Paestum: the best-preserved Greek temples
About an hour by train from Pompei, three Doric temples amid camellia groves: the truest Greece in Italy.
Posidonia, the Greek city
Founded by Greek settlers from Sybaris as Poseidonia around the 6th century BC, Paestum keeps three of the world's best-preserved Doric temples: the Basilica (temple of Hera), the temple of Neptune and the temple of Ceres. Standing among the columns at sunset is an experience beyond any photograph.
The museum
The archaeological museum keeps the painted slabs of the Lucus tombs, including the famous Tomb of the Diver, the only known Greek tomb painted with a swimming scene. The route tells the life of the colony from its Greek to its Roman period.
The land around
Around the site stretch the plains of camellias and buffalo: in the right months you can see the camellias in bloom and eat Campanian buffalo mozzarella at its source. The Cilento coast is a short distance away to end the day.
Getting there
From Pompei's FS station you reach Paestum by train in about an hour, with a change or direct depending on the timetable; from the station the site is a few minutes on foot. The day pairs well with Salerno or a coastal detour.