CILENTO--Where to base on a week-long trip....(?)
 

I've been doing some advance reading in preparation for a possible trip next year. I will have one week and will rent a car.

From the limited information I've found so far, it sounds as if the area might be best covered from at least two different bases: (Paestum or) Castellabate in the north (west) and Palinuro, Pisciotta, or CasalVelino further south (east). Is this true, or can I cover the coastal areas from one base?

There seem to be appealing lodgings in each of these areas. Our interests on this trip would be to take in glorious scenery, learn about, and devour, great local food, swim, and explore appealing small towns.

I would love to read about experiences in this region, along with hotel recommendations. I would also be interested in reading about Maratea, which is further south just over the regional Basilicata border.....worth trying to include?

We were in Maratea last month.
The weather was unusually cool for early June.
We stayed at the La Locanda delle Monache. The hotel is
actually in the town of Maratea, (100 steps up from one of the main streets), far from any beaches, although there are places on or very close to the area beaches. We enjoyed Maratea and the surrounding area. Close enough for day trips to Calabria. I would recommend La Locanda delle Monache if you prefer stayingin a city vs. the beach ara. Nice rooms, great service, and a very good restaurant. The town is attractive but small. Only a couple of restaurants, pizzeria, and shops, but 44 churches.

Thanks so much, TCC. I have that hotel marked on my list, but I was a little puzzled by descriptions of the town that mention how it spreads out a lot, making a car necessary. I guess that it what you mean when you say that the hotel is far from the town's beach area.
We will have a car, but I do like to have a good selection of eating places within walking distance so we do not have to drive far after dinner.

Is Maratea town pretty? How are the beaches? Was it empty in June? (I would hope to go at that time of year)


Did you do any day trips to Calabria? Any thoughts on those? Where else did you visit on your trip, or was Maratea the focus?

I am so glad that you responded; thanks very much.

More info on Cilento:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...aroli?page=all

There is somebody on Frommer's who goes to Calabria every year. You might try over there.

ek - personally, I don't know anything but Paestum in that area, but I have a friend who is from the Cilento, and used to live there until recently, and still visits regularly. If nothing else, I can testify that he's a great gourmet! If you are not hurried with your planning, I can ask him when meeting him next time (perhaps in two weeks or so). As with most Italians, it wouldn't make much sense to discuss that with him by phone. So if you have approximately two weeks, ask any questions in the meantime that I should ask him for you.

eks,

I'm also going to add one thing for your consideration:

I have heard Rick Steves is writing a guide to Sardegna, to be published some time soon. If you've ever had the urge to go, you might consider it before it changes forever.

eks
Maratea doesn’t actually have a beach, however there are many beaches within close (driving)proximity. The town has a certain charm about it. The Locanda delle Monache sits in a position high above the main streets and piazza of the citta. You can easily walk down (not so easily up) the 100 steps at the hotel exit closest to the pool area, to the town. We only had one dinner in town, and that was at one of the two pizzeria there, and a gelato at one of the three shops we noticed.

We were only there for 4 nights and had dinner at the hotel restaurant (Il Sacello) one night,a great restaurant further up the mountain from the hotel another night, one dinner in Calabria,and pizza in town.
The hotel was very nice and functional rooms. We opted for the least expensive one, no view but clean and comfortable. There is also a very nice pool, but we had unusually cool weather for early June and only used it once.
Breakfast, which was included, was just O.K. It was a standard Italian breakfast buffet, but it was served in the lovely restaurant. The hotel service was excellent.

Beaches
The hotel has an arrangement with a local beach about 3 or 4 miles away. They charge you for parking,I think about 6 euro, but provide you with 2 lounge chairs and a beach umbrella for the day. It is in a cove with really no view, but the water was warm and very clean and clear. They also have kayaks to explorethe cove area. There are many other beaches in the same area. Lots of the beaches are black sand.
We also took a boat trip from the Marina di Maratea. Interesting trip up the coast into Campania.
The boat stops for swimming near a very pretty beach.

