Train from Salern to Paestum

[chicotam]

We are docking in Salerno on a Sunday in early Oct. and seeking advice on taking the train to Paestum. If you've done this, how easy or difficult was it? We will be there from 7:00-6:30pm. Thanks for your help.

[hkto]

Your best bet is to check trenitalia when exact schedule for your date is published. Right now they run 8:06, 8:41 and 9:37 and back at 2, 3 and 4:30. Trip is 30 min. There is some description from 2011 but train station still at the same place https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g187781-i1671-k4800747-Salerno_to_Paestum-Salerno_Amalfi_Coast_Campania.html

Edited April 18, 2016 by hkto

[euro cruiser]

It's quite easy and well worth it, both the ruins at Paestum and the museum are fascinating.

 

The cruise port in Salerno is at Molo Manfredi. The train station is a mile and a quarter away at Piazza Vittorio Veneto. It's an easy walk along a tree-lined promenade but there is also a public bus if you don't want to walk.

 

From Salerno it's only a half hour train ride. The station at Paestum is a half mile from the museum and the ruins, another easy walk along the road. One right turn and you're there.

 

The Sunday train schedule is a little lighter than weekdays but you'll still have plenty of options. Note that there is a big break after the morning trains, there are several early trains but nothing between 9:37 and 12:47, so you need to get moving and catch one of the early trains.

 

There are several choices for the return, one per hour throughout the afternoon.

 

Do purchase your return tickets in the morning at Salerno as the station in Paestum is unmanned and you don't want to have to count on the ticket machine being in working order.

[chicotam]

Thank you so much for this very helpful information. Sounds like it will work easy enough and is well worth the effort.

[2Bmusic!]

Our ship, the Journey, is in Amalfi on June 18. Can you recommend a way to get to Paestum from their? Please include description of any walk-hike involved. thanks!

[Bobal]

Try and fit in a visit to a mozarella farm while you're visiting Paestum - the site is surrounded by them. They have demonstrations of how to make the mozzarella (which we missed), but we wandered in and saw the buffalos and then had lunch at the cafe with the most amazing mozarella I have ever tasted :)

[SF2AA]

We're on the Jewel of the Seas calling on Salerno on the third Monday in October. Several questions we need help on:

 

1. What bus can we take from where the cruise shuttle drops us off (someone mentioned Traversa San Lucia) to the Salerno train station? Where do we catch the bus (CSTP bus?)? I have a bad knee and want to save it for walking around Paestum. Are there taxis around the area where the cruise shuttle drops us off?

 

2. I read in Rick Steves' 2015 book that the Paestum Archeological Museum is closed on the first and third Mondays of the month, which was a show stopper. [Plan B is to take the SITA bus up the Amalfi coast, which sounds a little too touristy.] I then went to the Museum's website http://www.infopaestum.it/paestum_02.php?page=guip&spage=guip05&lang=eng

and read that on the first and third Mondays they close at 1:40pm. I have no idea if this information is up to date or correct. Does anyone have any experience with the Museum on a first or third Monday?

 

3. How can you find the Museum from the Paestum train station? How far? Are there any signage to help navigate?

 

4. Where are the buffalo cheese farms? :-)

 

Thanks a lot!

[SF2AA]

We made this trip in October 2016 and had a fantastic time. Paestum is well worth the little effort to get to from Salerno, and from our conversations with our ship mates on the Jewel of the Seas much preferable for us than to try to do the Amalfi coast from Salerno. In our opinion, Naples would be the port to do the Amalfi coast, and Salerno is the port to do Paestum.

 

We followed the directions found in Rick Steves' Italy guide book (he has a chapter on the Amalfi Coast and Paestum) and found them to be useful and accurate. We bought RT tickets from Salerno to Paestum (no ticket office in Paestum) and validated them before getting on board the train to Paestum. Only three of us got off at Paestum, which was about 9:30am. With our backs to the Paestum train station, we walked straight through the old city gate. down a pleasant flat country road, until we got to the hotel, where signs would direct our way to the Archeological Museum. And the hours for the Museum found on the web was accurate.

 

The Greek temples at Paestum were amazing! We hardly saw anyone else there, except for one traveler from Australia. After seeing the Parthenon, we preferred the temples at Paestum. For one thing, we have the place to ourselves, and secondly, we could climb into two of them via entrances made for the public. The Paestum Museum, while not as sumptuous as the Acropolis Museum, is no country museum but a gorgeous expansive exhibit, even though it is located in beautiful countryside.

 

We had a wonderful buffalo mozzarella pizza at the R. Nettuno, recommended by Rick Steves, before catching the midafternoon train back to Salerno. It's a nice stroll along Vittorio Emanuele II, the main pedestrian street, from the Salerno train station back to the old town where the shuttle bus to the ship picks us up. All in all, a marvelous trip and the highlight of our cruise to Italy and Greece.