The city's historic center is home to important palaces and churches and is the hub of lively city life thanks in part to the quaint stores and clubs that enliven it late into the night.

Most of the churches are of early medieval origin and arose as part of the ancient monasteries to which they were attached. The most important religious building is the Cathedral of Salerno, built in the 11th century at the behest of Robert Guiscard and Bishop Alfano I. Attached to the cathedral is the 52-meter-high bell tower in Arab-Norman style. Other churches of artistic-architectural value are the Church ofSanta Maria de Lama, from the Lombard period, the Church of San Pietro a Corte, important for its numerous stratifications. The most beautiful Baroque church in the city is the Church of St. George, from the early 1700s, housing the relics of the Salerno martyr saints St. Thecla, Archelaa and Susanna and with paintings by Andrea Sabatini. The Church of the Annunziata was, on the other hand, built in 1627 to replace an earlier 15th-century house of worship that was destroyed in an earthquake. It stands out for its fine bell tower designed by Ferdinando Sanfelice.

In the historic center are numerous aristocratic palaces of Norman origin, such as Palazzo Fruscione and Palazzo Pinto. Not far away is the Giuseppe Verdi Municipal Theater, the city's main theater.

The Symbol of the city is the Castle of Arechi, built in the late Roman or Byzantine period; not far from the castle can be visited the Bastille, a circular watchtower erected by Gisulph II.
In Salerno there is a medieval aqueduct, erected by the Lombards in the 9th century, to supply the monastery of St. Benedict and, via an underground passage, the convent of Piantanova. Legend has it that under the aqueduct, on a stormy night, the four founders of the Salerno Medical School met .

The city's monuments include the Fountain of Annunziatella, the Fountain of Neptune in Rococo style, the Fountain of Pisces designed by Luigi Vanvitelli (also known as the Fountain of the Field since it is located in Piazza Sedile del Campo) and among the contemporary fountains the one designed by Riccardo Dalisi, located in Piazza Flavio Gioia and called "of the dolphins" because of the two dolphins placed in the center.

There are a number of interesting archaeological sites in the city area; one of the most important is theEtruscan-Samnite archaeological area in the Fratte district. The other very important archaeological site in the city, because it is multi-layered and closely related to the period of Salerno's greatest flowering, is the archaeological complex of San Pietro a Corte. Roman stratifications have been found in the historic center, below the medieval Lombard or Norman level. This is the case of the Roman domus in Vicolo della Neve, or the recent findings, connected to the very nearby site of San Pietro a Corte, as part of the restoration of Palazzo Fruscione or the Church of the Annunziata or the Convent of San Nicola della Palma.

In the city there are urban parks, green areas and numerous gardens that adorn the various neighborhoods. The perfect places for a stroll are the Lungomare Trieste, the Municipal Villa (designed in 1874), and the Minerva Garden (dating back to the 12th century).

Among the parks: the Mercatello Park (about 10 hectares), Pinocchio Park and the connected Irno Park, the Seminary Park, the villa of the Conti Carrara.