For anyone wanting to experience what is beyond Italy’s most popular stretch of coastline, you can now explore a new part of Italy’s south: the Cilento National Park. A new walking holiday takes you to the lesser-known Cilento Coast, on the Gulf of Salerno’s southern shore, the natural extension of the famous Amalfi Coast.

There is more to the Amalfi Coast than Positano, Ravello, endless sips of limoncello and crowded walking paths.

Concentrating on Cilento, Italy’s largest national park, this remote self guided trip is a short walking break designed to appeal to anyone who wants to experience ‘the other side of Amalfi’. A place which in many ways exists in its own time warp, little visited Cilento remains largely undisturbed by the 21st century.

In Roman Times, Cilento was known as Campania Felix – or ‘happy land’!

The walk takes you along rocky ridges, richly scented pinewoods and centuries-old olive trees. It intersperses with quaint fishing villages, medieval farm houses and traditional water mills. Stay in an ancient convent and enjoy quiet and remote walking in a stunning, yet less known, pocket of Italy. Highlights include:

• Take in the wild beauty of the Cilento Coast, with rocky ridges set between small picturesque inlets and richly scented pinewoods backing onto wide sandy beaches and serene Italian fishing villages
• Witness the traditional way of life as you visit medieval borghi (fortified hilltop villages), rural chapels and ancient farm houses in Cilento National Park
• Enjoy sumptuous, drenched-in-olive-oil banquets – homemade pasta, locally sourced ingredients and wines from the somewhat unusual (but very amenable) aglianico grape
• Follow the old mule track to the ‘Valley of the Mills’, named after the many medieval watermills that once dotted the course of the stream
• Cross the ‘Alta Via’ along the Monte Stella ridge, past the Chapel of Monte Stella and through chestnut woods to the abandoned, pre-Roman fortress of Castelluccio
• Admire panoramic views of the Amalfi Coast and the island of Capri – on a clear day you may even catch a glimpse of Sicily if you look south!
• Visit the archaeological site Paestum – famous for its Doric-order temples, the museum in Italy preserves a unique Diver’s Tomb, a prime example of Greek funerary painting.

Take the 5-day Cilento Coast and Mountain trip in Italy either as a standalone short break, combining the Amalfi Coast highlights or as an extension to our 6, 8 and 11-day Amalfi itineraries.

For more information on Cilento National Park and to speak with our team of travel consultants, there are various ways to contact us.