In early June the area was not crowded at all. Only a couple of other people at the beach, and the hotel appeared to be only about half full. Same for the restaurants and cafes.

One of the highlights of our trip was taking the long and winding road up the mountain to see the Statue of Christ Redeemer. Our favorite restaurant for the entire trip was also up this road.

We only spent 4 nights in Maratea. It was part of a 3 week long trip to
Sicily - Capri Leone
Maratea
Caserta - stayed at a winery just outside of town, visited Caserta, lots of small towns, and the Sannio valley.
Genzano di Roma - stayed near here to attended the Infiorita
and finally the last 3 nights in Rome

We enjoyed Maratea and the surrounding area. Not the easiest place to get in and out of, so I’m not sure if it would be a good base for traveling from. However, it is a charming town in a beautiful area.
I have lots of other, more specific info. If you decide to go to this area please let me know if I can be of any help

I've stayed around Santa Maria di Castellabate quite often. I really like it - good beaches, many decent restaurants and bars. It is not the livliest of places, but it is friendly and relaxed. It is within an easy drive of Paestum, Agropoli and up into the Cilento hills.


The roads around Cilento tend to be slow and winding so distance is not always a good indicator of time to drive. There is a station at Agropoli if you want to use the train into Naples (or Salerno). There is also a limited ferry service (Depending on time of year) to Capri, possibly one to Salerno and another to Palinuro.

Thanks to all for the wealth of information.

Franco, I would not make this trip before next spring (early June would be a good bet, I think) so there is plenty of time to plead with your friend for any and all information on the area. I would most like to hear of favorite towns and recommended hotels; later we can tackle restaurants.

Zeppole: That is truly depressing. Can it be true? I have mixed feelings about a Sardinia trip; of course I would love to visit the island, but have to prioritize. It is frustrating to usually be limited to the 7 days at a time. From what I am reading, the food scene on Sardinia is heavily tourist-oriented along the coasts which is one reason why I have cooled a bit on the idea of a trip.

TCC and Willit: I hope you will not mind if I beg for more details further down the road. I am trying to figure out which towns to use as bases for a week-long stay. Maratea is very tempting but because it is so far south, I would probably have to give up a night in the area and stay near the airport on the last night, rather than make the drive from the Naples airport to Maratea. And the same would be true if I used Maratea as my first stop... I could also consider flying into Bari and combining Maratea with a location in Puglia....and then moving up to Naples for the flight home..(I wish I had a map on hand right now)

I need to do more reading when I return home (am away for a few days) and return with more questions....thank you all so very much!

Ok, so I'll wait until you're back home and tell me more precisely what you wish to know; I'm not sure about hotels, since of course, hardly anybody knows the hotels at the place where s/he lives - why should they?

A few years ago (about seven), my Neopolitan sister in law said she was going to a sort of resort just north of Palinuro. My wife and I decided to go along with them. We were lucky to be able to secure a cabin there. Let me say this, I have never had such a great relaxing two week period in my life! The resort consisted of about twenty cabins and a large main building in which there was a DEVINE dining room and a nice dance and recreation area. We were directly on the beach, and the Cilentano beach area is great. The water is crystal clear and pretty gentle. When the proprietor rang the cow bell, it was eating time. The food was tremendous. The main recreation was the great beach, but at night, a musician played the keyboard, and people could dance or just sit around with a drink or whatever. It was a completely relaxed environment. If we wanted to take a very short drive, we would head into the town of Palinuro, a nice place to just walk around and window shop for the ladies, and just look aroung for the gents. It was completely enjoyable, and I would love to do it again. I can't pinpoint the place, but I remember the owner,s name was Ettore, and I'll never forget him because he sounded exactly like my father who was Calabrese. As I recall, it was very inexpensive, although I'm sure it ain't so anymore. The whole area is beautiful.

