bed & breakfast PALAZZO MAGNONI

home places b&b rooms prices how to reach us contacts


Rutino is a village of about one thousand inhabitants which is located in Campania, in the Province of Salerno, in the middle of Cilento, lying on the ridge of a hill crest just twelve kilometers from the coast and about three hundred meters above sea level.

Surrounded by Parco Nazionale del Cilento e del Vallo di Diano, it enjoys a central position that make easy to reach all the sites of the Park.
This area is rich of olive trees, fig-trees and grapevine, cultures that have controlled and protected designation of origin.
On the slopes of the hills, among centuries-old oaks trees there are wide stretches of Macchia Mediterranea with myrtle and strawberry trees and the broom that during the spring colours the landscape yellow. Further up chestnut groves for fruits and wood.
If in April the countryside abound with wild asparagus and in autumn

there are a lot of mushrooms, in winter just during a walk you can pick a lot of different wild herbs while summertime is the right period for the oregano and the blackberry to be stolen from the thorny bushes.
Hawks and buzzards fly high, robins often fly down to twitter on the handrails of the balconies and, in summertime, the swallows crowd the sky with their sudden and oblique flight.
The woods are populated by foxes and wild boars and in the olive tree groves sometimes you can meet beautiful emerald green lizards and zippy quails in the low vegetation...
Donkeys and goats, old leading players in these places, are returning

thanks to environmental recovery programs.
For trekkers there are several footpaths starting near the village. They lead towards ancient stone-built villages, woods and green slopes with water mills on the Monte Stella.
Downstream there is the river Alento dam with an area for picnics and barbecue, where it is possible to enjoy boat rides, game fishing and short rides on a donkey’s back.

At about ten kilometers, there is Agropoli with its historical centre perched over the harbour and the beautiful beach of Trentova (overcrowded in August) bordering on Punta Tresino where in a wide unspoiled area you can take beautiful strolls along paths overlooking the sea. Further south is Castellabate, with the long beach which connects the little villages Santa Maria e San Marco to the nature reserve of Punta Licosa and further on there are Acciaroli and Pioppi where, especially in June and September, you can dive into a crystal clear sea, and enjoy the beach not crowded yet.

The famous archaeological sites of Paestum and Velia are only thirty minutes by car, it takes just a little longer to reach the mythological promontory of Palinuro and the beaches of Camerota and the two thousand meters of Mount Cervati with its meadows and forest of conifer and the water of River Calore that come out icy from the rocky quarries and flow down fast into deep rocky gorges, the abandoned village of Roscigno and the Monastery of Padula...
Nearby you can go horseback-riding or walking horse-riding; for the cycling-loving there are state highways and secondary roads which are both flat and steep.
Restaurants in the area are cheap and offer good quality food.

There are Pizzerie where you can eat spending about 10 euro per person and Trattorie where you can have a taste of local food paying a few euros more. Among these products are 'cacioricotta' (goat cheese) and 'soppressata' (a local salami). Pasta is very often home-made and served with meat sauces such as ram or wildboar.
Among the soups 'ciccimmaretati' with legumes and chestnuts, and chickpeas served with 'lagane' a variety of pasta similar to fettuccine.

Mozzarella di bufala and artichokes are products of the area and a wide range of seafood is available on the coast, including 'alici di menaica', typical sardines.
Thanks to some wine-makers local grapes have started to be used to produce some excellent, structured red and white wines rich in flavour. There are just a few cellars open to the public but we strongly recommend going there for tasting, due to the excellence of their products.

Olive-oil makers are also succeding by elevating the standard of their extra-virgin olive-oil using locally grown variety such as 'salella' and 'rotondella' olives. Dry figs continue to be prepared using the utmost care to produce only the best products: filled with almonds or nuts, lemon and wild fennel, dipped in chocolate or simply cooked in the oven, they are the best way to finish a meal, along a glass of 'Passito', the perfect wine for desserts.