Has anyone stayed in/been to Salerno on the Amalfi Coast?

[waitamo]

I am going solo to see Paestum, Caserta, Pompeii and Herculaneum via Naples airport. I don't want to stay in Sorrento or any of the touristy places in Amalfi since I'll be going in early March and they'll more or less be closed down! Salerno is ideal for getting to the above places by train, but I wonder if anyone has been there and what is it like? It's a big town so looks like it will be open and kind of lively for cafes etc.

I've figured out that there's a direct bus to Salerno from Naples airport, so that's a bonus.

Thanks if you've any info!

We stayed one night in early April in 2023, we stayed in a B&B I booked through booking.com, it was called midtown Salerno. Honestly we only stayed because we landed at something like 4pm and I felt it was high risk for missing the last ferry to Amalfi. We then took the ferry to Amalfi from there the next morning. It was fairly quiet in Salerno during our limited visit, but we only stayed in the vicinity of the train station/harbour, may have been busier if we ventured further towards main piazza. We had nice pizza at Pizzeria Errico Porzio Salerno near the harbour. I had Paestum on my list but we only had 6 full days, and I split that as 2 in Amalfi where we did lots of walking, and 4 in Naples (with a day for each of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and another slightly more than 1/2 a day for Vesuvius as went independently via public bus, which only left 1.5 days for Naples) and so had to forgo Paestum. It was mostly sunny but 15/16 degrees type temperatures, though was t-shirt weather when we went to Herculaneum. The weather seems to be pot luck, as others have said they were sunbathing at Easter time.

@TeamGeriatric Thank you so much for that trip report, it's very handy to have first hand details!

I see you stayed in Naples for a few days. Do you think it would be safe for a (mid sixties) woman on her own? I'm fighting fit and streetwise (I think!), but I was wary of Naples alone!

Initially I was going to do a few days in Salerno and a few in Naples. Salerno for Paestum and Caserta, then Naples for Herculaneum and Pompeii (I won't be going up Vesuvius, I'll look at it from down below 😊)

Any insights you could give about Naples are very welcome. Thank you.

It's definitely grittier than say Florence or Pisa, but it didn't feel dangerous. That said I had 2 kids and my husband with me and he did get his wallet taken, very subtle manoeuvre on the subway, which was mostly just annoying. I think as long as you use common sense, don't wander off down dark alleys you would be fine. We stayed in quartieri spagnioli.

I stayed in Naples last spring with my family. Just to say that on one day I walked back to our hotel on my own (from ferry to centre). It was absolutely fine