From Bologna to Salerno - Last Stop: Salerno (9/9)

Salerno

To get to the beautiful coastal city of Salerno we caught a train in the Central Station of Naples; the return ticket price was €10 with Trenitalia. The journey can last between 40 minutes to 1½ hours, so don't forget to check the timetables.

View from the coast of Salerno

Beach and sun in Salerno

Honestly, I wasn't overwhelmed by this city, I expected much more; I think that it's much prettier at night, which happens with many other cities in the area, when the streetlights are turned on and the view of the coast is like a postcard.

In addition to the historic centre and the promenade, known as Lungomare Trieste, there's a lot of green spaces, such as the Minerva Gardens or the beautiful Villa Comunale di Salerno, where you can see the Renaissance Fountain of Don Tullio.

A corner of Salerno's Villa Comunale

Salerno is crowned by the Arechi Castle, from the Medieval era, which you can visit, although we preferred to look at it from below and miss out on the, possibly, formidable views. But this isn't the only castle that can be found in the area, there's also the Terracena Castle, also called Palazzo. The main palaces are the City Hall, the Genovese, the Palazzo Pinto, the Sant'Agostino and the Palazzo Fruscione. The truth is that the history of the city is fascinating but I don't know why it didn't seem that attractive to me, despite all that it offers.

That day was one of blistering heat, so we decided to walk through the city centre, cool off and relax in some of the terraces that we found. The prices there were significantly lower than in other Italian cities.

The Arechi Castle, from far away, crowning the city

With regards to religious buildings, I'd highlight the Cathedral of Salerno (where St. Mateo Evangelista is buried), the Church of Santissimo Crocifisso, the Church of St. Pietro a Corte and the Church of the Annunziata (all very close to each other by means of Via dei Mercanti, a narrow commercial street which is very enchanting).

There's not much else to see in Salerno, perhaps its Provincial Archaeological Museum, although it's nothing special, and the Medieval Aqueduct which one stumbles upon, all of a sudden, in a street.

To see no, but to buy... there are lots of street market stalls in which, in addition to ceramics characteristic of the place, other products are sold such as meats and different types of cheese, of which the smell doesn't go by unnoticed.

However, if there was something that didn't escape our attention, it was the Bar Gelateria Nettuno, full of people and with some much variety of delicious things that made it impossible to choose quickly; the star of this local is the ice cream in brioche, as if it was a sandwich. How good does that sound, right? "La brioche con la nocciatela e panna". There are endless flavours of ice cream, and the quality-price ratio has made this ice cream parlour the most famous of Salerno, almost iconic: it's on the promenade and it seems that everyone who passes through the city also spends time in Nettuno.

We ended our journey with a margarita pizza in Naples, the birthplace of this kind of pizza, and, also, presumably where they make the best pizzas in the world.

The next morning we returned to Madrid a bit browner, or more accurately a bit more burnt, from the sun, and loaded with photos and memories that we'll never forget. But also there was another thing that we'd really miss... an overdose of pasta, pizza and gelato!

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