salerno
The odd cube-shaped cement blocks at the port
The Margherita DOC pizza at Gusto E Sapori
Ravioli al Limone
Laundry hanging
Our Salerno Airbnb
The train Laura and I were supposed to take to Salerno was never able to leave the station. However, with the help of a very friendly woman from Calabria named Federica we were able to get there eventually, practice our Italian, and communicate the transportation problems with our Airbnb host in Salerno. She taught us some new phrases like rotto (broken) and pazzo! (crazy!) and was so helpful on our journey that I dubbed her “Santa Federica” which made her laugh and humbly reply “no, no, it’s no problem.” We learned that although the trains and buses in Italy can often be late, it was very rare that a train would break.
We were met two hours later than intended at the station by our host, Alessandro, who showed us to the apartment and gave us great tips on what to eat and see in and around Salerno. Before venturing out to explore the area and find food, Laura and I happy-danced over the apartment’s charm, cleanliness, and killer price. We wandered the neighborhood streets further away from the touristy-looking places until we finally found a menu written only in Italian with fair prices: Gusto E Sapori. Much to our surprise and delight, nobody working in the restaurant spoke English and its only patrons seemed to be older locals; we took this as a sign that the food was authentic and delicious. Everything we ordered in our two visits to Gusto E Sapori, including the Insalata Verde—which is literally just butter lettuce and olive oil—was exquisite. We shared orders of Foccacia di Rosmarino, Gnoccheti al Tegamino (baked gnocchi in tomato sauce and plenty of cheese), and Tortino di Patate e Polipo al Limone which is like a seafood, oil, and lemon mashed potato delectable work of art. Everything was so rich in flavor yet basic in ingredients and in total I think we spent only €10 each (including tip). Pazzo! Whenever food is that good I have no problem going back for more, the next night we shared the salad, Margherita DOC pizza, and Ravioli al Limone which did not fail to disappoint in the slightest.
Most of our time in Salerno was spent at any beach we could find from Paestum to Positano, but I will detail those visits in depth in the next few posts.
Salerno was such an excellent home-base for us that we extended our stay at the apartment, it's especially great if you plan to see the neighboring areas extending from Paestum and Cliento to the south or up north on the Amalfi Coast, including the islands of Capri and Ischia. We also actually loved Salerno itself. This great article helped us decide to book our stay there in the first place and is full of useful information.
Here’s my breakdown on Salerno for those who are interested:
For a major port, the water is actually very clear and not too far down the road (about a 40 min walk) is a cleaner beach called La Baia than the one centrally located in town. Plus it has these awesome giant cube shaped cement blocks for reasons we never determined.
Like the article I linked above says, it is a much more affordable way to see Amalfi and the Islands than staying in Sorrento. Seriously, it was $28 per person per night to stay in our apartment.
For €20 you can get a 3 Day Tourist travel pass that allows you to travel by any bus or train through the entire Campania region with unlimited transfers and combination of uses per day. Some of these noteworthy destinations include Napoli, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, the Castle in Salerno, Paestum, Cliento. We bought ours at the Travel Agency located on your very first right as you enter the Salerno Train Station.
Because of this crazy transportation deal we got to cover SO much ground and see pretty much everything on our list that we wanted to see for much less than we expected and with the added ease of Salerno’s central location to everything. Staying further north would have made it a drag to get to Paestum or (if we had made it) Cliento since everyone is typically traveling south to see Amalfi.
If you’re trying to learn Italian or experience a slice of authentic Italian life, Salerno is a perfect place to be. Hardly anybody speaks English when you avoid the tourist-traps so we got to practice every day. Also, since it’s mostly a place for Italians, prices were not so heavily inflated and the food was accustomed to the tastes of the region. We made purchases at local grocery stores in Italian and when we cooked our own dinners we hardly ever spent more than €4 each on food that would last for about 3 days worth of eating. We loved seeing the fruit man at the Frutteria by the train station every morning on our way to the beach, he gave us good advice and better prices after our first trip back to his store.
Nettuno. Delicious, inexpensive, perfect gelato that is packed almost all day with locals. They even offer gelato con brioche. Mind-blowing. If you aren’t a big eater, I suggest the piccolo (small) brioche because it seemed huge to me and I can’t even imagine what the grande size looked like. Multiple locals suggested the Nioccolata (chocolate hazelnut with cream, kind of like Nutella) flavor with the brioche, and we quickly understood why after the first bite. During our nine days in Salerno and surrounding areas we averaged 3 gelato a day, yet I somehow managed to leave with my pants fitting less tightly than they did when I arrived.
The path along the seaside is great for strolls, runs, cycling, and people watching. Little old men play intense card games and little boys pass soccer balls to each other in the larger areas. And did I mention those awesome cube cement blocks? Those are there too.
Paestum is a 30 minute train ride from Salerno and is just so cool. Unlike the Colosseum, it is not massive in density but in the breadth of space the ruins take up. Guests have open access to tromp around the site that is 500 years older than Pompeii. Paestum also has a stunning beach that is one of the few truly sand beaches in the region and also one of the longest and deepest. Oh, and that Buffalo Mozzarella from Campania that everyone in the whole world raves about? Mostly from Paestum. One of our Salerno housemates brought some back and shared with us, saying "I met the buffalo it came from this morning!" Talk about fresh!
All in all, Thalerno has a special place in my heart, I highly recommend it to all, and I hope if I come back, it won’t have changed too much.
