BASILICATA
Basilicata has an otherworldly landscape of tremendous mountain ranges, dark forested valleys and villages so melded with the rockface that they seem to have grown there.
Since the 1930s this land has been inseparable from the name of writer Carlo Levi. His superb book Christ Stopped at Eboli documented the harsh life of Basilicata’s poverty-stricken peasants – its title suggesting that Basilicata was beyond the hand of God. The discovery of Western Europe’s largest oilfield 30km south of Potenza in 1996 should have altered the view of Basilicata as a poor wild region beyond commercial development, but the stereotype lingers.
However today Basilicata’s remote atmosphere and tremendous landscape is attracting the attention of travellers. The Passion of Christ – the gospel according to Mel Gibson – brought the extraordinary sassi (former cave dwellings) of Matera to the world’s attention, while Maratea is one of Italy’s most chic seaside resorts. The purple-hued mountains of the interior are impossibly grand and a wonderful destination for naturalists, particularly the soaring peaks of the Lucanian Apennines and the Parco Nazionale del Pollino.
History
Basilicata spans Italy’s instep with slivers of coastline touching the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas. It was known to the Greeks and Romans as Lucania (a name still heard today) after the Lucani tribe who lived here as far back as the 5th century BC. The Greeks also prospered, settling along the coastline at Metapontum and Erakleia, but things started to go wrong under the Romans, when Hannibal, the ferocious Carthaginian general, rampaged through the region.
In the 10th century, the Byzantine Emperor, Basilikòs (976–1025) renamed the area, overthrowing the Saracens in Sicily and the south and reintroducing Christianity. The pattern of war and overthrow continued throughout the Middle Ages as the Normans, Hohenstaufens, Angevins and the Bourbons constantly tussled over its strategic location, right up until the 19th century. As talk of the Italian unification began to gain ground, Bourbon-sponsored loyalists took to Basilicata’s mountains to oppose political change. Ultimately they became the much-feared bandits of local lore who make scary appearances in writings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 1930s, Basilicata was used as a kind of open prison for political dissidents – most famously Carlo Levi – sent into exile to remote villages by the fascists.
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IONIAN COAST
In stark contrast to the dramatic Tyrrhenian coast, the Ionian coast is a listless, flat affair dotted with large tourist resorts. However, the Greek ruins at Metaponto and Policoro, with their accompanying museums, bring alive the enormous influence of Magna Graecia in southern Italy.
Metaponto
Metaponto’s Greek ruins are a rare site where archaeologists have managed to map the entire ancient urban plan. Settled by Greeks in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Metapontum was probably an outpost of Sibari (in Calabria) and acted as a buffer between there and Taranto. Its most famous resident was Pythagoras, who founded a school here after being banished from Crotone (also Calabria) in the 6th century BC.
From the train station, go straight ahead for 500m to the roundabout. About 1.5km to your right (east) is the Parco Archeologico (admission free) and to your left, is the Museo Archeologico Nazionale (
0835 74 53 27; Via Aristea 21; admission €2.50; 
9am-8pm Tue-Sun, 2-8pm Mon). In the park you can see what remains of a Greek theatre and the Doric Tempio di Apollo Licio, but the real draw is the museum, with artefacts from Metapontum and other sites.
After Pythagoras died, his house and school were incorporated into the Temple of Hera. The remains of the temple – 15 columns and sections of pavement – are Metaponto’s most impressive sight. They’re known as the Tavole Palatine (Palatine Tables), since knights, or paladins, are said to have gathered here before heading to the Crusades. It’s a little way north, just off the highway – to find it follow the slip road for Taranto onto the SS106.
SITA ( 0835 38 50 07; www.sitabus.it, in Italian) buses run from Matera (€3, one hour, up to five daily). The town is on the Taranto—Reggio line, and trains connect with Potenza, Salerno and occasionally Naples.
Bernalda
pop 12,100
Only 15km from the sea, hilltop Bernalda clings above the Basento valley. Its historic centre dates from the 15th century, with a two-tower castle opposite the 16th-century, Byzantine-domed San Bernardino church. Modern times have seen its development sprawl towards the coast. In May and August, a costumed procession of knights carries the statue of San Bernardino around town. Francis Ford Coppola is this town’s favourite son – his grandparents are from here – and he recreated the town’s festival in The Godfather III. Coppola is converting the 19th-century Palazzo Margherita into a glamorous 12-room boutique hotel, as well as developing an experimental centre for visual and musical arts in nearby Metaponto (left), along with his nephew Nicolas Cage.
SITA buses run between Bernalda and Matera.
Policoro
pop 15,422
If you get as far as Metaponto, consider continuing about 21km southwest to Policoro, originally the Greek settlement of Erakleia. It’s worth visiting for the wonderful Museo della Siritide ( 0835 97 21 54; Via Colombo 8; admission €2.50; 9am-8pm Wed-Mon, 2-8pm Tue), where you can work your way from 7000 BC through Lucanian ornaments to Greek mirrors, then to the spears and javelins of the Romans, who put them to perilous use.
SITA buses run here from Metaponto (left).
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MATERA
pop 59,144 / elev 405m
Approach Matera from virtually any direction and your first glimpse of its famous sassi (stone houses carved out of the caves and cliffs) is sure to be etched in your memory forever. Haunting and beautiful, though not in a snowdrops-in-spring kind of way, this great monochrome slab of mountainside is pockmarked with caves; a harrowing reminder of former scenes of abject poverty. In 1993 the sassi were declared a Unesco World Heritage Site. Ironically, the town’s history of outrageous misery has transformed it into Basilicata’s leading tourist attraction, particularly post-2004 when Mel Gibson’s controversial blockbuster The Passion of Christ was filmed here.
History
Matera is said to be one of the world’s oldest towns. The simple natural grottoes that dotted the gorge were adapted to become homes. In time, an ingenious system of canals regulated the flow of water and sewage, and small hanging gardens lent splashes of colour. The prosperous town became the capital of Basilicata in 1663, a position it held until 1806 when the power moved to Potenza. In the decades that followed, an unsustainable increase in population led to the habitation of unsuitable grottoes – originally intended as animal stalls – even lacking running water.
By the 1950s over half of Matera’s population lived in the sassi, a typical cave sheltering an average of six children. The infant mortality rate was 50%. In his Christ Stopped at Eboli, Carlo Levi describes how children would beg passers-by for quinine to stave off the deadly malaria. Such publicity finally galvanised the authorities into action and in the late 1950s about 15,000 inhabitants were forcibly relocated to new government housing schemes. It remains one of modern Italy’s great scandals.
Orientation
A short walk down Via Roma from the train and bus stations off Piazza Matteotti brings you to the Piazza Vittorio Veneto, the town’s pedestrianised heart. The two sassi ravines open up to its east and southeast.
MAPS
The sassi are quite a tangle, but it’s not difficult to find your way around. Arm yourself with the map Matera: Percorsi Turistici (€1.50), available from various kiosks and hotels around town, which describes in English and Italian five itineraries through the sassi.
The tourist office has a map (in Italian) of excursions in the surrounding Parco della Murgia Materana, showing some routes around the gorge.
Information
- Basilicata Turistica (www.aptbasilicata.it)
- Ferula Viaggi ( 0835 33 65 72; www.materaturismo.it; Via Cappelluti 34; 9am-1.30pm & 3.30-7pm Mon-Sat) Excellent tourist cooperative and travel agency dedicated to promoting Basilicata. It runs great tours (Click here for more details), and tours in the Pollino (Click here).
- Hospital ( 0835 25 31 11; Via Montescaglioso) About 1km southeast of the centre.
- Internet point ( 0835 34 41 66; Via San Biagio 9; per hr €3; 9.30am-1pm & 3.30-8.30pm)
- Parco Archeologico Storico Naturale delle Chiese Rupestri del Materano ( 0835 33 61 66; www.parcomurgia.it; Via Sette Dolori) For info on the Murgia park.
- Police station ( 0835 37 81; Piazza Vittorio Veneto)
- Post office (Via del Corso 1; 8am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-12.30pm Sat)
- Sassi Tourism ( 0835 31 94 58; www.sassitourism.it; Via Buozzi 141) Tourism organisation offering tours around Matera as well as entry into sites (see below).
- Sassiweb (www.sassiweb.it) Extensive, informative website with hotels, tours, history and fascinating images.
- Tourist information kiosk ( 0835 24 12 60; 9.30am-12.30pm & 4-7pm summer) Branches on Via Madonna delle Virtù, Piazza Matteotti and Via Lucana. Run by the Comune di Matera, offers guided tours and tickets for entry to churches.
- Tourist office ( 0835 33 19 83; www.materaturismo.it; Via Spine Bianche; 9am-1pm & 4-6.30pm Mon-Sat) Can provide guides.
Sights & Activities
THE SASSI
Matera’s many belvederes, such as from Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Palazzo Lanfranchi or the cathedral, present a town and landscape unlike anywhere else. The deep limestone ravines are pitted with caves, dating as far back as the 8th century BC.
There are two sasso districts: the more restored, northwest-facing Sasso Barisano and the more impoverished, northeast-facing Sasso Caveoso. Both are extraordinary, riddled with serpentine alleyways and staircases, and dotted with frescoed chiese rupestri (cave churches) created between the 8th and 13th centuries. Matera contains some 3000 habitable caves.
You can easily navigate the sassi alone, but a qualified guide has benefits. They can take you to the most interesting sites, offer lots of background and unlock many of the more interesting cave churches. For details see left.
