The protagonist of this stage is the sea: it will accompany you during the first hours of the day, remaining to your left at least until you begin to climb toward the small town of Castellabate: a truly unique piece of Cilento coastline for its alternating beaches, rocks and lush pine forests. Enjoy this view to the fullest; you will only find the sea again after quite a few miles.
From the town of Pollica, the coast can be reached in a short time. The road, all downhill, is full of curves and reaches the sea after about 8 km, crossing terraces planted with olive trees. When you reach RS267 you will find yourself with the small town of Pioppi behind you, home to the Museum of the Sea (http://www.museovivodelmare.it/), within a couple of minutes, if you wish. Take advantage of this to have a coffee at the bar in the small square before resuming the road to Acciaroli. Rising as a charming fishing village, Acciaroli has over time become a seaside tourist resort of national significance. From here, never straying far from the coast, one reaches Agnone and then Ogliastro Marina. Here begins an approximately 8-kilometer route through the beautiful Aleppo pine forest, among the oldest and best-preserved pine forests in the entire Cilento National Park area. The trail, lined with numerous specimens of carob trees, passes the picturesque Punta Licosa, fronted by the tiny island of the same name with its characteristic isolated lighthouse and on which lives the endemic lizard Podarcis Sicula Klemmeri
Immediately after the town of San Marco di Castellabate, you leave the coast again and enter the heart of Cilento. You now face the first major drop of the Silent Way, the one that will allow you to reach Castellabate, known for being the setting for the famous film “Ben venuti al Sud.” It is absolutely worth stopping to visit the village and especially its castle, built at the behest of Costabile Genticolore, fourth abbot of the Abbey of Cava, who began the work on October 10, 1123.
You leave Castellabate and ascend the hills to the village of Perdifumo, past which you first cross Mercato Cilento and then end the stage at Vatolla
Visiting the historic center you will notice in particular the turreted Palazzo De Vargas, home to the museum dedicated to the philosopher Gianbattista Vico, who stayed here for nine years as an instructor for the then-owner Marquis Rocca. Even today it is still possible to sit in the shade of the Vico olive tree in the square of the Convent of the Pieta. It seems that under its foliage, in the absolute peace enjoyed in these places, Vico realized the founding idea of the “New Science,” based on the science of history, understood as man’s creation, capable of shaping his own reality.