Why this ride
A 416 km round trip from Sanza - roughly 8 h 50 in the saddle. The stops in between: Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w, Capo Palinuro, Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region and back through Capo Palinuro.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Paestum and Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 416 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 50
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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.
Read the complete Paestum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Paestum is where the day begins. Next is Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w.
2. 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.
Read the complete Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w comes up about 78 km into the recorded legs. Next is Capo Palinuro.
3. 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.
Read the complete Capo Palinuro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Capo Palinuro. 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.
Read the complete Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region, about halfway. Next is back through Capo Palinuro.
5. back through Capo Palinuro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Capo Palinuro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Capo Palinuro sits at 169 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w.
6. back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w comes up about 339 km into the recorded legs. Next is Paestum.
7. Paestum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paestum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Paestum closes the day.
Leg by leg
Paestum to Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w
Paestum → Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w to Capo Palinuro
Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w → Capo Palinuro is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Capo Palinuro to Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region
Capo Palinuro → Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region is 84 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region to back through Capo Palinuro
Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region → back through Capo Palinuro is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Capo Palinuro to back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w
back through Capo Palinuro → back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w is 48 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 Paestum
back through Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park w → Paestum is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.