Odysseus founded the temple here. → The islands of the Sirens
The Tower of Minerva, grey tufa, ordered by Robert of Anjou in 1334–1335, destroyed by the Turks and rebuilt in 1556. A bell — campanella — hung at the top and was rung to warn of pirates. That is where the name comes from.
The temple site. A sanctuary to Athena, inherited by the Romans as Minerva. Little survives beyond scattered ruins around the tower.
The Oscan inscription. Carved into the rock on the steep descent toward the Grotta delle Sirene — 2nd century BC, found in 1985 by Prof. Mario Russo. It names the three Meddices Minervii who built the landing stage and stairway. One of the least visited things on this coast.
You walk downhill to the point and uphill on the way back — in full sun, with no shade and no water. Every guide that calls this “easy” is describing the outward leg. Allow at least twenty-five minutes for the return to Termini, and do not linger after sunset: the path is unlit.
There is no water anywhere on the route — carry all you will need. No guide required, and no map for the direct walk.
The headland is bare, exposed rock with no tree cover. In summer, walk early or late. On 14 May, the feast of San Costanzo, villagers carry the saint in procession from Termini up the mountain.
About two hours there and back on the direct path from Termini. The loop over Monte San Costanzo takes three and a half to four hours and covers between 7.4 and 9 km.
The direct walk is easy going out and a steady climb coming back, with no shade. The loop is moderate to strenuous, with 450 to 547 metres of ascent and overgrown sections.
Piazza Santa Croce in Termini, a village in the comune of Massa Lubrense.
Yes. A signed detour early on the trail descends to Cala di Mitigliano, a pebble cove facing Capri. Bring water shoes.
No. Carry everything you will need.
After the bell — campanella — that hung on the fourteenth-century tower and was rung to warn of pirate raids.
The tradition says so. What is certain is that a sanctuary to Athena stood on this headland, later inherited by the Romans as a temple of Minerva, and that a 2nd-century-BC Oscan inscription below the tower names the magistrates who built the approach to it.
The descent exists but is steep and unsuitable for inexperienced walkers.
Published figures differ wildly (4 km / 7.4 km / 9 km) because they describe different routes; disputed figures on this page are shown as disputed. Bus times and parking fees change by season — check the official source before you go. Some are in Italian only.