“La Via Silente” is a circular route of approximately 600 km that goes from the coast to the mountains of one of the largest National Parks in Italy: the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. It owes its name to the silence that settles in the places you pass through, almost completely neutralizing the noises of human activities.
The route is very well signposted, but you can download GPX tracks and find lots of other information on the official website of La Via Silente. The complete route is suggested in 15 stages, but there are also shorter tours, or everyone can just customize its own journey. For example we cycled for 10 days (450km), skipping the climbs to the high peaks and enjoying some relaxing days by the sea. Below you find our stage-by-stage description, photos, travel tips and GPX tracks, to help you best enjoy Cilento by bike.
HOW TO GET THERE
The starting point of La Via Silente is officially Castelnuovo Cilento, which is located a few kilometers from Vallo della Lucania train station. We arrived there with a night train from Milan, and then with the organization’s transfer we reached their info-point in Velina, where we reassembled the bikes and left our bags… but you can start riding as well from the station! Alternatively, if you don’t feel like dismantling and reassembling your bike, you can travel during the day and stop for the first night at the brand new Palazzo Resiliente in Velina: a hostel, bike café and info point, where they also rent bikes. bikes. Don’t forget to take your travel booklet to collect stamps!
DAY 1 CASTELNUOVO CILENTO/POLLICA: 38km, 640D+
Short stage but full of beauty. It starts from the castle of Castelnuovo Cilento downhill, and then goes up along the slopes of Monte Stella. We decided to stop in Pollica, overlooking the beautiful sea of Acciaroli, and slept at Da Zahir, where we had breakfast on a small terrace with a breathtaking view… But you could also go 6km further, downhill, and immediately reach the sea in Pioppi. We went there for dinner (by car with some friends) for dinner at A casa di Delia.
DAY 2 POLLICA/VATOLLA: 50km, 900D+
The first part of the ride is all along the beautiful coast, where beaches, cliffs and pine forests alternate. We leave the sea going up towards the pretty village of Castellabate, where it is worth stopping to visit the castle. End of stage in Vatolla, where we visited Palazzo De Vargas, home of the museum dedicated to the philosopher Gianbattista Vico (free entrance). Overnight stay and dinner at B&B La Carosella: the B&B cooks only for cyclists of La Via Silente, so contact it first to make arrangements.
DAY 3 VATOLLA/STIO: 53km, 1.000D+
The highlight of the day is Trentinara, nicknamed the “terrace of Cilento”, where you can fill up on adrenaline with Cilento in volo a 1.5km zipline above a spectacular pass. Don’t forget to kiss under the sign in the square! End of stage in the small but charming Stio, where you can also visit the artisan workshop of the Campitiello master luthiers. There isn’t much for dinner, but at the Il Ritrovo Pizzeria Restaurant we ate a delicious pizza and some great veggies. The typical dish of Stio, however, is Cicci Maritati, which is a soup of cereals and legumes. Night at the B&B Chiusa di Bianco, Giovanna also prepared some vegan cakes for breakfast!
DAY 4: STIO/PETINA: 80,5km 1.270D+
The route now becomes really “silent” riding towards the mountains. Take a break for a swim in the Gorges of the Calore river, just before Felitto (the city of fusilli), before continuing in the direction of the Alburni Mountains. If you have legs and time, which we didn’t have, Castelcivita and the famous Castelcivita Caves are worth the detour. From Controne we decided to continue along the main road, simpler than the original route that passes through Postiglione. Past Sicignano degli Alburni with its beautiful castle, the route up to Petina is splendid, dominated on the right by the mighty and magnificent Alburni Mountains. Night at pretty B&B Sotto il Figliolo.
DAY 5 PETINA/CORLETO MONFORTE: 20km, 690D+
We start with a 7km climb up to the Casone Aresta astronomical observatory. The climb is tough, but it is perhaps the most beautiful of the entire route, through a dense chestnut forest, up to 1.200m asl: be prepared to push 18% in some sections! Then it’s all downhill to Sant’Angelo a Fasanella, where you can’t miss the Cave-Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo. We stopped for the night in Corleto Monforte, overnight and dinner at Agriturismo cuore lieto del Cilento, and in the afternoon we went exploring Auso waterfalls. However, if you carry a tent, you can continue to the ghost town of Roscigno Vecchia, and enjoy a magical night in the small village abandoned at the beginning of the 1900s.
DAY 6 CORLETO MONFORTE/SALA CONSILINA: 50km, 990D+
After the visit to Roscigno Vecchia (if you haven’t slept there in a tent you have to make a detour from Roscigno Nuovo), you ride towards the town of Sacco crossing one of the highest single arch bridges in Europe, from which you can see the deep gorge carved by the Sammaro river, which flows 170 meters below. From here another beautiful climb starts up to the spectacular Sella del Corticato, which in June turns yellow due to the brooms! From the top of the Sella, looking down towards the valley, you can already see the village of Teggiano: we are leaving Cilento to head towards Vallo di Diano. Lunch break in Teggiano at Albergo Ristorante La Congiura dei Baroni (where if you are tired you can also stay overnight) and then off downhill towards Sala Consilina, where we stayed overnight in the beautiful new Compà B&B (which also has a super equipped bike room) and had dinner at Il Vecchio Mulino, a meat restaurant which also has an excellent and abundant vegetarian starter. If you need to fix your bike, Konos Cycling shop is close.
DAY 7 SALA CONSILINA/TORTORELLA: 64,5km, 1.110D+
The cultural highlight of the day and of the journey is undoubtedly the Certosa of Padula, unmissable! Stop for lunch in Sanza at Ristorante Pizzeria da Saro, (excellent lagane with chickpeas) and stop for the night in Tortorella, one of the quietest destinations of our journey. Along the route it is worth stopping just outside Casaletto Spartano to visit the waterfall called “i Capelli di Venere”. In Tortorella we stayed overnight at Casa Vacanze da Nicola and Lina, which also offers a kitchen, cause in town there is only one pizzeria that opens only on weekends and you will need to coock (yes, there is food store!)
DAY 8 TORTORELLA/SAN GIOVANNI A PIRO: 32,5km, 770D+
The first part of the route is up and down through long wooded stretches, then you dive downhill towards the Gulf of Policastro. We arrived in Scario for lunch and relaxed by the sea in the afternoon, before heading back up towards San Giovanni a Piro. Overnight stay and dinner at Albergo La Pergola.
DAY 9 SAN GIOVANNI A PIRO/MARINA DI CAMEROTA: 20km, 310D+
A very short stage to go to the seaside, however it is still worth making the detour to see the amazing Belvedere of Ciolandrea and sit on the giant bench of San Giovanni a Piro. In Marina di Camerota, in addition to relaxing on the beach, we walked a stretch of the spectacular Sentiero degli Infreschi, which leads to some of the most beautiful and uncontaminated beaches in Cilento. On these cliffs grows Primula Palinuri, a protected and endemic species, symbol of the Cilento National Park. Overnight stay at Albergo Il Delfino and vegetarian dinner with typical local disched at La Cantina del Marchese.
DAY 10 MARINA DI CAMEROTA/VELINA: 47km, 600D+
Stage entirely along the coast, which still gave us many incredible views. It is worth stopping in pretty Pisciotta: we had lunch on the panoramic terrace of I tre gufi restaurant. The complete route of La Via Silente would include another detour towards the interior, but we continued along the coast and made another sea stop at the Marina di Ascea, before returning to the Velina Info-point, dismantling our bikes and jumping on the night train towars Milan.