That's ok, eks. I talked myself into it. I'll go once ferragosto is over and done and tell you all about it. I won't be going to the coast -- partly because it's redundant in my case but also because, historically, the Sardinians hid well inside their mountains, as far away from pirates and corsairs as they could get. So that's my target, among the shepherds, lots of cheese and lots of chestnuts and I guess no sardines!

You might see if Arthur Schwartz has anything to say about areas south of Salerno. Maybe he's a maven of that area too

I am SO glad you are going soon! I did read about some great sounding agriturismi inland and I have no doubt that you will find a few! The Nuoro area sounded particularly rich, food-wise.

Anthony Bourdain is married to a woman with Sardinian connections and he did a show highlighting the inland cuisine of the island; it fanned the flames for me but after all my reading, I am not so sure if I would put it (Sardinia) first on the list right now..

Arthur Schwartz has a connection with an agriturismo near Paestum, but read the reports and you might have doubts about the place, as I do. I used to like his radio show and his books are good, but I am not certain about his restaurant reviews..we need to discuss this in more detail...I am hampered right now because I am away from home and all my books, notes, etc...

http://www.agriturismoseliano.it/eng/storia.html

eks,

you do know about this already, yes?

http://thefoodmaven.com/seliano/index.html

How funny! We were posting at the same time!

I once had a good time at a restaurant Schwartz recommended in Rome -- and that's the sum total of my experience with his recommendations.

If I can, I'll dig up the Plotkin quote that got me thinking I wanted to eat in Sardegna.

Here it is. From an e-mail exchange he had with Frank Bruni, when Bruni misquoted him as ranking Piemontese food as Italy's best:

FP wrote:

“For a few years now, when people ask me to rank food regions, I do not name one, but three top. Alphabetically they are Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Liguria. E-R is the most opulent, FVG the most varied and sophisticated, and Ligurian is the food I would eat every day if I could only pick one. It is so bright, delicious, healthful and pleasing.

“After these three regions, I add four more: Campania, Piemonte, Sardegna, and Sicilia. Then come the others, and I absolutely prefer Lazio to Toscana, unlike many people. I spent a couple of weeks in the Marche last summer and had a lot of wonderful food. It was like tasting Trattoria Monti on its home turf.

“When it comes to wine, there are the big three — FVG, Piemonte, and Toscana, with Alto-Adige charging hard, and Trentino and Veneto following. Then there are all the rest. Every region makes good wines. Even Liguria makes some excellent wine, but so little is planted and they have Piemonte, Toscana, and E-R (provinces of Parma and Piacenza) at their border, so great wine is right next door.

“If I were to name regions in which both food and wine are at an equally high level, then Friuli-Venezia Giulia is first and Piemonte is second, and I think that Alto-Adige, Lombardia and Sardegna would follow. That issue of balance is important."

We get some excellent wine, cheese and produce from Sardegna in the local market, including a pair of guys who sell strictly Sardegnan food stuffs. I've been making pane frittau from on-line recipes, but I've never actually tasted any other version than my experiments -- so I want to try the real thing.

We're on an epic camping trip in the West, ekscrunchy, but will reply when we get back!

In 1997 we stayed at Residence Pietre Rosse which is Centola, which is right by Palinuro. It was a part of our timeshare group. It had an agreement to use the nearby beach. It was the most magical part of our 1 month trip to Italy (this was our 1st trip). We returned in 2003 to Pietre Rosse. While not part of the timeshare group anymore, we were able to rent a room very cheaply. As is often the case, we were not able to recapture the "magic" of our 1st visit, but the area is still one of our favorites.

We have also been as far South as the City of Reggio di Calabria, where my family is from. We love the Southern part of Italy. The people are warm and the food is incredible.

