Surroundings

The ideal weather, sandy beaches, the sunsets, the smell of pine trees are some of the memories and feelings you will bring with you from Camping Desiderio Paestum.

But not only nature…

Paestum is a land of sea, culture, myths, delicious food and typical Cilento products.

You will find it impossible not to visit the archeological site of Poseidonia – the ruins of the  ancient Greek city called Paestum by the Romans – the beautiful city of Magna Graecia  that is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Its magnificent temples, the best preserved in the Magna Graecia’s world, will surprise you as they did with many famous travellers on the Grand Tour such as the famous writer J.W.Goethe. The National Archeological Museum of Paestum houses the famous “Tomba del tuffatore” (Tomb of the diver), a unique example of Greek painting in the classical age.  Other interesting sites are Getsemane’s sanctuary, Madonna del Granato’s church and the Salso’s river headwaters.

Camping Desiderio Paestum is located between the Amalfi coast and the Cilento and is the ideal starting point for your excursions.

If you love nature, you can’t miss a visit to the “Cilento e Vallo di Diano National Park“, the first Italian Park that was designated as a Geopark, one of the largest in Italy, a kingdom of biodiversity, where you can find 1800 plant species including “Primula Palinuri” and  “Sea’s Lilies” ,  varied wildlife, the Pertosa’s caves and Castelcivita’s caves that always fascinate children and adults and a wild landscape in a place called  “Gole del Calore” at Felitto.

You will love the Cilento’s small villages where the time seems to have stopped, such as Roscigno Vecchia  and Sanseverino, or the already famous Castellabate and Agropoli with its Saracen village.

Also very interesting is the archeological site of “Velia”, the cradle of the Eleatic school of philosophers Parmenide and Zeno and the “Certosa di San Lorenzo” in the town of Padula, the biggest monastery in Italy.

The Amalfi Coast is easy to reach by car or by ferry.  Pompeii, Herculaneum, Naples and Vesuvius are within an hour by car or by train. Capri is also easy to visit, departing by ferry or hydrofoil from Salerno (35km from Paestum) or from Agropoli.

From 2015 the beaches of Paestum were awarded with the Blue Flag which is given to sites that meet the criteria for sustainable land management.

Gastronomy

If you say food you say mozzarella! The city of Paestum is located in the middle of two geographical areas called Cilento and Piana del Sele that is the homeland of the famous buffalo’s mozzarella cheese, having the D.O.P. quality brand (Certified provenance brand E.C.C.) and that is famous all over the world.

During your holiday at the “Desiderio” camping site you can visit one of the many “mozzarella farms” where everything is grown and produced on site and where the processing of the mozzarella is made entirely by hand.  Here you can find out everything about the queen of the Italian cheeses and all the products that you can get from this wonderful animal, that has its natural habitat here, such as ricotta, various other types of cheese as scamorza and caciocavallo, yogurt and ice cream all produced with buffalo’s milk.

Another important local food product is the artichoke, known as “tondo di Paestum”

In the Cilento, the region where Ancel Keys invented the “Mediterranean diet”, there are  excellent extra virgin olive oils (DOP),  the wine called Aglianico (DOP),  Cilento white figs, the Roccadaspide’s chestnuts,  many types of homemade pasta like “Fusilli di Felitto”, and a lot of other food products that a centenary agriculture is able to provide.