Highlights in the Sasso Barisano include the magnificent monastic complex of Madonna delle Virtù and San Nicola del Greci (Via Madonna delle Virtù; 10am-7pm Sat & Sun), composed of dozens of caves spread over two floors. The church of the Chiesa Madonna delle Virtù was built in the 10th or 11th century and restored in the 17th century. Above it, the simple church of Chiesa di San Nicola del Greci is rich in frescoes. The complex was used in 1213 by Benedictine monks of Palestinian origin. From late June to October a modern art exhibition is showcased in Madonna delle Virtù.
Sasso Caveoso includes the highlights of Chiesa di San Pietro Caveoso (Piazza San Pietro Caveoso) and the richly frescoed rock churches Santa Maria d’Idris (Piazza San Pietro Caveoso) and Santa Lucia alle Malve (Via la Vista). A couple of sassi have been refurbished as they were when inhabited. The most interesting is the Casa-Grotta di Vico Solitario (admission €1.50), off Via Buozzi. It has an engaging 10-minute multilingual audio explanation describing the gruelling living conditions of a typical cave house, which included a manure room and a cordoned-off area for a donkey. It’s little wonder that the infant mortality rate was 50%.
Sassi Tourism (see left) operates entry into five churches, including Santa Maria d’Idris, several others set in the sassi and an ex-monastery. Tickets cost €2.50/5/6 for one site/three sites/all the sites.
The sassi are accessible from several points. There’s an entrance off Piazza Vittorio Veneto, or take Via delle Beccherie to Piazza del Duomo and follow the tourist itinerary signs to enter either Barisano or Caveoso. Sasso Caveoso is also accessible from Via Ridola.
For a great photograph, head out of town on the Taranto—Laterza road and follow signs for the chiese rupestri. This takes you up on the Murgia plateau to the location of the crucifixion in The Passion of the Christ, from where you have fantastic views of the plunging ravine and Matera.
The Museo della Scultura Contemporanea (MUSMA; www.musma.it; 10am-2pm & 4-8pm Apr-Oct, 10am-2pm Nov-Mar; adult/concession €5/3.50) is a fabulous contemporary sculpture museum, housed in Palazzo Pomarici. Exhibits are artfully displayed in atmospherically lit caves, including contemporary representations of space, thought-provoking interpretations of Adam and Eve, and a sumo-wrestling St Francis. Upstairs – in grand upper rooms adorned with 17th-century frescoes – the collection tells the story of sculpture from 1880 to the present day and features artists such as Lynn Chadwick, one of the leading British sculptors after World War II.
TOWN CENTRE
The focus of the town is Piazza Vittorio Veneto, an excellent, bustling meeting point for an evening passeggiata (stroll). It’s surrounded by elegant churches and richly adorned palazzi, with their backs to the sassi; an attempt by the bourgeois to block out the shameful poverty the sassi once represented. Further excavations here have yielded more ruins of Byzantine Matera, including a rock church, a castle, a large cistern and numerous houses. You can gaze down to the site from the piazza.
Set high up in the town, the subdued, graceful exterior of the 13th-century Puglian-Romanesque cathedral (Piazza del Duomo; closed for renovation) makes the neobaroque excess within all the more of a surprise: ornate capitals, sumptuous chapels and tons of gilding. Pediments mounted on its altars came from the temples at Metaponto. Matera’s patron saint, the Madonna della Bruna, is hidden within the older church, Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, which can be accessed from the cathedral if it’s open. Her saint’s day on 2 July is the region’s most important festival.
The Museo Nazionale Ridola ( 0835 31 00 58; Via Ridola 24; adult/concession €2.50/1.25; 9am-8pm Tue-Sun, 2-8pm Mon) occupies the 17th-century convent of Santa Chiara. The impressive collection includes some remarkable Greek pottery, such as the Craterea Mascheroni, a huge urn over 1m high. A little south, on Piazzetta Pascoli, is the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Medievale e Moderna della Basilicata ( 0835 31 42 35; Palazzo Lanfranchi; adult/concession €2/1; 9am-1pm & 3.30-7pm Tue-Sun). The stars of the show are Levi’s paintings, including the enormous mural, Lucania ’61, depicting peasant life in biblical Technicolour.
Tours
There are plenty of official guides for the sassi – try the tourist office or www.sassiweb.it. Alternatively, contact the Cooperativa Amici del Turista ( 0835 33 03 01; www.amicidelturista.it; Via Fiorentini 28-30) or Ferula Viaggi which does a classic tour, an underground tour, tours that include tastings or cookery courses, longer trips into the gorge or Pollino, and also runs Bike Basilicata – for more information, see the boxed text (above). The people that run MUSMA (Click here) run tours to a spectacular crypt chapel.
A reliable English-speaking guide is American Amy Weideman ( 339 282 3618). A half-day tour for two people costs €40.
Festivals & Events
In the Sagra della Madonna della Bruna (2 July) the colourful Procession of Shepherds parades ornately decorated papier-mâché floats around town. The finale is the assalto al carro, when the crowd descends on the main cart and tears it to pieces.
Sleeping
Matera has some of Basilicata’s most unusual and stylish hotels housed in the historic sassi.
La Dolce Vita ( 0835 31 03 24; Rione Malve 51; s €40-60, d €50-80) Owner Vincenzo Altieri (ex-manager of Hotel Sant’Angelo) has created a delightful ecofriendly B&B in Sasso Caveoso, with solar panels and recycled rain water for plumbing. The rooms are cool and simply furnished with cream paintwork, dark-wood furniture and the occasional religious picture.
Bed & Breakfast del Casale ( 0835 33 73 04; Via Casale 43; s €40-60, d €60-80) The spacious and sassi-central apartment here burrows deep into the cave. Located in Sasso Barisano, the decor is dated, but very comfortable, and there is a kitchenette and terrace.
Il Vicinato ( 0835 31 26 72; www.ilvicinato.com; Piazzetta San Pietro Caveoso 7; s/d 45/70) Enjoys a great, easy-to-find location, and rooms are decorated in clean modern lines, with views across to Idris rock and the Murgia plateau. There’s a room with a balcony, and a small apartment, each with independent entrances.
Le Monacelle ( 0835 34 40 97; www.lemonacelle.it; Via Riscatto 9; dm €18, s/d €55/86;
) Near the duomo, and next to the delightful small Chiesa di San Franceso d’Assisi chapel, this 16th-century building offers simple dorms and plainly furnished rooms, as well as atmospheric cobbled terraces with stunning sassi views.
Sassi Hotel ( 0835 33 10 09; www.hotelsassi.it; Via San Giovanni Vecchio 89; s/d incl breakfast €70/90;) In an 18th-century rambling edifice in Sasso Barisano, this has graceful rooms – some in caves, some not – with cathedral views from the balconies and the added plus of fridges in the rooms.
Residence San Pietro Barisano ( 0835 34 61 91; www.residencesanpietrobarisano.it; Rione San Biagio €52/56; s/d from €60/80; ) The five apartments here are all light pine and sleek, ergonomic furnishings, set against the soothing natural cave interiors. The restaurant is similarly elegant and excellent (meals €35).
Locanda di San Martino ( 0835 25 66 00; www.locandadisanmartino.it; Via Fiorentini 71; s/d €87/102; 
) A sumptuous hotel where you can swim in a cave without dipping your toe in the sea; a subterranean full-length swimming pool is due to open here in 2010. The cave accommodation, complete with niches and rustic brick floors, is set around a warren of cobbled paths and courtyards.
Hotel in Pietra ( 0835 31 40 10; www.hotelinpietra.it; Via San Giovanni Vecchio 22; Barisano; s €70, d €110-150; ) This boutique hotel opened in 2008 and is simply breathtaking. The lobby is set in a former 13th-century chapel complete with soaring arches, while the eight rooms combine soft golden stone with the natural cave interior. Furnishings are Zen-style with low beds, while the bathrooms are super-stylish and include vast sunken tubs.
Eating
Terrazza dell’Annunziata Caffè ( 0835 33 65 25; Piazza Vittorio Veneto; snacks €5) This is the roof terrace of the old convent Palazzo dell’Annuziata (now converted into a cinema and library). Take the lift and enjoy peace, quiet and panoramic views.
Oi Marì ( 0835 34 61 21; Via Fiorentini 66; pizzas/pastas from €3.50/6.50; Wed-Mon) In Sasso Barisano, this big convivial cavern is styled as a Neapolitan pizzeria – and has a great cheery atmosphere and excellent, substantial pizzas to match.
La Talpa ( 0835 33 50 86; Via Fiorentini 168; meals €15; Wed-Mon) Down the road from Oi Marì, the cavernous dining rooms are moodily lit and atmospheric. A popular spot for romancing couples, the standard is very high, both for pizzas and specialities like capuntí con purea dí cicerchié, funghi e rucola (pasta with a bean, mushrooms and rocket sauce).
Le Botteghe ( 0835 34 40 72; Piazza San Pietro Barisano; meals €40; lunch & dinner Mon-Sat, lunch Sun) In Sasso Barisano, this is a classy but informal restaurant in arched whitewashed rooms. Try delicious local specialities like fusilli mollica e crusco (pasta and fried bread with local sweet peppers) followed by the strascinate salsiccia e funghi (pasta with sausage and mushrooms).
Ristorante Don Matteo ( 0835 34 41 45; Via San Biagio 12; meals €50; lunch Wed-Mon, dinner Thu-Tue) A discreet, venerable restaurant in vaulted stone rooms, presided over by the charming Don Matteo himself. The service is impeccable and the poetic menu is full of delicious and refined takes on traditional dishes.
