Visiting the Luci d'Artista Light Show in Salerno

How to plan a day trip to Salerno

Visiting the Luci d'Artista Light Show in Salerno

Each year during the Christmas holidays, the city of Salerno organizes its unique Le Luci d’Artista event with light shows and installations along the streets and public squares, creating a magical atmosphere and attracting thousands of visitors. Here is some important information to organize a trip to see the Luci d’Artista di Salerno.

When is the Luci d’Artista in Salerno Held?

Every year, Le Luci d’Artista are held from the end of November or the beginning of December until the end of January. The light installations are turned on each evening at sunset and stay on late into the night, together with traditional Christmas markets on the Lungomare Trieste waterfront and in squares throughout the city. The main Christmas tree marks the center of Piazza Portanova; lights are usually turned on the first weekend of December.

Getting to Salerno for Le Luci d’Artista

The easiest way to reach Salerno is by high-speed train. The Salerno train station is in the center of town, and all the light installations are an easy walk away.

If you are arriving by car, remember that can be hard to find parking during the Luci festival, and there is heavy traffic in the town center. The best option is to park at the Stadio Arechi (the stadium located at the highway exit), and take the subway or a city shuttle bus to the center from there. The subway and shuttle buses run until late into the night.

What is the Best Itinerary to See all the Installations during Luci d’Artista?

The installations are located throughout the town of Salerno, so it's impossible to see them all on a single day trip. The best option is to stay overnight in Salerno so you have time to explore a number of different neighborhoods.

That said, if you follow this itinerary, you can see the main installations in the center of town in about 3 hours on foot:

Leave from the train station in Piazza della Concordia, where the subway trains and shuttle buses from the Arechi parking lot also drop off passengers. Walk along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the main shopping street, to Piazza Portanova, where there is a large illuminated Christmas tree. From here, continue through the Medieval center of town along the historic Via dei Mercanti. Take a side trip to see the Duomo di Salerno and the Temple of Pomona before returning to Via dei Mercanti and walking to Piazza Largo Campo, the heart of the city's nightlife. Once you leave the historic center of town, you will find yourself at the Villa Comunale public gardens, where each year a magical "giardino incantato" is created. You can finish your walk by returning along the waterfront, stopping to shop at the Christmas market before ending your visit in Piazza Flavio Gioia.

There are a number of “street-food” stands in the center, selling cones of fried seafood, slices of pizza, and fried treats.

Staying Overnight in Salerno

Staying a night or two in Salerno is an excellent idea during the light festival, giving you time to visit the installations and the main sights in the city and even take a side trip to the Amalfi Coast. There are a number of new and renovated hotels in town, though we recommend avoiding the busiest roads in the historic center, which can be noisy during the holiday weekends.

Book a hotel in Salerno

Inspiration

From Agerola to Nocelle through paradise

Just behind Amalfi, a lush wood with fern-lined streams.

A historic watchtower perched above the coast.

Following in the steps of pilgrims to a historic hermitage.

On the most extreme point of the Sorrentine Peninsula, home of the mythical Sirens.

A sacred place, where the beauty of nature evokes an almost reverential silence.