Zepple thanks for posting that exchange; I found it very interesting and of course, I now have a new region to think about for the future! I am sure you know that FP has written yet another wonderful book. Our of print, like so many of the great ones, but still available, used:



http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Fortunat.../dp/076790611X


Texas: I will look forward to hearing more from you when you return. And Travel52: Thank you so much. Was there anything specific that you did NOT like on the second visit?

ekscrunchy,

What a timely link! I am now planning to go to Friuli-Venezia instead of Sardegna!

ekscrunchy: There wasn't anything that we did not like on our 2nd trip. What happened was, on our 1st visit, we connected with the family who ran the timeshare (they were from Milan), the staff and others staying there. We would be up until 2am on the rooftop talking with them, learning Italian and teaching English. The 2nd trip, the family was gone and the staff had changed. It just didn't hold the magic that the 1st visit did. Having said that, it is a wonderful area.

Thanks so much. I will be back after further research, with more questions....if anyone else has experience in this region, please chime in with any and all comments or opinions..

ek, tomorrow, I hope to meet that person from the Cilento. Are you still interested that I ask him for you? If so, just where to base yourself, one or two locations for one week, and probably some hotel tips? Or any other/further questions?

YES, please, Franco! I would have 7 nights and so far it seems as if I should choose two bases. So the most important choice is: Which two towns? The bases should offer a good choice of restaurants, either in the town, or a short driving distance away.


Extra points for hotel on the sea, or with swimming pool. We will rent a car, and probably fly into and out of Naples. This would be for spring, or fall, 2011, so there is no real rush.

I am interested in any and all restaurant tips! This will be a great help and I thank you in advance, Franco..

Will do, ek - if nothing comes amiss, I'll be reporting back tomorrow!

ek, first, bad news: sorry, but I had got that wrong. He is not from the Cilento but from Naples; just his sister is living in the Cilento, that's why he always goes there. So he deems his expertise on the Cilento insufficient to guide you.

Second, good news: he promised to call his sister, and a friend who lives in (and is from) the Cilento, as well; and he said he would come up with all answers and recommendations you're looking for within a few days, and in detailed form. I'm going to see him again next Wednesday - probably he'll have done his research until then, at least I hope so!!

Franco, my dear, thank you so very much! I will look forward to reading the results of your sleuthing next week!

And regarding another thread, by coincidence, two friends from Florida will be in New York next weekend and they have expressed a desire to have dinner at Peter Luger, where I have not been in about 25 years. They do not have reservations but are willing to eat dinner at 5pm and have invited me to join them. So if my schedule allows me to go along, I will have the results of my research to report to you!

So we'll exchange sleuthing results - wonderful!

Alright sorry for the delay.

And we have not stayed in any hotels along there so I have no advice really about that.

All of your general wants though (glorious scenery, learn about, and devour, great local food, swim, and explore appealing small towns), the Cilento will certainly deliver.

I'm not sure about two bases - I always like to settle in and prefer not to move but this is personal preference. The distances are not very great although travel is slow.

I think you would do much better to base in Castellabate for the northern part (whether Santa Maria di C, San Marco di C at either ends of the beach or or C itself which is up on the hill) than Paestum. We adore the temples but the beach part of town is lots of bland new hotels on a long sandy, but otherwise not very interesting beach.

We have not been south as far as Palinuro - not past Velia - but the coast along there and I'm sure right down to Palinuro is dazzling. Note - these towns are very quiet out of season and their season is very short (although no doubt they are packed in the short high season). When we have been (2nd and 3rd weeks of June), while Castellabate is up and running, Acciaroli and the other small towns to the south have still been absolutely (and I mean absolutely) dead quiet - seem totally out of season still. Santa M di C is far far far quieter then than the AC coast at that time but there are people about ....

ek, here's the first part of my sleuthing results: he has talked to his sister about where to stay - how many places, and which one. (The second part will be about more restaurants - in September, when his gourmet friend will be back home.)
Both his sister and he think there's no point in moving to a second home base; with a car, the Cilento is small enough to stay put in one place and reach everything in convenient daytrips. And the place his sister recommends (it's where all her friends are usually staying on her recommendation) is La Giacaranda, a B&B in S. Marco di Castellabate. They don't have their own website, but this one is giving a pretty complete description: http://www.cilento-ferien.de/en/acco...iacaranda.html - pretty reasonably priced, too.
His sister says it's crucial that you book "the suite" (obviously, there's just one suite). (Which may be more expensive - I don't know.) The beach is 1.5 kilometres away, which may not be what you are craving... but then, it's perhaps not too bad with a car.
And what's of particular interest for you: they are running a slow food restaurant on the property (open upon reservation only)! My friend said this restaurant should keep you entertained for two evenings, and for the remaining evenings, he'll check with his friend (in September, as I said).
Hope that helps!

