My husband and I have a couple of nights in the Salerno/Amalfi Coast area before heading to Matera and am looking for recommendations on lodging in Salerno and Paesteum in October.
Also, is there a place to store our bags at the archeological museum in Paesteum?
Many thanks!
I almost got to stay at B&B Salerno Centro, but couldn’t go (pandemic and all). It does sound excellent.
Thank you for the suggestion! Salerno Centro looks lovely!
I haven't been there, but I think very few people sleep over in Paestum. It's close enough to Salerno, which has a real train.
We stayed at B&B Salerno Centro in March 2015. Centrally located, 3 rentable bedrooms up a flight of stairs. Small kitchen, but we had great communal breakfasts there with folks from the States and Australia who we keep in contact with to this day. Not expensive but no frills for sure. It was a slice of Italian living, but not sure I'd do it again.
Have heard very good things about Hotel Plaza, right across the circle from the Salerno Centrale train/bus station. Very convenient.
Salerno is a perfect stopover for a couple days. The Old Town is charming, great, varied restaurants, the lungomare by the sea is enchanting. And...maybe the best thing...every early evening the locals do the passeggiata, the strolling walks down the main drag, and around and back, similar to the old 'scoop the loop' days in the US. Charming, and so cool!
Right--you don't need to stay in both. How are you traveling to Matera? Are you looking for luggage storage because you'll have it in your car when you visit Paestum?
I have always heard there is luggage storage but cannot verify--you could try emailing to confirm at https://museopaestum.cultura.gov.it/?lang=en
Will you have a car? We spent 3 nights at the Mediterranea Hotel on the south end of Salerno. Free parking, decent breakfast and balconies overlooking the water. Was an easy walk to buses or the metro into the main part of the city. Was nice to return to a peaceful hotel after the bustle snd noise of downtown.
We stayed at the Salerno Centro B&B in April 2022, and highly recommend it. We made arrangements with Francesco, one of the owners, for a number of day trips, including Paestum, the Operation Avalanche Museum in Eboli, and a drive along the Amalfi Coast.
Our room was very nice, and the breakfasts were excellent.
Francesco arranged for a private guide to show the ruins at Paestum. Be sure to see the Tomb of the Diver in the museum.
I also stayed there thanks to Jay's recommendation. I can't say enough good things about it. The location was perfect - on the edge between the modern pedestrian mall and the historic center, a short walk to the seashore promenade, the big, sandy beach and not much farther to the bus/train station.
I also stayed there thanks to Jay's recommendation. I can't say enough
good things about it. The location was perfect - on the edge between
the modern pedestrian mall and the historic center, a short walk to
the seashore promenade, the big, sandy beach and not much farther to
the bus/train station.
Hey Chani!
Salerno Centro B&B is certainly in a prime location, right at the outskirts of Old Town, and pointing the other way is the bus/train station is only a few blocks away at most. But if you're spatially challenged, be aware that it's tiny. The whole B&B is like a very small apartment, with 3 rentable rooms in total.
As I said upthread, it definitely is a slice of Italy. The Manzo family were gracious & hospitable, with awesome breakfasts. This apparently was the apartment that matriarch Lena Manzo grew up in. Pasquale, her husband, did the driving, spoke no English, but was a sweetheart--I hope he's still around but he was in his mid-70's in 2015. In fact, we had a great cooking class one night at their high-rise (6th floor) apartment more in central Salerno.
But we had a genealogical trip planned well in advance through their son Francesco up in the hills in Sant' Arsenio--about an hour away from Salerno. He was supposed to have set up a meeting with the town hall, and we paid a fair amount of money beforehand. But Francesco was a no-show the whole time we were there, apparently leaving the parents to pick up the pieces. Pasquale and the B&B caretaker--a young woman of Japanese descent--drove us up there, and it appeared that nobody in the Sant' Arsenio town hall knew we were coming. And neither Pasquale nor the caretaker knew enough English to translate. We were deflated.
Still had a great time walking around the streets my ancestors walked, finding long-lost descendants at the cemetery, but still we felt like we had been short-changed somewhat, a sleight of hand thing. Didn't totally ruin the time there, but still think folks ought to know.
Folks ought to know that Jay's 2015 experience with Francesco could not be more different from our 2022 experience with him.
From picking us up at our hotel in Pompei, several day trips, arranging for private guides - he didn't miss a beat. He did some research at his own expense to find Operation Avalanche sites for us to visit.
http://www.tenutaducamarigliano.it/
We stayed at this hotel in Paestum in April. We also ate in their restaurant. Highly recommend. And I totally thought it was worth it to stay in Paestum. We had a tour of a buffalo farm, a wonderful lunch at another buffalo farm, just enjoyed the lovely outdoor area at the hotel, and spent a day exploring the ruins and the museum.
And eat at their restaurant! Seriously amazing.
