Camerota, Italy: travel guide to the Cilento hill town, its caves and the coast of Palinuro

Camerota is a hill town in the province of Salerno, in Campania, set in the heart of the Cilento within the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage area in southern Italy. While its coastal district of Marina di Camerota is a celebrated seaside resort, the old town of Camerota crowns the hills inland, a maze of stone houses with wide views over sea and countryside.

For travellers searching for Camerota, the Cilento, the caves of Camerota or the coast near Palinuro, the town offers an authentic borgo, prehistoric heritage and some of the most beautiful coastline in Italy.

History

Local legend links the name of Camerota to Palinuro, the helmsman of Aeneas, and a beautiful maiden called Kamaraton. The area is among the most important in Europe for the study of prehistory: the coastal caves around Camerota have yielded Palaeolithic remains of great antiquity, evidence of human presence here over many thousands of years. Through the Middle Ages the hill town grew around its castle as a refuge from raids, taking the layered, fortified form that survives today.

Town and coast

The historic centre is a labyrinth of narrow paved lanes, stone houses, small squares and churches, dominated by the remains of its medieval castle and full of panoramic corners. Below, the coast of Marina di Camerota and nearby Capo Palinuro is famous for its crystal-clear water, sea caves and coves, while the surrounding national park offers walking among Mediterranean scrub, mountains and traditional villages.

Practical information

Camerota lies deep in the Cilento in the far south of the Salerno province, roughly 150 kilometres south-east of Naples, close to the resorts of Palinuro and Marina di Camerota and within easy reach of the coastal town of Sapri. It is best explored by car and makes an excellent base for combining beaches, nature and history.