Baccanti ( 0835 33 37 04; Via Sant’Angelo; meals €50; lunch & dinner Tue-Sat, lunch Sun) As classy as a cave can be. The design is simple glamour against the low arches of the cavern; the dishes are delicate and complex, using local ingredients. This is where stars go to twinkle when in town.
There’s a daily fresh-produce market (Via Persio) just south of Piazza Vittorio Veneto.
Drinking
19a Buca Winery? ( 0835 33 35 92; Via Lombardi 3; 11am-midnight Tue-Sun) The question mark says it all – 13m below Piazza Vittorio Veneto the past takes a futuristic twist. Suffering an identity crisis, this ultra-chic wine bar—restaurant-cafe-lounge has white space-pod chairs, a 19-hole indoor golf course surrounding an ancient cistern and an impressive wine cellar and degustation menu (meals €30).
Morgan Pub ( 0835 31 22 33; Via Buozzi 2; Wed-Mon) A hip and cavernous cellar pub with outside tables in the summer.
Shibuya ( 0835 33 74 09; Vico Purgatorio 12; 9am-3am Tue-Sun) This cool little cafe and CD shop is also a bar and has regular DJs; make a beeline for the few outside tables at the top of an ancient alley.
Caffe Tripoli (Piazza Vittorio Veneto) Enjoy some of the best pastries and cappuccino in town, served by bow-tied waiters in this prime people-watching spot.
Getting There & Away
BUS
The bus station is north of Piazza Matteotti, near the train station. SITA ( 0835 38 50 07; www.sitabus.it, in Italian) goes to Taranto (€4.60, two hours, one daily) and Metaponto (€3.20, one hour, up to five daily) and many small towns in the province. Grassani ( 0835 72 14 43) serves Potenza (€5.30, two daily). Buy tickets from newspaper kiosks on Piazza Matteotti.
Marozzi ( 06 225 21 47; www.marozzivt.it) runs three daily buses to Rome (€32.50, 6½ hours). A joint SITA and Marozzi service leaves daily for Siena, Florence and Pisa, via Potenza. Advance booking is essential.
TRAIN
Ferrovie Appulo-Lucane (FAL; 0835 33 28 61; www.fal-srl.it) runs regular trains (€4.35, 1½ hours, 12 daily) and buses to Bari. For Potenza, take a FAL bus to Ferrandina and connect with a Trenitalia train, or head to Altamura to link up with FAL’s Bari—Potenza run.
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VENOSA
pop 12,147
About 25km east of Melfi, autumn-coloured Venosa, with its medieval centre and flagstone lanes, used to be a thriving Roman colony, owing much of its prosperity to being a stop on the Appian Way. It was also the birthplace of the poet Horace in 65 BC. The main reason to come here is to see the remains of Basilicata’s largest monastic complex.
Venosa’s main square, Piazza Umberto I, is dominated by a 15th-century Aragonese castle with a small Museo Archeologico ( 0972 3 60 95; Piazza Umberto I; admission €2.50; 9am-8pm Wed-Mon, 2-8pm Tue) that houses finds from Roman Venusia and human bone fragments dating back 300,000 years, Europe’s oldest examples of human life.
Admission to the museum also gets you into the ruins of the Roman settlement ( 9am-1hr before dusk Wed-Mon, 2pm-1hr before dusk Tue), and the graceful later ruins of Abbazia della Santissima Trinità ( 0972 3 42 11). At the northeastern end of town, the abbazia (abbey) was erected above the Roman temple in around 1046 by the Benedictines, and predates the Norman invasions. Within the complex is a pair of churches, one unfinished. The earlier church contains the tomb of Robert Guiscard, Norman crusader, and his fearsome half-brother Drogo – it’s said Robert arranged Drogo’s death. The other unfinished church was begun in the 11th century using materials from the neighbouring Roman amphitheatre. A little way south are some Jewish and Christian catacombs.
Hotel Orazio ( 0972 3 11 35; Vittorio Emanuele II 142; s/d €45/65) is a 17th-century palace complete with antique majolica tiles and marble floors. It’s overseen by a pair of grandmotherly ladies who do all they can to make your stay comfortable. The terrace has beautiful views.
Al Frantoio ( 0972 3 69 25; Via Roma 211; meals €40; Tue-Sun) is an elegant, well-regarded restaurant occupying several graceful rooms in a building backed by olive groves; it specialises in spectacular takes on local dishes.
Venosa can be reached by a bus Mondays to Saturdays from Potenza (€6.20, 1½ hours).
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POTENZA
pop 68,800 / elev 819m
Basilicata’s regional capital Potenza has been ravaged by earthquakes (the last in 1980), and has some brutal housing blocks. If that wasn’t enough, as the highest town in the land, it broils in summer and shivers in winter. You may find yourself here, however, as it’s a major transport hub.
The centre straddles east to west across a high ridge. To the south lie the main Trenitalia and Ferrovie Appulo—Lucane train stations, connected to the centre by buses 1 and 10.
Potenza’s few sights are in the old centre, at the top of the hill. To get there, take the elevators from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. The ecclesiastical highlight is the cathedral, erected in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 18th. The elegant Via Pretoria, flanked by a boutique or two, makes a pleasant traffic-free stroll, especially during the passeggiata.
In central Potenza, Al Convento ( 097 12 55 91; www.alconvento.eu; Largo San Michele Arcangelo 21; s €50-55, d €80-90; ) is a great accommodation choice. It’s in an early-19th-century building (funnily enough, once a convent), housing a mix of polished antiques and design classics.
Antica Osteria Marconi ( 097 15 69 00; Viale Marconi 233; meals €40; lunch Tue-Sun, dinner Tue-Sat Sep-Jul) is a fantastic restaurant serving traditional dishes prepared with flair and imagination with an emphasis on fish. It’s cosy in winter and for summer there’s a terrace.
Various transport companies operate from different locations in town; the tourist office has a comprehensive list of destinations and services.
Grassani ( 0835 72 14 43) has buses to Matera (€5.30, one hour, two daily). SITA ( 0971 50 68 11; www.sitabus.it, in Italian) has daily buses to Melfi, Venosa and Maratea. Buses leave from Via Appia 185 and also stop near the Scalo Inferiore Trenitalia train station. Liscio ( 097 15 46 73) buses serve cities including Rome (€23, 4½ hours, one daily) and Naples (€8.59, two hours, three daily), via Salerno (€7, 1½ hours).
There are regular train services from Potenza Inferiore to Taranto (€8.50, two hours), Salerno (€6.30, two hours) and Foggia (€6.40, 2¼ hours). For Bari (€9.10, four hours, four daily), use the Ferrovie Appulo—Lucane ( 0971 41 15 61) at Potenza Superiore station.
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APPENNINO LUCANO
The Appenino Lucano (Lucanian Apennines) bite Basilicata in half like a row of jagged teeth. Sharply rearing up south of Potenza, they protect the lush Tyrrhenian Coast and leave the Ionian shores gasping in the semi-arid heat. Careering along its hair-raising roads through the broken spine of mountains can be arduous, but if you’re looking for drama, the drive could be the highlight of your trip.
The Fascists exiled writer and political activist Carlo Levi to this isolated region in 1935. He lived and is buried in the tiny hilltop town of Aliano, where remarkably little seems to have changed since he wrote his dazzling Christ Stopped at Eboli, which laid bare the boredom, poverty and hypocrisy of village life. The Pinacoteca Carlo Levi ( 0835 56 83 15; Piazza Garibaldi; admission €3; 10am-1pm & 4-7.30pm in summer, 10am-12.30pm & 3.30-6.30pm in winter) also houses the Museo Storico di Carlo Levi, featuring his papers, documents and paintings. Admission to the pinacoteca (art gallery) includes a tour of Levi’s house and entry to the museum.
More spectacular than Aliano are the two mountaintop villages of Castelmezzano (elevation 985m) and Pietrapertosa (elevation 1088m), ringed by the Lucanian Dolomites. They are Basilicata’s highest villages, and are often swathed in cloud, making you wonder why anyone would build here, in territory best suited to goats. Castelmezzano is surely one of Italy’s most dramatic villages; the houses huddle along an impossibly narrow ledge that falls away in gorges to the Caperrino river. Pietrapertosa is even more amazing: the Saracen fortress at its pinnacle is difficult to spot, as it is carved out of the mountain.
You can spend an eerie night in Pietrapertosa in the simple pensione Albergo Il Frantoio ( 0971 98 31 90; albfrontoio@tiscalinet.it; Via M Torraca 15/17; s/d €28/40, d with full board €47). Don’t miss the high-up, authentic Lucano restaurant Al Becco della Civetta ( 0971 98 62 49; Vicolo I Maglietta 7; meals €25; Wed-Mon; ) in Castelmezzano, which also offers traditionally furnished, simple whitewashed rooms (single/double €50/80) with lots of dark wood and fabulous views.
Aliano is accessible by SITA bus Click here from Matera, with a change in Pisticci Scalo. You’ll need your own vehicle to visit Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa.
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TYRRHENIAN COAST
Resembling a mini-Amalfi, Basilicata’s Tyrrhenian coast is short (about 20km) but sweet. Squeezed between Calabria and Campania’s Cilento peninsula, it shares the same beguiling characteristics: hidden coves and pewter sandy beaches backed by majestic coastal cliffs. The SS18 threads a spectacular route along the mountains to the coast’s star attraction, the charming seaside settlements of Maratea.
Maratea
pop 5300
Maratea is a charming, if confusing, place at first, being comprised of several distinct localities ranging from a medieval village to a stylish harbour. The setting is lush and dramatic, with a coastal road (narrower even than the infamous Amalfi Coast road!) that dips and winds past the cliffs and pocket-size beaches that line the sparkling Golfo di Policastro. Studded with elegant hotels, Maratea’s attraction is no secret and you can expect tailback traffic and fully booked hotels in July and August. Conversely, many hotels and restaurants close from October to March.
SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES
Your first port of call should be the pretty Porto di Maratea, a harbour where sleek yachts and bright-blue fishing boats bob in the water, overlooked by bars and restaurants. Then there’s the enchanting 13th-century medieval borgo (small town) of Maratea Inferiore, with pint-sized piazzas, wriggling alleys and interlocking houses, offering startling coastal views. It’s all overlooked by a 21m-high, gleaming white statue of Christ the Redeemer – if you have your own transport, don’t miss the rollercoaster road and stupendous views from the statue-mounted summit – below which lie the ruins of Maratea Superiore, all that remains of the original 8th-century-BC Greek colony.
The deep green hillsides that encircle this tumbling conurbation offer excellent walking trails and there are a number of easy day trips to the surrounding hamlets of Acquafredda di Maratea and Fiumicello, with its small sandy beach. You will find the tourist office ( 0973 87 69 08; Piazza Gesù 40; 8am-2pm & 4-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm & 5-8pm Sun Jul & Aug, shorter hrs Sep-Jun) in Fiumicello.
Centro Sub Maratea ( 0973 87 00 13; www.csmaratea.it; Via Santa Caterina 28, Maratea) offers diving courses and boat tours that include visits to surrounding grottoes and coves. Also rents boats.
A worthwhile day trip via car is to pretty Rivello (elevation 479m). Perched on a ridge, framed by the southern Apennines, these days it is a centre for arts and crafts and has long been known for its exquisite working of gold and copper. It is also a gastronomic centre for the rapidly expanding Slow Food Movement. Rivella’s interesting Byzantine history is evident in the tiny tiled cupolas and frescoes of its gorgeous churches.
SLEEPING
Maratea is one of the most sophisticated resorts in the south, with accommodation to match.
B&B Nefer ( 0973 87 18 28; www.bbnefer.it; Via Cersuta; s €50-60, d €65-80; 
) A B&B set in a small hamlet (Via Cersuta), 5km northwest of Maratea. It has three rooms decorated in sea greens and blues that open onto a lush green lawn complete with deckchairs for contemplating the distant sea view. From here you can walk along narrow seaside paths to a dramatic small, black-sanded beach.
Hotel Villa Cheta Elite ( 0973 87 81 34; www.villacheta.it; Via Timpone 46; d €90-125; May-Oct; ) A charming art-nouveau villa at the entrance to the hamlet of Acquafredda. The broad terrace commands spectacular views and, as one-time home to the aristocratic Morsicano family, the rooms retain their faded antique charm. There’s also a fabulous restaurant (meals €50).
Locanda delle Donne Monache ( 0973 87 74 87; www.locandamonache.com; Via Mazzei 4; r €120-230; May-Oct; 
) Overlooking the medieval borgo, this exclusive hotel is in a converted 18th-century convent with a suitably lofty setting. It’s a hotchpotch of vaulted corridors, terraces and gardens fringed with bougainvillea and lemon trees. The rooms are elegantly decorated in pastel shades, while the Sacello restaurant prepares delicate dishes drawing on the regional flavours of Lucania.
EATING
Litrico’s ( 0973 87 70 05; Via San Venere; meals €18) A sprawling restaurant and terrace on the approach to Fiumicello’s modest commercial strip. The menu holds few surprises but dishes won’t disappoint. You can work off the carbs with a game of tennis – the owners run the public tennis court next door.
Lanterna Rossa ( 0973 87 63 52; Maratea Porto; meals €30; Apr-Sep) Head for the terrace overlooking the port to dine on exquisite seafood dishes, like marinated anchovies with chilli red peppers, or a sumptuous antipasto. Cheese lovers shouldn’t miss the cream of ricotta and Battipaglia cheese with Calabrian caviar.
Taverna Rovita ( 0973 87 65 88; Via Rovita 13; meals €35; Wed-Mon mid-Mar—Dec) This tavern is just off Maratea Inferiore’s main piazza. Rovita is excellent value and specialises in hearty local fare, with Lucanian specialities involving stuffed peppers, game birds, local salami and fine seafood.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
SITA ( 0971 50 68 11; www.sitabus.it, in Italian) operates a comprehensive network of routes including up the coast to Sapri in Campania (€1.60, 50 minutes, six daily). Local buses (€1) connect the coastal towns and Maratea train station with Maratea Inferiore, running frequently in summer. Intercity and regional trains on the Rome—Reggio line stop at Maratea train station, below the town.
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PARCO NAZIONALE DEL POLLINO
Italy’s largest national park, the Pollino National Park (www.parcopollino.it), straddles Basilicata and Calabria, (see the beginning of the Calabria section, Click here) for the park area that falls under that region). It acts like a rocky curtain separating the region from the rest of Italy and has the richest repository of flora and fauna in the south, covering 1960 sq km.
The park’s most spectacular areas are the central Monte Pollino (2248m), and the Monti di Orsomarso (1987m), in the southwest (in Calabria). These sheer mountains, often snowbound, are blanketed by forests of oak, alder, maple, beech, pine and fir which filter the harsh southern sun and protect the delicately budding peonies and orchids that set the land ablaze after the snow melts. The park is most famous, however, for its ancient pino loricato trees, which are only found here and in the Balkans. The oldest specimens reach 40m in height and their scaly, grey trunks look like sculptures against the huge bald rocks.
Walkers in the park can enjoy varied landscapes, from deep river canyons to alpine meadows, and the park still protects a rare stock of roe deer, wild cats, wolves, birds of prey including the golden eagle and Egyptian vulture, and the endangered otter, Lutra lutra.
The SS653 cuts across the park and is the best route if you want to explore unique Albanian villages such as San Paolo Albanese and San Costantino Albanese. These isolated and unspoilt communities fiercely maintain their mountain culture and the Greek liturgy is retained in the main churches. They’re a great place to buy rare local handicrafts – wooden crafts in Terranova di Pollino, alabaster in Latronico and wrought iron in Sant’Arcangelo.
Orientation & Information
The park’s main centre is Rotonda (elevation 626m), which is accessible from the A3 and SS19 and is home to the official park office, Ente Parco Nazionale del Pollino ( 0973 66 93 11; Via delle Frecce Tricolori 6; 8am-2pm Mon-Fri, 3-5.30pm Mon & Wed). For an English-speaking guide, contact Giuseppe Cosenza at Asklepios (see below), who arranges trekking trips (from personalised programmes to family treks), mountain biking and rafting (one hour/four hours €15/50). Pollino Info Point (www.ferulaviaggi.it) is run by Ferula Viaggi based in Matera, and provides information, including nature and culture, on the area. Ferula Viaggo also runs trips, mountain-bike excursions and treks into the Pollino.
The Carta Excursionistica del Pollino Lucano (scale 1:50000), produced by the Basilicata tourist board, is a useful driving map. You should be able to find a copy at the tourist offices in Rotonda, Matera or Maratea. The large-scale Parco Nazionale del Pollino map available at the Rotonda park office, and from Ferula Viaggi shows all the main routes and includes some useful information on the park, its flora and fauna and the park communities. Both maps are free. You can also buy the Parco Nazionale del Pollino settore centro-settentrionale (central—north region) map (1:55.000; €6) online at www.ecommerce.escursionista.it.
Sleeping & Eating
Asklepios ( 0973 66 92 90/347 2631462; www.asklepios.it; Contrada Barone 9; s/d €25/50) This modern place with simple rooms has a rural setting a few kilometres outside Rotonda. It’s the place to stay for walkers as it’s run by Giuseppe Cosenza, one of the few English-speaking guides in the Pollino. Advance booking is advisable. Asklepios is linked to the similar agriturismi (farm-stay accommodation) Agrituristica Civarra ( 0973 669152) and Agriturismo il Calivino ( 0973 661688), both of which have great views. You can arrange trekking or rafting from all three places and they offer special activity packages. For more information see the Asklepios website.
Picchio Nero ( 0973 9 31 70; www.picchionero.com; Via Mulino 1; s/d incl breakfast €60/73; ) The chalet-style Picchio Nero in Terranova di Pollino, with its Austrian-style wooden balconies and recommended restaurant (meals €35), is the most popular hotel for hikers. It’s family-run, cosy and friendly, has a small garden and can help arrange excursions.
Luna Rossa ( 0973 9 32 54; Via Marconi 18; meals €35; Thu-Tue) In Terranova di Pollino, Luna Rossa is very highly regarded, with outstanding and creative local specialities cooked simply and with real flair, served in a rustic wood-panelled setting with breathtaking views.
Da Peppe ( 0973 66 12 51; Corso Garibaldi 13; meals €35; lunch Tue-Sun, dinner Tue & Thu-Sun) In Rotonda, this is a winner, with wonderful local meat and woodland products such as truffles and mushrooms, served in a cosy converted townhouse near the main piazza.
Getting There & Away
It’s difficult to navigate the park without your own vehicle. Bus services are limited and almost nonexistent outside high summer.
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CALABRIA
Tell a non-Calabrese Italian that you’re going to Calabria and you will probably elicit some surprise, inevitably followed by stories of the ’ndrangheta – the Calabrian Mafia – notorious for smuggling and kidnapping wealthy northerners and keeping them hidden in the mountains.
