From your arrival airport, you will make your way to the starting point of the Salt Road in the seaside town of Palinuro.

Now known mostly as a tourist location for seaside holidays, Palinuro, with its safe natural harbor, was an important port from before Greek times. Not only a point for maritime commerce, like trade in salt, fish as well as agricultural and artisanal products from the hinterland, it is also reputed to be the landing place pof Aeneas, demi-god and son of Aphrodite.

You will spend the night in a carefully selected B&B so that you can have a fresh start of your hike the next morning.

Your first day is spent in and around Palinuro, where you'll have a chance to discover more about its peoples throughout the ages and about their local economic activities. 

You'll learn about the salt pans and the "tonnare" that sustained life economically on this beautiful but harsh shore line. 

You'll explore the Molpa, home of the Oenotrians in the Centuries B.C., and later of Roman patricians, Suevi (Germanic people from Schwaben) and finally Normans, until its demise in then 15th Century AD.

You'll also visit the recently reopened beach of the Arco Naturale on the Mingardo estuary, one of the two main entry points for traveling inland.

You'll return to your B&B before embarking on your upstream journey in the morning.

Your second hiking day takes you up into the hills above Trivento, named for being a location that is hit with wind from three directions. You'll learn about the rivers on either side of the hillcrest that is your path, and about migration toward higher grounds in times of disease outbreaks such as malaria.

You'll explore the ruins of a fortified farm in the Middle Ages, where regular intrusions from pirates and Saracens made it necessary to build stronger walls and provide refuge to shepherds and farmers.

You'll visit the abandoned town of Sanseverino di Centola, whose town center and Castle were built on a dizzyingly steep mountain crest.

You'll retire for the night in Sanseverino town or in Poderia, depending on availability.

Your day's journey to Roccagloriosa leads you first down to the river Mingardo, now a narrow stream in most months, but once a broad swirling river that allowed for boats to reach the lower grounds of Roccagloriosa.

This rivier was one of the main trading routes inland, with a large settlement of Lucanians from 700-300 B.C., controlling the territory and trade from the mountains to the coastline. From the waterline you'll find your way back up the hill and towards the Medieval town of Roccagloriosa.

On arrival in town, you'll have a chance visit the archeological site of Roccagloriosa, where you can witness the settlement and burial grounds of the Lucanians. This warrior people was known for building loose and ever-changing alliances with coastal settlers to further their control and riches.

The Medieval roots of the current town are visible in the old Castle ruins and in the town's winding staircases. You'll retire here for the night before traveling up toward Rofrano.

Your journey continues to follow the river Mingardo ever further inland, to Alfano and Rofrano. These towns are among the most remote in the Cilento internal areas. They are connected to Coastal towns and highways only by secondary roads that follow the craggy mountains.

You'll experience the immense silence that is interrupted only by the sound of the river below, as you follow the aquaduct. The Faraone river that springs in Rofrano's vast territory, and whose fresh water supplies the entire coast from the Gulf of Policastro in the South to Montecorice in the North.

You'll cross the Mingardo upstream near the town of Alfano, then follow it's Western bank up to Rofrano. This town is situated strategically at a crossroads between the main roads of Monte Gelbison and Velia n the West, the Mingardo in the South, the Vallo di Diano in the East, and the the rivers Calore and Sammaro in the North. It was home to an important and much frequented Byzantine Abbey from the early Middle Ages, but its roots are likely much older. 

You'll find your B&B for the night in this friendly town.

From Rofrano you'll take towards the mountain pass that separates Cilento from the Vallo di Diano, and leave the Faraone and Mingardo rivers for the Bussento. This hike takes you through the forests on the lower slopes of the Monte Centauro, through what were once fertile farm lands. Here you can see how agricultural settlements are now reclaimed by dense woodslands.

The old road is now in use only by a small number of shepherds who take their flocks of sheep and goats to pasture down to the banks of the Bussento river and back up into the mountains. 

You'll join the river near Sanza, where you'll find the Medieval Ponte l'Abate, important crossing for travelers of all kinds, from pelgrims to traders, from shepherds to farmers.

Past the bridge, it's a short walk to the town of Sanza, historically one of the most important strategic lookout points over the Bussento valley down to the Gulf of Policastro. Here, travelers from Palinuro and from Policastro met up on their way to and from the Vallo di Diano.

Sanza is a town with Medieval roots near what was once called Sontia by the Romans, after Lucanian inhabitants the Sontini. This Lucanian settlement was destroyed by the same Romans for opposing their control over the territory ands trade routes that we now call the Salt Roads.

Leaving Sanza, you'll see the landscape change to barren hills and agricultural fields. The main economy around the Vallo di Diano, form many centuries was centered around sheep and goat herding.

As you approach Buonabitacolo, your destination for the day, you can see how the hilly landscape at then foot of the mighty Cervati Mountain would welcome flocks of grazing animals  all year round.

Here, herding and agriculture went hand in hand, grazing animals being essential for crop rotation and fertilization of crop lands, and they still do up to this very day.

Near Buonabitacolo, you'll visit the remnants of an old mill that is located at some distance inside the forest. Making use of natural power like water to drive the transformation process of wheat into flower, meant that you had to build your mill where the water flow was strongest. The old mill was used until as late as the 19th century, before being overtaken by more modern competition.

On your last hiking day of the trail, you'll discover the hills that line the Vallo di Diano, a vast valley that was once an internal sea. The swampy valley floor was uninhabitable for many centuries, which is whi you'll find the historical centers of all the towns around the valley on the hillside rather than in the valley itself.

Agriculture was fisrt made possible here in the early Middle Ages, and was further developed by the Carthusian Monks of the Certosa in Padula. The River Tanagro that traverses the valley was finally tamed after the 18th century, which caused many people to move to the valley floor to farm the immensely fertile soil.

You will stick to the hills, however, where you can see the valley from above, as you fellow travelers would have in ancient and medieval times. You'll pass sanctuaries and shepherds on your way to the Ponte Peglio, a bridge form the 1000 AD, that was an important landmark for travelers. A nearby monastery, welcomed travelers and sheltered them from harsh weather and other dangers.

On the final part of your hike, you will follow the Peglio river to a broad passage between the hills behind Sassano and Monte San Giacomo. After crossing a final vigorous stream called Zia Francesca (aunt Frances), you will come up to your final destination of this trip. 

Here you'll have the opportunity to taste local dishes that connect the dots between mountain and sea, as you have done on your journey here.

After a wholesome breakfast, you'll continue your journey onwards or back home by public or private transportation.

If you decide to stay the Vallo di Diano area a bit longer, there are a number of sites that are worth visiting, like the historic town and castle of Teggiano, the Certosa di San Lorenzo in Padula, or the Pertosa Caves.