A Taste of Southern Amalfi: A Culinary Journey Through Cilento & Beyond
The Soul of Cilento
If Italy is a tapestry of regional flavors, then Cilento is one of its most authentic and proudly unpolished threads—a land where the Mediterranean diet was born, where ingredients travel only meters instead of miles, and where families still gather around recipes older than the villages they inhabit.
When Ciclismo Classico first created this tour in 1995, we were the very first company to design and innovate a cycling-culinary journey through this little-known region.
A Tour Rooted in Tradition
Nearly 30 years later, our Taste of Southern Amalfi tour remains a truly original, exclusive, and lovingly crafted experience—one that reveals the heart of Cilento through its food, people, and traditions. On this journey, cuisine is not simply nourishment; it is storytelling, heritage, and a full-body immersion into the rhythms of Southern Italian life.
The Meaning of KM0 & True Cilento Cuisine
The menus are famously KM0, impossibly fresh, and grounded in extra-virgin olive oil, vegetables, legumes, and the tiny, nutrient-rich fish that sustain coastal communities.
What is KM 0? KM0, or kilometro zero, is a Slow Food concept referring to food produced locally—typically within a 100-kilometer radius—to ensure freshness, support the local economy, and reduce environmental impact by minimizing transportation. It celebrates seasonality, biodiversity, and a direct connection between producers and consumers.
Guests often arrive expecting swordfish steaks and tuna loins—only to discover that Cilento celebrates anchovies, sardines, and neonata, small fish revered for both flavor and health. Educating guests on these traditions is one of our favorite parts of the journey, and we are always happy to offer alternatives or curated menus for every palate.
Meals That Tell a Story
Our culinary adventure begins with warmth—literally—around the table of the Marino family on day one in Agropoli. Their farmstead dinner is often described by guests as “too authentic,” which in Cilento is the highest compliment. Everything on the table—vegetables, herbs, handmade pasta, cheese, olive oil—comes from their land, and every dish is paired with their award-winning wines. This is the kind of family experience travelers dream about but rarely access on their own: a meal prepared with absolute sincerity, eaten in the company of people who have lived this land for generations. Guests leave feeling not like tourists but like extended family.
On day two, we climb to the hilltop heart of Agropoli for dinner at Zi’ Tatà, one of the most beloved restaurants in the region. Perched beside the medieval castle with views of the shimmering coastline, Zi’ Tatà offers refined Cilento cooking in a setting fit for a postcard. Their antipasto misto alone is a feast of seasonal vegetables, local cheeses, cured fish, and house specialties. Guests choose between an elegant primo or a perfectly executed secondo, ending with a homemade dessert that always inspires a chorus of “just one more bite.” Our long-standing relationship with the owner and his son ensures the warmest welcome and a truly special evening.
Day three in Santa Maria di Castellabate brings a culinary highlight guests talk about for years: our cooking demonstration and extravagant home-cooked lunch in Vatolla. This village, famous for its slow-food philosophy and rare wheat varietals, opens its doors to us in a way that feels almost ceremonial. The table fills with Cilentano delicacies—handmade fusilli al ferretto, vegetable flans, local salumi, dishes scented with wild fennel, and desserts inspired by centuries-old convent recipes. Many alumni still write to us saying this was one of the best meals they’ve had on any tour, anywhere in the world.
From Cilento to Basilicata
And then the adventure continues as we cross into Basilicata. After a simpler meal in Palinuro—a limited option off-season where we have been actively scouting new and better selections—the
From rustic farm kitchens to castle-side panoramas, from century-old recipes to modern coastaltrattorias, the Taste of Southern Amalfi tour is more than a cycling journey—it’s a feast for the senses. It’s a chance to understand Italy not through guidebooks but through its food, through the families who prepare it, and through the flavors that have sustained this region for millennia. For lovers of authentic Italian cuisine, this is Cilento at its most delicious, generous, and unforgettable.
Explore the full itinerary here