But Calabria contains startling natural beauty and spectacular towns that seem to grow out of the craggy mountaintops. It has three national parks: the Pollino in the north, the Sila in the centre and the Aspromonte in the south. It’s around 90% hills, but skirted by some of Italy’s finest coast, 780km of it (ignore the bits devoured by unappealing holiday camps). Bergamot grows here, and it’s the only place in the world where the plants are of sufficient quality to produce the essential oil used in many perfumes and to flavour Earl Grey tea. As in Puglia, there are hundreds of music and food festivals here year-round, reaching a fever pitch in July and August.
Admittedly, you sometimes feel as if you have stepped into a 1970s postcard, as its towns, destroyed by repeated earthquakes, are often surrounded by brutal breeze-block suburbs. The region has suffered from the unhealthy miscegenation between European and government subsidies (aimed to develop the south) and dark Mafia opportunism. Half-finished houses often mask well-furnished flats where families live happily, untroubled by invasive house taxes.
This is where to head for an adventure into the unknown.
History
Traces of Neanderthal, Palaeolithic and Neolithic life have been found in Calabria, but the region only became internationally important with the arrival of the Greeks in the 8th century BC. They founded a colony at what is now Reggio di Calabria. Remnants of this colonisation, which spread along the Ionian coast with Sibari and Crotone as the star settlements, are still visible. However, the fun didn’t last for the Greeks, and in 202 BC the cities of Magna Graecia all came under Roman control. Destroying the countryside’s handsome forests, the Romans did irreparable geological damage. Navigable rivers became fearsome fiumare (torrents) dwindling to wide, dry, drought-stricken riverbeds in high summer.
Calabria’s fortified hilltop communities weathered successive invasions by the Normans, Swabians, Aragonese and Bourbons, and remained largely undeveloped. Earthquakes were another hazard; the biggest, in 1783, killed 50,000 people.
Although the 18th-century Napoleonic incursion and the arrival of Garibaldi and Italian unification inspired hope for change, Calabria remained a disappointed, feudal region and, like the rest of the south, was racked by malaria.
A by-product of this tragic history was the growth of banditry and organised crime. Calabria’s Mafia, known as the ’ndrangheta (from the Greek for heroism/virtue), inspires fear in the local community, but tourists are rarely the target of its aggression. For many, the only answer has been to get out and, for at least a century, Calabria has seen its young people emigrate in search of work.
Getting There & Around
Lamezia Terme airport (Sant’Eufemia Lamezia, SUF; 0968 41 43 33; www.sacal.it), 63km south of Cosenza and 36km west of Catanzaro, at the junction of the A3 and SS280 motorways, links the region with major Italian cities and is also a destination for charters from northern Europe.
Reggio di Calabria airport (Ravagnese; 0965 64 05 17) is located around 5km south of town, and mainly handles national flights.
Public transport is not always fast or easy. For remoter places you’ll need a car.
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PARCO NAZIONALE DEL POLLINO
You enter Calabria through the natural fortress of Italy’s largest national park, which straddles the border with Basilicata. On Calabria’s side are the peak of Monti di Orsomarso and the spectacular canyon of the Gole del Raganello. For more information see the official website www.guidapollino.it, and for info on the Basilicata part of the park, Click here.
You can order detailed maps online from www.ecommerce.escursionista.it, including Orsomarso-Pollino 1:50.000 (€6.20) and Parco Nazionale del Pollino 1:55.000 (€6).
One of the most beautiful experiences in the Calabrian Pollino is to go white-water rafting down the spectacular Lao river. You can arrange rafting, as well as canoeing, canyoning, trekking and mountain biking at Centro Lao Action Raft ( 0985 2 14 76; www.laoraft.com; Via Lauro 10/12) in Scalea and Aventure Lao ( 0985 8 33 54; www.raftinglao.com; Calle de Miralonga) near Papasidero.
Civita, like many of the villages in the Pollino, was founded by Albanian refugees (in 1746), and its tiny Museo Etnico Arbëreshe ( 0981 7 31 50; Piazza Municipio 9; 5-8pm) is stuffed with interesting photos and artisanal work, while the houses in the village are characterised by decorated chimneys. Other towns worth visiting are Castrovillari, with its well-preserved 15th-century Aragonese castle and Morano Calabro – look up the beautiful MC Escher woodcut of this town. Naturalists should also check out wildlife museum Centro Il Nibbio ( 0981 3 07 45; Vico II Annunziata 11; admission €3; 10am-1pm & 3-6pm Tue-Sun) in Morano, which explains the Pollino ecosystem.
In Castrovillari, Locanda di Alia ( 0981 4 63 70; www.alia.it; Via Letticelle 55; s/d €90/120; ) offers bungalow-style accommodation in a lush green garden. Inside, rooms feature wall murals, quirky light fittings and leather sofas. It’s famous for its restaurant (meals €60-70; Mon-Sat Jun-Apr), where you can sample delectable local recipes featuring peppers, pork, figs, anise and honey.
Agriturismo Colloreto ( 347 3236914; www.colloreto.it; Fratelli Coscia; s/d €28/56), near Morano Calabro, is in a remote rural setting, gorgeous amid rolling hills. Rooms are comfortable, old-fashioned country-style with polished wood and flagstone floors. Activities include riding, walking, fishing and rafting.
Public transport in this part of the park is scarce, so a car is a must.
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NORTHERN TYRRHENIAN COAST
The good, the bad and the ugly line the region’s western seashore.
The Autostrada del Sole (A3) is one of Italy’s great coastal drives. It twists and turns through mountains, past huge swathes of dark-green forest and flashes of cerulean-blue sea. But the Italian penchant for cheap summer resorts has taken its toll here, and certain stretches are blighted by shoddy hotels and soulless stacks of flats.
In the low season, most places close. In summer many hotels are full, but you should have an easier time with the camping sites.
For information about the southern section of this coast, Click here.
Praia a Mare
pop 6400
Praia a Mare lies just short of Basilicata, the start of a stretch of wide, pebbly beach that continues south for about 30km to Cirella and Diamante. This flat, leafy grid of a town sits on a wide pale-grey beach, looking out to an intriguing rocky chunk off the coast: the Isola di Dino.
Just off the seafront is the tourist office ( 0985 7 25 85; Via Amerigo Vespucci 6; 8am-1pm) with information on the Isola di Dino, famed for its sea caves. To visit the caves expect to pay around €5 for a guided tour from the old boys who operate off the beach. Alternatively, ask at the tourist office.
Autolinee Preite ( 0984 41 30 01) operates buses to Cosenza (€5.10, two hours, seven daily). SITA ( 0971 50 68 11; www.sitabus.it, in Italian) goes north to Maratea and Potenza. Regular trains also pass through for Paola and Reggio di Calabria.
Diamante
pop 5400
This fashionable seaside town, with its long promenade, is central to Calabria’s famous peperoncino – the conversation-stalling spice that so characterises its cuisine. In early September a hugely popular chilli-eating competition takes place. Diamante is also famed for the bright murals that contemporary local and foreign artists have painted on the facades of the old buildings. For the best seafood restaurants head for the seafront at Spiaggia Piccola.
Autolinee Preite ( 0984 41 30 01) buses between Cosenza and Praia a Mare (seven daily) stop at Diamante.
Aieta & Tortora
Precariously perched, otherworldly Aieta and Tortora must have been difficult to reach pre-asphalt. Rocco ( 0985 76 53 12) buses serve both villages, 6km and 12km from Praia respectively. Aieta is higher than Tortora and the journey constitutes much of the reward. When you arrive, walk up to the 16th-century Palazzo Spinello at the end of the road and take a look into the ravine behind it – it’s a stunning view.
Paola
pop 17,100
Paola is worth a stop to see its holy shrine. The large pilgrimage complex is above a sprawling small town where the dress of choice is a tracksuit and the main activity is hanging about on street corners. The 80km of coast south from here to Pizzo is mostly overdeveloped and ugly. Paola is the main train hub for Cosenza, about 25km inland.
Watched over by a crumbling castle, the Santuario di San Francesco di Paola ( 0982 58 25 18; admission free; 6am-1pm & 2-6pm) is a curious, empty cave with tremendous significance to the devout. The saint lived and died in Paola in the 15th century and the sanctuary that he and his followers carved out of the bare rock has attracted pilgrims for centuries. The cloister is surrounded by naive wall paintings depicting the saint’s truly incredible miracles. The original church contains an ornate reliquary of the saint. Also within the complex is a modern basilica, built to mark the second millennium. Black-clad monks hurry about.
There are several hotels near the station but you’ll be better off staying in towns further north along the coast.
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COSENZA
pop 70,700 / elev 238m
Cosenza has an amazing surprise clasped to its chest. Struggle through its urban outskirts and tangle of flyovers to find the medieval core, a higgledy-piggledy pile of buildings rising above the confluence of the Crati and Busento rivers. Explore its narrow alleys and steep stairways and you’ll find a fascinating town, pretty but not prettified, with an evocative medieval quarter and a surprising lack of camera-touting tourists.
Cosenza is home to Calabria’s most important university, and its theatre hosts an excellent opera season. It’s also the gateway to La Sila’s mountains and is a major transport hub. There’s a riverside Friday-morning market.
Orientation & Information
The main drag, Corso Mazzini, runs south from Piazza Fera (near the bus station) and intersects Viale Trieste before meeting Piazza dei Bruzi. Head further south and cross the Busento river to reach the old town. Try the official website, www.aptcosenza.it, for information.
Sights
There’s not much to see here, but the medieval centre is very atmospheric. Head up the winding, charmingly dilapidated Corso Telesio which has a raw Neapolitan feel to it and is lined with ancient hung-with-washing tenements, antiquated shopfronts and a worrying number of funeral parlours. At the top, the 12th-century cathedral (Piazza del Duomo; hrs vary) has been rebuilt in restrained baroque style in the 18th century. In a chapel off the north aisle is a copy of an exquisite 13th-century Byzantine Madonna.
