Diamante and Salerno

After our five-night stay in Parghelia, near Tropea, we took a two-hour journey to Diamante on a spacious train. The plan was to stay here four nights, then have three more at an apartment in Salerno. However, we extended our stayed in Diamante as we loved it so much. For some reason, we didn’t have great expectations for Diamante or Salerno. We went to Calabria because we had been to pretty much everywhere else in Italy. Obviously, Tropea has a fine reputation, but we did not expect to be so blown away by the rest of the trip. Hopefully, I’ll be able to put over why we were so taken by this stop over!

The Hotel Ferretti is good 4* accommodation. We had a good-sized room, with a large balcony and sea view, for about £120 a night. The hotel has a large swimming pool with a sunbathing area and a private beach accessed by a tunnel under the road. With the sand being a tad coarse, the sea was very clear, and there were more than enough interesting fish to make me regret not packing my goggles. The setting was perfect; quiet, unexploited, sublime. But we saw from the train that the whole coastline is rich in these charming beaches in places we’ve never heard of. And zero high-rise hotels – long may it stay that way.

We were about a fifteen-minute walk from the centre of the old town, and most of that was along a wide promenade. Diamante’s claim to ‘fame’ is its murals. They are the brainchild of Milanese artist Nani Rosetti, who came up with the idea of inviting artists to come along and do some paintings on alleyways and lanes of the historic centre. A simple enough idea, and a fabulous one. Alongside the obvious charm of the windy, narrow streets is the pleasure of coming across superb art works around every corner. The style of the images varies, but I never saw one that didn’t ‘fit’. It’s a unique open-air gallery. See the video link below for a few photographs.

Obviously, the town has done this to attract visitors, but it isn’t remotely tacky, and Diamante retains its authentic historical and Italian vibe. It’s a great place to walk around and just generally hang out. The Italian cultural habit of ‘La Passeggiata’ is the tradition of taking a stroll in the early evening, just to see and be seen. How mellow. How civilised. How Italian.

There is a gastronomic tradition in the region of spicy red peppers and it’s a good place to buy a large chunk of nduja to take home. We’ve got enough to last us till next year. The image of the red chilli pepper is all over, my wife even had a chilli flavoured lager! She didn’t have a second one…

Speaking of vittles’, here are a few recommendations. La Pagoda was opposite our hotel. It is mainly a seafood restaurant. I had a splendid clam spaghetti dish, as usual quite al dente. The place overlooks the beach, but the ambiance was somewhat spoiled by the commercial radio station that was playing trashy pop interspersed with adverts. They turned it down when asked. Weirdly, they didn’t seem to understand that it sounded awful and incongruous in such an otherwise sublime setting.

Albergo Antico Enoteca is a smashing little bar in the old town. It has a great range of beers, including the chilli one. We went a couple of times and ate a meat and cheese platter for an evening meal on one visit. At Ristorante Pizzeria La Guardiola, we had superb, large pizzas. Again there was a sea-view, and again the ambiance was crap. This time they had a television on! In the restaurant! It was blasting out some asinine game show. They might have turned it down a little when we asked. I came just to accept this as a local ‘thing’. Thankfully, at Mia Casa in the old town had a more traditional aural setting, and we had a great meal there. The stuffed black pig was excellent. You need to book this place, as it’s very popular.

That’s my take on Diamante. I’d go back. Nice hotel, a hearty walk into town, a bar or two along the way, a nice meal. I loved it. After this, we headed off for our final stop in Salerno. I didn’t really know what to expect, but we asked a few people and the message we got was that Salerno was underrated. Indeed, it is.

From Diamante, we caught a train to Salerno which is outside of Calabria at the bottom end of the Amalfi Coast. Like many of its counterparts in the region, there is extensive new development and a historic old centre. The ‘centro historico’ is fabulous. Narrow winding streets and lanes, barely wide enough to get a car down, and plenty of bars and restaurants tucked away. It oozes charm in the evening when places open up. It felt like a posh version of Naples. The streets are paved with the same black, volcanic slabs. Whereas Naples is quite frenetic and loud, Salerno is more gentle and chic.

We were only there two days and didn’t get to see much, but we really liked it. The prices are pretty reasonable, certainly cheaper than the UK. Salerno has good transport links to the towns like Amalfi, Positano and the isle of Capri. It is a good base as it offers Amalfi Coast options without Amalfi Coast prices.

On the first evening we wandered around to get our bearings. BAI – Birra Artigianale Italiana Salerno sells a decent rage of beers, including the American IPA style. It’s a stylish joint in a boho kind of way. We had pizza in the highly rated Pizzeria Criscemunno. It was good, but they should have warmed the plates up as the food went cold rather quickly.

The next day, we took a twenty-minute train journey to Paestum. The train stops at the UNESCO world heritage site, which contains the substantial remains of an ancient town dating back to 600BC. There are three well preserved Greek Temples and the extensive ruins of a roman town built on the site. The entrance fee is €15 per person, about two hours is enough to see the whole thing. We didn’t go in the museum. It wasn’t too busy, and we enjoyed a mellow mooch around. Visitors are allowed to walk into the temples, unwisely perhaps, but I did find that rather exciting! The site is as good as Agrigento in Sicily and easier to get to, as it is a stone’s throw from Paestum railway station.

We flew home from Naples to Manchester with Ryanair. The flight was delayed by over three hours and we pocketed £660 in compensation.

Should you go?

We had a fine old time. The coastline of Calabria deserves more exploration. Generally, it seems to be a place where Italians go on holiday. That said, we did come across a few Americans and those we spoke to had family roots in the region which they were chasing up. Some people have heard of Diamante, Salerno and Tropea (especially), but they are not famous destinations. I think our mini tour was a good way to approach the region. The railway service is pretty good and conveniently runs the length of the coast. In September we got a couple of showers but mostly fine weather, as high as 30C in the afternoons.

Diamante was my favourite place. As an Italophile, I loved it.