Salerno & the Cilento
Popular with walkers, this place is more country hotel than true agriturismo, but the setting is sublime: high up in a grove of chestnut trees overlooking a magnificent castle. Follow the signs from the village along a rough track, backed by steep, forested slopes. The rooms are large, modern and comfortable.
The dining room, complete with colourful hunting mural, serves good traditional fare like homemade tagliolini pasta in a ragù sauce (meals €25).
18.29 MILES
Very different to Pompeii, Paestum’s ruins are smaller, older, more Greek and – crucially – a lot less overrun. Consequently, it is possible to steal some…
29.84 MILES
One of Campania's strangely under-the-radar sights, Salerno’s impressive cathedral is considered by aficionados to be the most beautiful medieval church…
6.59 MILES
The grottoes are fascinating, otherworldly caves that date from prehistoric times: excavations have revealed that they were inhabited 42,000 years ago,…
17.44 MILES
The ancient coil of streets that makes up Teggiano (population 8,100) comprise what is arguably the most dashing of park’s 80 villages. Grafted onto a…
23.82 MILES
A giant among monasteries, even by Italian standards, the Certosa di San Lorenzo dates from 1306 and covers 250,000 sq metres. Numerologists can get a…
18.19 MILES
Facing the east side of the ruins, the Museo di Paestum houses a collection of much-weathered metopes (bas-relief friezes). Among these are originals from…
18.4 MILES
Dating from about 450 BC, the limestone Tempio di Nettuno is the largest and best preserved of Paestum's trio of temples; only parts of its inside walls…
26.95 MILES
Santa Maria’s golden sandy beach stretches for around 4km, which equals plenty of towel space on the sand, even in midsummer.
6.59 MILES
The grottoes are fascinating, otherworldly caves that date from prehistoric times: excavations have revealed that they were inhabited 42,000 years ago,…
8.06 MILES
(Re)discovered in 1932, the Grotte di Pertosa-Auletta date back 35 million years. Used by the Greeks and Romans as places of worship, the caves burrow for…
10.89 MILES
One understated element of Italy is its abandoned villages, little visited places, covered in weeds and heavy with an atmosphere that is both ghostly and…
16.69 MILES
The first organic producer of bufala (water-buffalo) milk, Tenuta Vannulo is a 10-minute drive from Paestum. It makes its mozzarella exclusively from…
17.44 MILES
The ancient coil of streets that makes up Teggiano (population 8,100) comprise what is arguably the most dashing of park’s 80 villages. Grafted onto a…
18.19 MILES
Facing the east side of the ruins, the Museo di Paestum houses a collection of much-weathered metopes (bas-relief friezes). Among these are originals from…
18.23 MILES
Tempio di Cerere (6th century BC) was originally dedicated to Athena and served as a Christian church in medieval times.
18.29 MILES
Very different to Pompeii, Paestum’s ruins are smaller, older, more Greek and – crucially – a lot less overrun. Consequently, it is possible to steal some…