From the cathedral, you can walk up Via del Seggio through a little medieval quarter before turning right to reach the 13th-century Convento di San Francesco d’Assisi. Otherwise head along the corso to Piazza XV Marzo, an appealing square fronted by the Palazzo del Governo and the handsome neoclassical Teatro Rendano.
South of the piazza stretches the lovely Villa Vecchia park with lofty mature trees providing welcome shade.
From Piazza XV Marzo, follow Via Paradiso, then Via Antonio Siniscalchi for the route to the down-at-heel Norman castle (Piazza Frederico II; admission free; 8am-8pm), left in disarray by several earthquakes. It’s empty inside, but the view merits the steep ascent.
Sleeping
Cosenza isn’t geared for tourism, but has a couple of good budget options.
Ostello Re Alarico ( 0984 79 25 70; Vico II Giuseppe Marini Serra 10; dm €16, s/d €30/50) A fabulous youth hostel in a beautiful old house, decorated with a lovely mix of antiques and new paintings. Some rooms have brilliant views over the old city. There’s a fantastic lounge with an open fire and a self-catering kitchen.
Confluenze B&B ( 0984 7 64 88; Vico IV Santa Lucia 48; s €25-35, d with/without bathroom €70/50) Tucked away in the shabby backstreets behind Piazza dei Valdesi, this small, popular B&B has cosy, plain, wood-ceilinged rooms in an old building, as well as a lounge and kitchen. Only one room is en suite.
Hotel Excelsior ( /fax 0984 7 43 83; Piazza Matteotti 14; s/d €50/70; ) The old polished lobby of this once-grand station hotel retains the dimensions of its more illustrious past. Rooms are large, practical and good value.
Eating
Gran Caffè Renzelli ( 0984 2 68 14; Corso Telesio 46) This venerable cafe behind the duomo has been run by the same family since 1801 when the founder arrived from Naples and began baking gooey cakes and desserts (cakes start at around €1.20). Sink your teeth into torroncino torrefacto – a confection of sugar, spices and hazelnuts – in elegant 19th-century surroundings.
Odisseas Ghirol ( 348 4016821; Corso Telesio 78; meals €12) There’s not much elbow room at this pint-sized Greek restaurant with just a few scrubbed pine tables. But this is the place to come if you yearn for something different from traditional Calabrian cuisine, with authentic Greek dishes on the menu like moussaka and souvlaki.
Ristorante Calabria Bella ( 0984 79 35 31; Piazza del Duomo; meals €25; noon-3pm & 7pm-midnight) This is one of the best choices in the old town, located beside the cathedral. Join the local businessmen and ladies-who-lunch tucking into Calabrian cuisine, such as grigliata mista di carne (mixed grilled meats), in a series of wood-beamed rooms.
Per… Bacco!! ( 0984 79 55 69; Piazza dei Valdesi; meals €25) This smart yet informal restaurant has windows onto the square. Inside are exposed stone walls, vines and heavy beams. The reassuringly brief menu includes a generous antipasto (€8) and various baccalà (cod) dishes.
L’Arco Vecchio ( 0984 7 25 64; Piazza Archi di Ciaccio 21; meals €25; Wed-Mon) This family concern is deep in the old town in a 16th-century house. It has attractive low-ceilinged rooms, white tablecloths, pretty paintings and a glossy baby grand, and serves tasty, traditional dishes like lagane e ceci (pasta with chickpeas, garlic and oil).
Getting There & Around
The main bus station is northeast of Piazza Fera. Services leave for Catanzaro (€4.60, 1¾ hours, eight daily), Paola (€2.70, 40 minutes, 10 daily) and towns throughout La Sila. Autolinee Preite ( 0984 41 30 01) has buses heading daily along the north Tyrrhenian coast, and Autolinee Romano ( 0962 2 17 09) serves Crotone, as well as Rome and Milan.
Cosenza is off the A3 autostrada. The SS107 connects the city with Crotone and the Ionian coast, across La Sila.
Stazione Nuova ( 0984 2 70 59) is about 2km northeast of the centre. Regular trains go to Reggio di Calabria (1st/2nd class €17.40/11.60, three hours) and Rome (€50/37, 5½ hours), both usually with a change at Paola, and Naples (€36/25, 3½ to four hours), as well as most destinations around the Calabrian coast.
Don’t miss the spectacularly scenic Ferrovie della Calabria (www.ferroviedellacalabria.it) line, which has its terminal beside the old train station. Its little trains run through La Sila and serve small towns around Cosenza (note trains only run between 7am and 7pm).
Amaco ( 0984 30 80 11) bus 27 links the centre and Stazione Nuova, the main train station.
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LA SILA
La Sila is a big landscape, where wooded hills create endless rolling views. It’s dotted with small villages and cut through with looping roads that make driving on them a test of your digestion.
It’s divided into three areas covering 130 sq km: the Sila Grande, with the highest mountains; the strongly Albanian Sila Greca (to the north); and the Sila Piccola (near Catanzaro), with vast forested hills.
The highest peaks, covered with tall Corsican pines, reach 2000m – high enough for thick snow in winter. This makes it a popular skiing destination. In summer the climate is coolly alpine with carpets of spring wildflowers and mushroom-hunting in autumn. At its peak is the Bosco di Gallopani (Forest of Gallopani), part of the Parco Nazionale della Calabria. There are several beautiful lakes, the largest of which is Lago di Cecita o Mucone near Camigliatello Silano. There is also plenty of wildlife here, including the light-grey Apennine wolf, a protected species.
Good-quality information in English is scarce. You can try the Calabrian National Park office ( 0984 57 97 57) or the tourist office ( 0984 57 80 91) in Camigliatello. A useful internet resource is www.portalesila.it. The people who run B&B Calabria (opposite) are extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
For maps, try www.ecommerce.escursionista.it, where you can buy maps of Sila Grande 1:50,000 (€6.50) and Sila Piccola (€9.50). Carte Stradali Turistiche La Sila 1:100,000 is available at local petrol stations, or online at www.globalmap.it (€7).
You can take fantastic trekking trips with Valli Cupe ( 333 6988835/86436 01; www.vallicupe.it) – on foot or via donkey or jeep – in the area around Sersale (in the southeast), where there are myriad waterfalls and the dramatic Canyon Valli Cupe. Trips cost only €7 per person per day. Specialising in botany, the guides (who speak Italian and French) also visit remote monasteries and churches. Stay in their rustic accommodation in the town (see below).
During August, Sila in Festa takes place, featuring traditional music. Autumn is mushroom season, when you’ll be able to frequent fungi festivals and pile into porcini pasta.
Sila Towns
Sila’s main town, San Giovanni in Fiore (1049m) is named after the founder of its beautiful medieval abbey. The town has an attractive old centre, once you’ve battled through the suffocating suburbs, and is famous for its Armenian-style handloomed carpets and tapestry. You can visit the studio and shop of Domenico Caruso ( 0984 99 27 24; www.scuolatappeti.it), but ring ahead.
A popular ski-resort town, with 6km of slopes, Camigliatello Silano (1272m) looks much better under snow. A few lifts operate on Monte Curcio, about 3km to the south. Around 5.5km of slopes and a 1500m lift can be found near Lorica (1370m), on gloriously pretty Lago Arvo – the best place to camp in summer.
Scigliano (620m), in Sila Piccola, is a small hilltop town and has a superb B&B, and from Sersale (739m) further south, you can go trekking with Valli Cupe (see above) and see the Campanero, Aquila and Inferno waterfalls.
Sleeping
It’s wonderful to stay around the pretty lakes, but the small towns also make good bases, including Camigliatello in the winter.
Camping Lorica ( 0984 53 70 18; camping 2 people, tent & car €25) Lorica’s lakeside is a particularly great place to camp. Try this place – high up and wonderful.
Valli Cupe ( 333 6988835; Sersale; www.vallicupe.it; per person €15) Valli Cupe can arrange a stay in a charming rustic cottage in Sersale, complete with an open fireplace (good for roasting chestnuts) and kitchen. All bookings via website.
B&B Calabria ( 349 8781894; Scigliano; www.bedandbreakfastcalabria.it; s/d €35/50) Break through the invisible curtain of Calabrese reserve by staying at this unique B&B run by delightful couple, Raffaele and Esther. They’ll give you tips on good shops, great eating places, pack you picnics, lend you their mountain bikes and regale you with hilarious stories of life in a real Italian village. Rooms have character and clean modern lines and there’s a wonderful terrace overlooking endless forested vistas.
Hotel Aquila & Edelweiss ( 0984 57 80 44; www.hotelaquilaedelweiss.com; Viale Stazione 15. Camigliatello; s €60-80, d €80-100; ) This three-star hotel is in Camigliatello. Although the exterior is stark and anonymous, the public areas are wood-panelled, the rooms are cosy and comfortable and the location is tops.
Park Hotel 108 ( 0521 64 81 08; www.hotelpark108.it; Via Nazionale 86, Lorica; r €90-130) Situated on the hilly banks of Lago Arvo, surrounded by dark-green pines, the rooms here are decorated in classic bland hotel style. They are spacious and comfortable, however, and who cares about decor with views like this.
Shopping
La Sila’s forests yield wondrous wild mushrooms, both edible and poisonous. Sniff around the Antica Salumeria Campanaro (Piazza Misasi 5) in Camigliatello Silano; it’s a temple to all things fungoid, as well as an emporium of fine meats, cheeses, pickles and wines, rivalled in richness, if not in size, by its neighbour, La Casa del Fungho.
