Salerno, the tourist walk: only the view is beautiful

A group of tourists admires the view. They come from Germania and I’m at Salerno for a few days. They walk through the grass and holes, zigzagging to avoid inconveniences. «Salerno is beautiful but this road is an eyesore» says one of them in Italian. A comment that will probably be repeated by many other holidaymakers every time they take the connecting walk Vietri sul Mare in Salerno. A panoramic route, frequented daily especially in the warmer months by many tourists, as well as by joggers who walk along the walk precisely for its panoramic view. A route which, by virtue of its appeal, should be preserved and maintained in the best possible way but which, instead, is abandoned to itself. A real inconsistency for Salerno which has proudly wanted to boast, for some years, the title of tourist city.

The pavement of via Croce has very little that is touristy, except just the view of the port and the skyline of Salerno. On the contrary, weeds that grow everywhere reign supreme, uneven floor, holes scattered everywhere. A real eyesore for what, in theory, should be a sort of business card for Salerno given that it is also one of the gateways to the city from the West. However, not only extraordinary maintenance is lacking but also ordinary maintenance. In fact, it is not possible to walk calmly without running the risk of tripping over a hole or uneven pavement. And, similarly, the spontaneous vegetation grows lush, replacing the one placed there to embellish the route. Yet very little would be enough to make the area one of Salerno’s strong points, one of the most evocative walks in the city.