Published on: 15 January 2016  | Last updated: 24 December 2019

This section continues along the beautiful Cilento coast, passing some of Italy’s best beaches around Palinuro and the Marina di Camerota, before climbing to the historic villages of Lentiscosa and San Giovanni a Piro. It ends with a glorious descent down to the Golfo di Policastro.

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Distances
Acciaroli - Palinuro	40.6 kms
Palinuro - Marina di Camerota	11.5 kms
Marina di Camerota - Scario	22.3 kms
Scario - Sapri	15 kms

This section continues along the Cilento coast combining dramatic scenic roads, attractive villages and some of the most beautiful sections of the Italian coast. 

Acciaroli to Pioppi

A short way along the coast is another charming former fishing port at Pioppi. The little lungomare is one of the nicest that you will find anywhere in Italy.

Pioppi’s claim to fame is that it is the Capitale Mondiale della dieta Mediterranea (World Capital of the Mediterranean Diet) — even the gelateria on the lungomare claims that its ice cream was made rigorosamente with ingredients that are part of the Mediterranean diet . Pioppi’s claim is based on the fact that nearby Cannnichio was home for many year to the American physiologist Ancel Keys and a number of his collab­or­ators. Keys first put forward the hypothesis after observing that Italy had the highest concen­tration of centen­arians in the world. 

While you’re in Pioppi you might want to check out the Museo Vivo del Mare, run by the Legambiente and housed in the historic Palazzo Vinciprova.

Ascea and the Marina di Camerota

Another scenic stretch and a short climb bring you to the Marina di Castel Velino (and a nice beach). After the Marina di Castel Velino, a not very inter­esting stretch of road takes you over the river and into Castellammare di Velia past the Velia archae­olo­gical site. Among other things there’s a Greek theatre high on a hill looking out to sea — an unusual sight on the mainland.

Close by is the Marina di Ascea with a lovely sandy beach and cycleway along the lungomare. Unfortunately, there is no through road, but it’s worth the side-trip. From the Marina di Ascea, the road climbs towards Ascea (altitude 200 m or so).

After Ascea, there’s a wild and very scenic stretch of road, lined with ancient olive trees, on towards Pisciotta and Palinuro. There are a couple of short but steep sections on the way towards Pisciotta (pronounced pish-otta), an attractive town overlooking the sea with a centro storico grouped around the castle.

Palinuro and the Marina di Camerota

After Pisciotta there’s a relaxed cruisey descent down into Palinuro. Palinuro is a bit touristy, but it’s worth a detour to see the little port and beach at the Capo di Palinuro — or you could climb to the faro (light­house) on the rocky headland. The Capo Palinuro is also known for its grotte (caves) - some of which are only accessible by divers. The best-known is the Grotta Azzurra.

From Palinuro the route follows the coast to the Marina di Camerota. There’s a long stretch of sandy beach and the road here is likely to be busy on summer weekends and in the August.

The Marina di Camerota is a former fishing village and its borgo marinaro with its narrow streets converging on the Piazza San Domenico In the nineteenth century many people from the village emigrated to South America - and their influence is felt in the memorial to Simón Bolívar, and the main street is named after him along with a cinema.

Leaving the Marina di Camerota you pick up the SR562 and the biggest climb of the section (537 altitude gain over 10 kilometres). It’s a great little climb with a series of hairpin bends and great views looking out to sea and over the resort, and the Torre Zancale (one of three watchtowers in and around the resort). It takes you past the Capella della Madonna di Piedigrotta (96m).

Lentiscosa and San Giovanni a Piro

Part way through the climb is Lentiscosa, a village founded by Basilian monks — Greek orthodox monks who were fleeing from religious perse­cution in the eighth and ninth-century Byzantine empire when religious images were banned (see wikipedia.org: Byzantine Iconoclasm). The monaci basiliani settled in remote places all over southern Italy and left their art in the chapels they built: the best known are the chiese rupestre in Matera and the surrounding area. While there are other frescoes, when it comes to completeness and the state of preser­vation I don’t know of any that compare with the frescoes in the Cappella di Santa Maria ad Martyres. I don’t know when the capella is open, but you could try asking in the tourist inform­ation office in the Marina di Camerota.

Near to Lentiscosa is the protected marine area of the Costa della Baia degli Infreschi e della Masseta. It’s probably most easily accessed by boat from the Marina di Camerota. 

Frescoes in the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres (Lentiscosa). Photo: flickr user ‘MONUDET’.

As I left Lentiscosa, I got caught in the rainstorm that had been threat­ening. In fine weather this would be a gorgeous stretch of road, looking out to sea over the olive groves. As it was, the clouds broke as I descended into San Giovanni a Piro and I was rewarded with a dramatic view over the Golfo di Policastro.

San Giovanni a Piro was also founded by Byzantine monks. The monastery of San Giovanni Battista (Saint John the Baptist), was on of the leading centres in southern Italy. 

There’s then another glorious descent down to Scario on the coast, an attractive village seaside village with views over the golfo.

The last section of the route is pretty flat, taking you along the coast through Policastro Bussentino, Capitello and Villammare. the road gets busier as you join the main SS18. There’s a short tunnel on the SS18 at Villammare which you can avoid by following the lungomare.

Articles in this series

• Southern Tyrrhenian Coast overview
• Southern Tyrrhenian Coast Part: 1: the Costiera Amalfitana from Sorrento to Salerno
• Southern Tyrrhenian Coast: Part 2: the Costiera Cilentana from Salerno to Acciaroli
• Southern Tyrrhenian Coast: Part 3: The Costiera Cilentana from Acciaroli to Sapri
• Southern Tyrrhenian Coast: Part 4: Basilicata and Calabria from Sapri to Scalea