Agropoli

Located just south of Paestum, Agropoli is a busy summer resort but otherwise a pleasant, tranquil town that is a good base for exploring Cilento's coastline and national park. While the shell is a fairly faceless grid of shop-lined streets, the kernel – the historic city centre – is a fascinating tangle of narrow cobbled streets with ancient churches, venerable residents and a castle with superb views.

The town has been inhabited since Neolithic times, with later inhabitants including the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines and the Saracens. In 915 Agropoli fell under the jurisdiction of the bishops and was subsequently ruled by feudal lords. It was a target of raids from North Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the population dwindled to just a few hundred. Today it's the largest and most vibrant town along the Cilento coast.