Capo Palinuro and Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
411 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 40
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From San Giovanni A Piro it runs 411 km to San Giovanni A Piro; allow about 8 h 40 of riding. The stops in between: Paestum, Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w, Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region and back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Capo Palinuro
The cape itself, a rocky headland full of sea caves, lies some way west around the coast, past Marina di Camerota, and both belong to the same wild southern end of the Cilento. The name comes from Virgil: Palinurus was the helmsman of Aeneas, who fell asleep at the tiller, tumbled overboard and washed up on this shore, where he was killed by the locals. His ghost, in the Aeneid, asks for a proper burial, and the cape was named for him.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Capo Palinuro is where the day begins. Next is Paestum.
2. Paestum
Paestum itself, with its three magnificent Doric temples built by Greek colonists, lies down on the coastal plain south of Salerno, and it is part of a single UNESCO listing that covers the whole Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, together with the ancient city of Velia and the Certosa di Padula. This point is in the wild interior of that park, close to Monte Cervati, the highest mountain in Campania.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Paestum comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w.
3. Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 149 km into the recorded legs you reach Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w. Next is Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region.
4. Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Capo Palinuro closes the day.
Leg by leg
Capo Palinuro to Paestum
Capo Palinuro → Paestum is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Paestum to Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w
Paestum → Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w to Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region
Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w → Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region to back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w
Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region → back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w to back through Paestum
back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w → back through Paestum is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Paestum to Capo Palinuro
back through Paestum → Capo Palinuro is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.