South of Salerno, past the temples of Paestum, the coast bends out into a great knuckle of mountains, and inland from the beaches the Cilento national park climbs into wooded massifs that most visitors never see. The park, together with Paestum, ancient Velia and the Certosa di Padula, is a World Heritage Site, recognised as a cultural landscape shaped by Greek colonists, Lucanian tribes and long monastic tradition.
Velia, on the coast below, was the Greek city of Elea, home to the philosophers Parmenides and Zeno, and it is a strange thrill to walk its stone streets knowing some of Western thought was hammered out here. The interior is a world away: chestnut and beech forests, karst gorges, villages perched on spurs, and terraces of olives and figs. The Cilento's white figs, buffalo mozzarella from the plain near Paestum and simple cooking based on beans, vegetables and olive oil gave rise to a famous study of the Mediterranean diet by the American scientist Ancel Keys, who lived for years at Pioppi on this coast.
The roads are a rider's dream if you like corners. Narrow provincial roads twist up from the coast, stringing together hairpins and switchbacks with drops into deep valleys and views across to the sea. Surfaces vary wildly, from smooth new tarmac to potholes and gravel spilled from landslides, and in places rockfall is a real hazard after storms. Traffic is light outside August, and spring, with wildflowers everywhere, and early autumn are ideal. Mornings bring clear air and sharp mountain views before the afternoon haze.
Down in Vallo della Lucania, six kilometres away, you will find pumps, a pharmacy and a few trattorias. Higher villages may have a bar and not much else, so do not count on fuel in the hills. Stop for a plate of fusilli with ragù or some local cheese, and if you head down to the coast, the beaches around Palinuro and Marina di Camerota offer clear water for a swim after a hot ride.