Getting There & Away
You can reach Camigliatello Silano and San Giovanni in Fiore via regular Ferrovie della Calabria buses along the SS107, which links Cosenza and Crotone, or by the train running between Cosenza and San Giovanni in Fiore.
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IONIAN COAST
With its flat coastline and wide sandy beaches, the Ionian coast has some fascinating stops from Sibari to Santa Severina. However, the coast has borne the brunt of some ugly development and is mainly a long, uninterrupted string of resorts, thronged in the summer months and shut down from October to May.
Sibari
About 4km south of the modern, fast-developing town of Sibari are the remnants of the seat of the ancient Sybarites, those luxury-loving Greeks renowned for their wealth and love of pampering. Sybaris was destroyed by a jealous Crotone in the 6th century BC. You can visit the ruins (admission free; 9am-1hr before sunset), though 90% remain buried. The small Museo Archeologico della Sibaritide (admission €2; 9am-7.30pm, closed 1st & 3rd Mon of month) is 7km away (signposted off the autostrada).
The coastline from Sibari to the unappealing urban centre of Crotone is the region’s least developed, partly because the beaches are not terribly good.
Santa Severina
pop 2300
Around 26km northwest of Crotone, Santa Severina is a spectacular mountaintop town, dominated by a Norman castle, and home to a beautiful Byzantine church.
Stay at charming, rural Agriturismo Querceto ( 0962 5 14 67; www.agriturismoilquerceto.kr.it; s/d €35/50; ), an organic farm around 4km from the centre, which produces olive oil and jams and has double rooms or mini-apartments with kitchens.
Autolinee Romano ( 0962 2 17 09) runs buses to/from Crotone.
Le Castella
Le Castella is south of a rare protected area (Capo Rizzuto) along this coast, rich not only in nature but also in Greek history. For further information on the park try www.riserva marinacaporizzuto.it.
The town is named for its impressive 16th-century Aragonese castle (admission €3, 9am-1pm), a vast edifice linked to the mainland by a short causeway. The philosopher Pliny said that Hannibal constructed the first tower. Evidence shows it was begun in the 4th century BC, designed to protect Crotone in the wars against Pyrrhus.
With around 15 camp sites near Isola di Capo Rizzuto to the north, this is the Ionian coast’s prime camping area. Try La Fattoria ( 0962 79 11 65; Via del Faro; sites for 2 people €8-12, car €4, tent €8; Jun-Sep), 1.5km from the sea, with bungalows also available.
At L’Aragonese ( 0962 79 50 13; Via Discesa Marina; meals €25) you can eat a good meal overlooking the castle; or try Da Annibale ( 0962 79 50 04; Via Duomo 35; meals €30), a splendid fish restaurant, for fresh, delicious seafood. It doubles as a B&B with pleasant rooms (single/double €50/70).
Gerace
pop 2900
A spectacular medieval hill town, Gerace is worth a detour for the views alone – on one side the Ionian Sea, on the other dark, interior mountains. About 10km inland from Locri on the SS111, it has Calabria’s largest Romanesque cathedral. Dating from 1045, later alterations have robbed it of none of its majesty.
For a taste of traditional Calabrian cooking, modest, welcoming Ristorante a Squella ( 0964 35 60 86; Viale della Resistenza 8; meals €20) makes for a great lunchtime stop serving reliably good dishes, specialising in seafood and pizzas. Afterwards you can wander down the road and admire the views.
Further inland is Canolo, a small village seemingly untouched by the 20th century. Buses connect Gerace with Locri and also Canolo with Siderno, both of which link to the main coastal railway line.
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CATANZARO
pop 95,100 / elev 320m
Catanzaro can be a lively town if you don’t catch it during the mid-afternoon snooze. Located 12km inland from the Ionian coast, it replaced Reggio as the regional capital in the 1970s. Little remains of its Byzantine and medieval past, thanks to earthquakes and WWII bombs. Although rundown, the centre’s not unattractive. It’s also the birthplace of artist Mimmo Rotella, who became famous in the 1950s for his film-poster collages.
Villa Trieste ( 7am-9pm summer, to 6pm winter) is an attractive park and contains the city’s Museo Provinciale ( 0961 72 00 19; Villa Margherita; admission free; 10am-1.30pm & 3.30-5.30pm Tue-Fri, 10am-1.30pm Sat, 9am-12.30pm Sun), with various works by Calabrian artists, including Mimmo Rotella, as well as an archaeological section.
Caffè Imperiale ( 0961 74 32 31; Corso Mazzini 159; 7.30am-2am) A classic belle-époque cafe on Catanzaro’s main thoroughfare that is popular with powdered ladies here for their morning cappuccino.
Hidden down a narrow sidestreet, Da Salvatore ( 0961 72 43 18; Via Salita del Rosario 28; pizzas from €3, meals €11) is an unpretentious restaurant serving excellent local dishes and pizza. Try the salsiccia alla Palanca (sausages with greens), named in honour of a local football hero.
Getting There & Away
Ferrovie della Calabria ( 0961 89 62 10; www.ferroviedellacalabria.it) buses terminate beside the Ferrovie della Calabria train station. They serve the Ionian coast, La Sila and Cosenza (€4.60, 1¾ hours, eight daily) and Vibo Valentia (€3.80, two hours, four daily), among other provincial towns. They also run to Catanzaro Lido, where you can pick up a train for Reggio or head northeast along the Ionian coast.
From the Catanzaro city station, trains connect with Lamezia Terme, Reggio and Cosenza, as well as Naples, Rome, Milan and Turin.
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ASPROMONTE
Most Italians think of the Parco Nazionale dell’Aspromonte (www.aspromonte.it, in Italian) as a hiding place used by Calabrian kidnappers in the 1970s and ’80s. It’s still rumoured to contain ’ndrangheta strongholds, but as a tourist you’re unlikely to encounter any murky business. The park is startlingly dramatic, rising sharply inland from Reggio. Its highest peak, Montalto (1955m), is dominated by a huge bronze statue of Christ and offers sweeping views across to Sicily.
Subject to frequent mudslides and carved up by torrential rivers, the mountains captivated artist Edward Lear in the 19th century and are still awesomely beautiful. Underwater rivers keep the peaks covered in coniferous forests and ablaze with flowers in spring.
Extremes of weather and geography have resulted in some extraordinary villages, such as Pentidàttilo and Roghudi, clinging limpetlike to the craggy, rearing rocks and now all but deserted. It’s wonderful walking country and the park has several colour-coded trails.
Try www.ecommerce.escursionista.it for detailed maps, such as Carta Escursionista della Calabria – Aspromonte 1:50,000 (€9.75).
Gambarie, Aspromonte’s main town, is the easiest approach the park. The roads are good and many activities are organised from here – you can ski and it’s also the place to hire a 4WD; ask around in the town.
It’s also possible to approach from the south, but the roads aren’t as good. The co-operative Naturaliter (www.naturaliterweb.it), based in Condofuri, is an excellent source of information, and can help arrange walking and donkey treks and place you in B&Bs throughout the region. Otherwise stay at Azienda Agrituristica Il Bergamotto ( 0965 72 72 13; Condofuri Marina; s/d with half-board €35/70) where Ugo Sergi can also arrange excursions. The rooms are simple and the food delicious.
Reggio-based Misafumera ( 0965 67 70 21; www.misafumera.it, in Italian; Via Nazionale 306d) runs weeklong trekking excursions (€480; April to November) or a four-day trek in the snowy season (€260; December to April).
To reach Gambarie, take ATAM city bus 127 from Reggio di Calabria (€2, 1½ hours, three daily). Most of the roads inland from Reggio eventually hit the SS183 road that runs north to the town.
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REGGIO DI CALABRIA
pop 183,000
Reggio is the main launching point for ferries to Sicily, which sparkles temptingly across the Strait of Messina. It is also home to the spectacular Bronzi di Riace and has a long, impressive seafront promenade – packed during the evening passeggiata. Otherwise, the city’s grid system of dusty streets has the slightly dissolute feel shared by most ports.
Beyond the seafront, the centre gives way to urban sprawl. Ravaged by earthquakes, the most recent in 1908, this once-proud ancient Greek city has plenty of other woes. As a port and the largest town close to the ’ndrangheta strongholds of Aspromonte, organised crime is a major problem, with the associated corrosive social effect.
On a lighter note, there are plenty of festivals in Reggio – early August sees the Festival dello Stretto (www.festivaldellostretto.it), featuring the traditional music of the south.
Orientation
Stazione Centrale, the main train station, is at the town’s southern edge. Walk northeast along Corso Garibaldi, for the tourist office, shopping and other services. The corso has long been a de-facto pedestrian zone during the ritual passeggiata.
Information
- Hospital ( 0965 39 71 11; Via Melacrino)
- Police station ( 0965 41 11 11; Corso Garibaldi 442)
- Post office (Via Miraglia 14)
- Tourist office (Via Roma 3 0965 2 25 30; 7.30am-1.30pm Mon-Fri); airport ( 0965 64 32 91); Stazione Centrale ( 0965 2 71 20)
Sights
A Magna Graecia munificence fills the excellent Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia ( 0965 81 22 55; Piazza de Nava 26; adult/child €6/3; 9am-7.30pm Tue-Sun). The museum’s pride, displayed in an earthquake-proof basement, are the world’s finest examples of ancient Greek sculpture: the Bronzi di Riace, two exquisite bronze statues discovered on the seabed near Riace in 1972. Larger than life, they depict the Greek obsession with the body beautiful, inscrutable, determined and fierce, their perfect form more godlike than human. No-one knows who they are – whether man or god – and even their provenance is a mystery. They date from around 450 BC, and it’s believed they’re the work of two artists.