I forgot to mention: please take note that they're also running cooking classes there, which might perhaps be interesting.

Thanks to both of you! I will be more focused on this trip once I return from Puglia next month, so please stay tuned and prepare for more questions!

Franco, you are a gem for taking the time to ask around and gather all of this very helpful information. The B&B looks lovely and I will consider it, although I had hoped for a place on the sea, or with a pool. (I do realize that this really constrains me, especially in this area..). But La Giacaranda is tempting so I will keep it in mind and will surely have at least one dinner there.

One issue that disturbs me is Texas' comments about how shut up the towns are, even well into June. I would not consider traveling in July or August, although I am sure everything is up and running by then. So where does that leave us? I wonder if you would mind delving into this topic with your "gourmet" friend---does he feel that I would encounter enough truly local places to eat dinner, for example, in early June? I would also look forward very much to hear as much of the information about eating places as your friend can bear to discuss!

No problem, I'm going to ask him as soon as I meet him again - which will probably be only in September, as well. Of course, I had told him that you wanted a beach or a pool, but his sister was so determined about La Giacaranda that there was no room for any second thought about any other place: for her, that's THE place to stay, sorry ek. Anyway, perhaps at least their advice to stay put in one place will be useful for you.

Just wondering if Franco, or anyone else, has an update to this thread.

ek, hello - frankly, my impression (not a very founded one, perhaps, since I haven't been around too regularly over the last few weeks) was that you've given up on your Cilento plan and are returning to Puglia this year; that's why I didn't ask my friend again about the Cilento. But if you do still plan on going there, I gladly will.

ek?

Franco, many thanks! I am so glad you are "back" here!

I had all but given up on the idea and, indeed, plan to return to Puglia in May with my usual travel partner. But my two older friends have just resuscitated the idea of the Cilento/Amalfi trip for the fall. (Actually, they had the idea of an Amalfi Coast visit and I tacked on Maratea and the Cilento. My tentative itinerary must pass muster with them so I am gathering ideas now) The trouble is that the places that look quite charming, especially the one you recommended above, will be too basic for these two friends. It is a bit of a puzzle to find what look like suitable hotels.

I found this one, in Palinuro; try to ignore the prominent photo of the reception desk on the home page! Not sure what that mud is in the beach photos--maybe they use it in body treatments!

http://www.grandhotelsanpietro.com/it/Structure.html



Charming it's not, but it does get decent reviews and has a nice pool. I wonder if Palinuro would be a good base for a couple of days after Maratea. Scenery should be excellent, which will be critical. And there must be some good seafood in those parts..

Ummm, do you want me to be honest? No, you don't. But I wouldn't certainly recommend staying at such a hotel. If it's obviously difficult to find accomodations in the Cilento, what about staying in Maratea and doing the Cilento in daytrips from there? The trip to S. Marco di Castellabate e.g. is just 19 kilometers longer from Maratea than from Palinuro, and takes just 15 minutes more as per Google Maps (a reliable source IME).
Do you already have a hotel in Maratea? If not, what do you think of this find? www.villacheta.it (I recently researched Maratea for a possible franco trip). On the beach, no it's not, but they seem to have arrangements with no less than 11 beaches on the Maratea coast, and in beach season, there is a daily shuttle for the hotel guests to and from each of those beaches. Plus this hotel is really beautiful IMHO.

Ah yes, and if you really go to the Amalfi Coast, I'll ask that friend about it, too - restaurants, above all. Amalfi, this is where he is a real expert, he said. (But I'll make him phone that other friend, the gourmet from the Cilento, as well!)