Salerno to Paestum

Hello Allan,

In February of 2024, we took the train to Paestum from Salerno. We had booked a tour with Sylvia Braggio. After the 3 hour tour, we had lunch at a cafe and then caught the train back to Salerno.

We bought the train tickets at the stations from the machines. No problems. I had looked up the possible train times ahead of time.

Here is a link to my trip report in case it might be helpful:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-february-march-in-italy

I've only visited Paestum once but the trains all ran on time and there were no surprises. There is a lull in trains in the middle of the day so you have to plan appropriately but other than that no issues. We spent 8 days in Salerno in October using the trains to go all over the area over many days and had no issues. Keep in mind that these trains are the connectors for the entire area and are not just tourist trains run to service the site and Salerno is the big city in this area making it the local hub.

Use the Trenitalia app which will let you check schedules, buy tickets and track trains in real time so you can keep an eye on whether trains are running late or not.

I don't know what the schedule will be in October but now it looks like:
3:25 - 3:58, 3:46 - 4:26, 4:21 - 4:58
So if you're worried aim for the 3:25 train and fall back to the 3:46 and even if that is a few minutes late you're still in by 4:30.
The 4:21 will technically get you into Salerno "before 5:00" but not in time to get somewhere specific in town by 5:00.

Time how long it takes you to do the walk into the site and leave enough time to walk back to the station.

Hope that helps,
=Tod

We stayed in Salerno a couple of weeks ago and took the Regionale train to Paestum, leaving 1:33pm and returned on the 4:21pm train. That would get you back in Salerno just at 5:00. There are earlier trains if that would be better for you. Check the Trenitalia site for all the times. If you can get an Intercity train, they would be perhaps less crowded. Our Regionale was very crowded (few available seats, had to stand) until about 3 stops into the journey, then plenty of locals got off and seats opened up.

Trenitalia link

So if you're worried aim for the 3:25 train and fall back to the 3:46
and even if that is a few minutes late you're still in by 4:30.

That's exactly what our initial plan is. We'll likely head there as early in the morning as we can, so we may get back earlier than expected. However, we spent 2 weeks in Sorrento a couple of years ago and spent 11 hours over 2 days touring Pompeii so we don't want to leave too little time in case Paestum fascinates as much.

Thanks everyone for commenting.

Paestum is completely worth the visit. I think the Roman ruins would make it a "site" by itself but the Greek temples are just another level of amazing.

There is also the museum so leave time for that as well. When we were there the museum was pretty newly re-opened and the Roman floor wasn't wasn't open and you had to be escorted to see "Tomb of the Diver". Hopefully the museum is fully open now, but I haven't heard any recent updates.

The site open @8:30 so you could take the 7:33 get in 8:04 and probably be waiting at the site when it actually opens, but that is probably overkill since the site is not nearly as big as Pompeii. If you're really worried about time you might pack enough food that you can skip a sit down lunch and eat on the go - like between the site and the musuem - to maximize your time.

Enjoy,
=Tod

Sorry, can't help with trains, but . . . the archaeology is worth an hour and the temples at least that, especially if you want photo ops.

I'm currently planning to spend a few days in Salerno, not to Paestum but visiting the villages and enjoying the scenic views. My dates are probably Oct 5-10. Possible meet up?

There is an Etruscan museum just outside of Salerno in Pontecagnano that is worth visiting -the person that is going to Salerno. I've been to Paestum twice and highly recommend it. Heading back to Salerno next weekend! Trains are frequent so you should have no problems.