According to legend, the siren Leucosia threw herself into the sea here after failing to lure Odysseus to his doom, and her body became the little island off Punta Licosa. It is a fine story for a fine place. Punta Licosa is a low, wild headland on the coast of the Cilento, south of Salerno, covered in Mediterranean scrub, pines and holm oaks, with rocky coves and clear water, and it forms part of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, listed by UNESCO in 1998 as a cultural landscape. Behind it rises Monte Stella, the mountain that gives its name to the surrounding hills, dotted with small villages and terraced olive groves.
The nearby villages of Castellabate, perched on a hill with a medieval castle, Santa Maria di Castellabate by the sea and the small harbour of San Marco are charming and lively in summer. The Cilento is also where the American physiologist Ancel Keys lived for many years in the village of Pioppi, studying the local diet and helping to define what became known as the Mediterranean diet.
The riding is superb. The coast road winds above the sea, with views over the Gulf of Salerno, and the roads that climb into the hills around Monte Stella, through villages like Perdifumo and Pollica, are twisty, narrow and full of character. Surfaces vary from good to rough, and traffic is light outside August, when holidaymakers pour in from Naples and Rome. Watch for gravel, potholes and the occasional goat.
Agropoli, about twelve kilometres north, is the main town, with fuel, shops and a pretty old town on a headland. Santa Maria di Castellabate has small shops and restaurants. Local food is a reason to come in itself: buffalo mozzarella from the plain around Paestum, Cilento white figs, olive oil, anchovies from Pisciotta, fresh fish and pasta with local vegetables.
The headland itself is reached on foot from San Marco, along a path through the scrub, and it is a beautiful walk with chances to swim in quiet coves. Come in late spring or September, when the sea is warm and the crowds have gone. The Greek temples of Paestum lie just to the north, one of the best-preserved groups in the world, a perfect addition to a Cilento day.