Start & Finish: Cuma rail station/ Sat Nav – parking & start of walk: 40.8489, 14.04953 / Start elevation: 7m /Max elevation: 13m / Gain: 7m / Total distance: 3.8km  / Typical Duration: 1-2 hours / Category: Easy

Walking at the Cuma coastal reserve takes you through a mature dune ecosystem with mediterranean forest, lizards skittering around Roman ruins and the sound of the waves as company. As lovely as this sounds (and usually is), it is nevertheless quite a remote spot. It has benefitted from development funding in the past but this money has clearly run out. There is a visitor centre at the now defunct Cuma rail station, but this is not open consistently. We avoid the beach due to a large pipe (that the locals say is run off but I’m not so sure) and it’s wise to call ahead and walk there when the visitor centre is open, that way your car is safer.  Rest assured that the paths in the dunes themselves are great, especially for kids and dogs. Sadly, this is a prime example of the side of Campania that breaks my heart – a pristine natural environment that is at best not being made the most of and at worst being damaged due to corruption. Despite all this we’ve had some lovely afternoons here. One walk is on the map below or use this link for other routes.

Map