The wild mountains and coast of Campania

The Italian region of Campania is best known for Naples and the Amalfi Coast, but south of them lies another glorious and much less touristy area. With its "cinematic" coastal scenery and wild mountains, the Cilento region is a dream for hikers, says Nina Burleigh in The New York Times – or for anyone looking to "staccare la spina" ("unplug"). 

Most of it lies within the Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni, Italy's second- largest national park – "699 square miles of beaches, cliffs, emerald vales, river gorges and mountain meadows". It's full of historic villages and fishing towns, and near its northern end sits ancient Paestum, site of some "stupendous" Greek temples – among the best-preserved in the Mediterranean – that inspired 18th century architects across Europe. 

After the Second World War, the US army doctor Ancel Keys bought an old villa here and devoted his life to studying the "salubrious effects" of local eating patterns on the heart. In the fishing hamlet of Pioppi, there's a museum devoted to the Mediterranean diet he made famous, and the region still produces "some of the finest basics of Italian cuisine" – including wonderful extra-virgin olive oil, fresh seafood and excellent cheeses (the road to Paestum is "lined with shops selling mozzarella from the milk of Asian buffalo, possibly first introduced to Italy by the Greeks"). Indeed, among all the reasons to come hiking in the region, none is better than the chance to eat and drink lots of Cilento food and wine. 

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

I stayed in the fishing port of Acciaroli, swimming in the "cold silvery bay" each morning and then heading out in a rental car, armed with a guidebook called Secret Campania. Among my favourite walks was that from the hamlet of Sassano through the Valle delle Orchidee, where rare species of wild orchids bloom in profusion in May – "an astonishing spectacle". 

And as for the Certosa di Padula, Italy's largest monastery, it almost defied belief – a baroque building of immense grandeur hidden away "beyond a maze of farm roads", deep in the mountains.