Europe > Italy > Campania > Parco del Cilento
The Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park covers nearly 180,000 hectares of southern Campania, making it one of the largest protected areas in Italy. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the ancient cities of Paestum and Velia. The landscape is varied: limestone mountains rising above 1,800m, a long coastline with sea caves and sandy beaches, chestnut forests, and river gorges.
The park has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic and contains traces of every subsequent culture — Greek, Roman, Lombard, Norman. The Greek temples at Paestum are just outside the northern boundary; the ruins of Velia (another Greek city, founded 540 BC) are within the park near Ascea Marina.
Walking is the main activity — there are marked trails across Monte Cervati (the highest point, 1,898m) and along the coast. The caves at Pertosa-Auletta include an underground river accessible by boat. Scuba diving is popular along the rocky southern coast around Camerota.
The villages of the interior — Pisciotta, Vallo della Lucania, Laurino — are small and traditional, largely unvisited. The coast is more developed but less crowded than the Amalfi coast to the north.
Getting here without a car is difficult. The A3 motorway passes through the eastern edge of the park.