A holiday in Palinuro is a journey into a place where myth meets reality and history blends with nature.
In this unique landscape of hills and sea, everyone can choose their ideal combination of nature and silence, fitness and culture, beach life and excursions. This destination has much to discover and you can explore it thanks to our many holiday offers to Palinuro.
Palinuro is the most important seaside town in the Cilento region, and a favourite tourist destination in the Salerno province. Located at the heart of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, it owes its name to the mythological character Aeneas from The Aeneid. Every year towards the end of August, Palinuro celebrates the "Night of the Myth" in honour of the brave helmsman who travelled with Ulysses on his cursed voyage to Ithaca. The theatrical manifestation of one of the greatest myths of all time takes place on the beach at Mingardo, involving hundreds of costumed figures.
Palinuro is one of the best spots on Cilento's coast, thanks to the crystal-clear sea, immense beach and fantastic cliffs with natural caves and stupendous bays. Nature lovers will appreciate the flora and fauna. The typical native flower is the golden Primula Palinuri that sprouts out of the fissures in the vertical cliffs overhanging the sea. A few years ago the Primula di Palinuro became the official symbol of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park.
One of the city's main attractions is the caves at Capo Palinuro, which comprise 32 grottos, including the famous Blue Grotto. Only accessible by sea, this cave is characterised by its brilliant light blue water due to a siphon that filters the rays of sunlight inside it. Other quite beautiful caves are the Monks' Grotto (so called for its dark brown stalagmites, reminiscent of praying monks) and the Presepe Grotto. From a strictly scientific point of view, the Grotto of Bones or Prehistoric Cave is interesting for its prehistoric animal bones. The marvellous Arco Naturale is a must-see, at the mouth of the Mingardo River, on a beautiful horseshoe inlet between two beaches. All of the caves can only be reached by sea. The Arco Naturale harbours a real gem of a beach, along which runs a river marina for small boats and minimum draught vessels. In front of the Coniglio Islet, there's a splendid beach called Buon Dormire.
Above Palinuro springs the town of Centola, founded around the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria degli Angeli, built in 1207 by a group of Greek and Italian monks. The village, though small, is rich in artwork and monuments. The Romanesque bell tower of Cappella di Santa Sofia, the Cappuccini Convent with its Baroque walnut altarpiece and the Church of San Nicola di Mira are quite lovely.
If you've time to do more than enjoy the splendid sea, two of Centola's hamlets deserve a visit, one of which is completely abandoned: San Nicola and San Severino di Centola. The uninhabited part of San Nicola has all the traits of a typical Cilentano village, with its concentric streets, church square and houses with sloping tile roofs. San Severino's medieval structure is perfectly intact, at the apex of which is the original unchanged castle. All around are narrow lanes, houses built one atop the other, the main square and the church.
Palinuro offer beaches for everyone. You'll have a bountiful selection of wide sandy beaches to choose from, separated only by rocky outcroppings and little coves with crystalline water. Some beaches and rocky coasts are quite empty, but are prized for their isolation. The main beaches include Ficocella with its fine sand and clear limpid water, and Buon Dormire - accessible only by sea and renowned for its emerald green water. Last but not least is Spiaggia delle Saline, situated behind the northern part of Palinuro with soft golden sand and an air of wilderness. Cilento awaits you with open arms, so take a look at our last minute holiday offers to Palinuro.