Aside from the bronzes, there are other magnificent ancient exhibits. Look for the 5th-century-BC bronze Philosopher’s Head, the oldest known Greek portrait in existence.
Sleeping
Finding a room should be easy, even in summer, since most visitors pass straight through en route to Sicily.
Hotel Lido ( 0965 2 50 01; www.hotellido.rc.it; Via Tre Settembre 6; s/d €80/100; ) A pleasant hotel with modern rooms washed in pastel colours with colourful artwork, Sky TV and the possibility of activities, including nearby windsurfing.
Hotel Lungomare ( 0965 2 04 86; www.hotellungomare.rc.it; Viale Genoese Zerbi 13; s/d €80/110; ) The ornate wedding-cake exterior is a welcome reprise from Reggio’s faceless modern blocks. Rooms are plain and nothing special, but the staff are friendly and courteous. Ask for a room with a sea view.
Eating
For Reggio’s best ice cream, you’ll have to decide between Antica Gelateria Malavenda ( 0965 89 14 49; cnr Via Romeo & Via Amendola; 6am-midnight Sun-Fri, to 1am Sat), and Cèsare (Piazza Indipendenza; 8am-1am), a popular green kiosk at the end of the lungomare (seafront).
Le Rose al Bicchiere ( 0965 2 29 56; Via Demetrio Tripepi 118; meals €30; lunch Mon-Fri, dinner Mon-Sat Oct-Jun) A wine bar with some delicious fresh local and organic produce on offer to accompany wines so inviting you’ll have to pour yourself onto the ferry. The local cheeses and desserts are particularly good.
Baylik ( 0965 4 86 24; Vico Leone 3; meals €30; lunch daily, dinner Fri-Wed) Worth the slight trek, Baylik is friendly, and the calamari is so fresh your knife glides through it like butter; the spaghetti with clams is another winner.
Getting There & Away
AIR
Reggio’s airport (Aeroporto Civile Minniti, REG; 0965 64 05 17) is at Ravagnese, about 5km south. Alitalia and/or Air One fly to and from Rome, Milan and Bergamo. Air Malta flies to Barcelona, Rome and Malta.
BOAT
Boats for Messina (Sicily) leave from the port (just north of Stazione Lido), where there are three adjacent ferry terminals. In high season there are up to 20 hydrofoils daily; in low season there are as few as two. Some boats continue to the Aeolian Islands.
Services are run by various companies including Meridiano ( 0965 81 04 14; www.meridianolines.it). Prices for cars are €12 one way and for foot passengers €1.50 to €2.80. The crossing takes 25 minutes and departs every 20 minutes.
BUS
Most buses terminate at Piazza Garibaldi, in front of the Stazione Centrale. Several different companies operate to towns in Calabria and beyond. ATAM ( 800 43 33 10; www.atam-rc.it) serves the Aspromonte Massif, with bus 127 to Gambarie (€2.30, 1½ hours, five daily). Costaviola ( 0965 75 15 86; www.costaviolabus.it) serves Scilla (€2.30, 45 minutes, six daily). Lirosi ( 0966 5 79 01) serves Rome (€54, eight hours, three daily).
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
The A3 ends at Reggio. If you are continuing south, the SS106 hugs the coast round the ‘toe’, then heads north along the Ionian Sea. Reggio has a weirdly complex parking system – buy a parking permit (€0.50 per hour) from newspaper kiosks or from a parking representative, if you can find one.
TRAIN
Trains stop at Stazione Centrale ( 0965 89 20 21) and less frequently at Stazione Lido, near the museum. Reggio is the terminus for frequent trains to Milan (1st/2nd class €76/70, 16½ to 17½ hours), Rome (€76/54, 6½ to eight hours) and Naples (€61/42, 4½ to 5½ hours). There are also services for Turin, Florence and Venice but for a wider choice change at Paola (€30/22, two hours, five daily). Regional services run along the coast to Scilla and Tropea (more convenient than the bus), and also to Catanzaro and less frequently to Cosenza and Bari.
Getting Around
Orange local buses run by ATAM ( 800 43 33 10; www.atam-rc.it) cover most of the city. For the port, take bus 13 or 125 from Piazza Garibaldi outside Stazione Centrale. The Porto—Aeroporto bus (125) runs from the port via Piazza Garibaldi to the airport and vice versa (25 minutes, hourly). Buy your ticket at ATAM offices, tobacconists or newsstands.
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SOUTHERN TYRRHENIAN COAST
North of Reggio, along the coast-hugging Autostrada del Sole (A3), the scenery rocks and rolls to become increasingly beautiful and dramatic, if you ignore the shoddy holiday camps and unattractive developments that sometimes scar the land. Like the northern part of the coast (Click here) it’s mostly closed in winter and packed in summer.
Scilla
pop 5134
In Scilla, cream, ochre and earth-coloured houses cling on for dear life to the jagged promontory, ascending in jumbled ranks to the hill’s summit which is crowned by a castle and, just below, the dazzling white confection of the Chiesa Arcipretale Maria Immacolata. Lively in summer and serene in low season, the town is split in two by the tiny port. The fishing district of Scilla Chianalea, to the north, harbours small hotels and restaurants off narrow lanes, lapped by the sea.
Scilla’s highpoint is a rock at the northern end, said to be the lair of Scylla, the mythical six-headed sea monster who drowned sailors as they tried to navigate the Strait of Messina. Swimming and fishing off the town’s glorious white sandy beach is somewhat safer today. Head for Lido Paradiso from where you can squint up at the castle while sunbathing on the sand.
Albergo le Sirene ( 0965 75 40 19; Via Nazionale 55; s €30-40, d €50-70; ) Has original tiled floors, pleasant large rooms and wistful sirene trompe l’œils throughout. There’s the added perk of a large seafront communal terrace.
Le Piccole Grotte ( 338 209 67 27; Via Grotte 10; d €90-120) At the other end of Scilla, in the picturesque Chianalea district. It’s housed in a 19th-century fishermen’s house beside steps leading to the crystal-clear sea. Rooms have small balconies facing the cobbled alleyway or the sea.
Good seafront restaurants include Bleu de Toi ( 0965 79 05 85; Via Grotte 40; meals €40; Thu-Tue), in the Chianalea district, with a terrace over the water and excellent seafood like gratinated mussels and whitebait fritters. You can sink a beer at the Dali City Pub ( 0965 79 01 96; Via Porto), on the beach in Scilla town, which has a Beatles tribute corner (appropriately named The Cavern) and has been going since 1972.
Capo Vaticano
There are spectacular views from this rocky cape, with its beaches, ravines and limestone sea cliffs. Birdwatchers’ spirits should soar. Around 7km south of Tropea, Capo Vaticano has a lighthouse, built in 1885, which is close to a short footpath from where you can see as far as the Aeolian Islands. Capo Vaticano beach is one of the balmiest along this coast.
Tropea
pop 6900
Tropea, a puzzle of lanes and piazzas, is famed for its captivating prettiness, dramatic position and sunsets the colour of amethyst. It sits on the Promontorio di Tropea, which stretches from Nicotera in the south to Pizzo in the north. The coast alternates between dramatic cliffs and icing-sugar-soft sandy beaches, all edged by translucent sea. Unsurprisingly, hundreds of Italian holidaymakers descend here in summer. If you hear English being spoken it is probably from Americans visiting relatives: enormous numbers left the region for America in the early 20th century.
The town overlooks Santa Maria dell’Isola, a medieval church with a Renaissance makeover, which sits on its own island, although centuries of silt have joined it to the mainland.
Despite the mooted theory that Hercules founded the town, it seems this area has been settled as far back as Neolithic times. Tropea has been occupied by the Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Anjous and Aragonese, as well as attacked by Turkish pirates. Perhaps they were after the famous local sweet red onions.
The tourist office ( 0963 6 14 75; Piazza Ercole; 9am-1pm & 4-8pm) is in the old town centre.
The beautiful Norman cathedral ( 6-11.50am & 4-7pm) has two undetonated WWII bombs near the door: it’s believed they didn’t explode due to the protection of the town’s patron saint, Our Lady of Romania.
During summer there are lots of discos and special events. Many hotels close in winter.
SLEEPING & EATING
Donnaciccina ( 0963 621 80; Via Pelliccia 9; s €30-60, d €55-110; ) Set in the family home, Umberto and Rosella have opened this delightful B&B which has retained a tangible sense of history with its carefully selected antiques, canopy beds and exposed stone walls. Flat-screen TVs, in-room fridges and internet access are welcome modern touches.
Residence il Barone ( 0963 60 71 81; Largo Barone; www.bedebreakfast-residenza-il-barone.it; s €56-126, d €80-200; ) A graceful palazzo, it has six suites decorated in masculine neutrals and tobacco-browns, with dramatic modern paintings by the owner’s brother adding pizazz to the walls. The suites are superbly appointed, and you can breakfast on the small roof terrace with views over the old city and out to sea.
Al Pinturicchio ( 0963 60 34 52; Via Dardona, cnr Largo Duomo; €meals 16; closed Tue) Has candlelit tables tucked in a corner in the old town. The romance doesn’t stop here, the food is similarly endearing with superb and imaginative dishes. Vegetarian (or not), don’t miss the delicious vegetable antipasti.
Also recommended is the fish restaurant Osteria del Pescatore ( 0963 60 30 18; Via del Monte 7; meals €30; 7.30pm-late), tucked away in the backstreets.
Trains run to Vibo Valentia (24 minutes), Pizzo (30 minutes), Scilla (one hour 20 minutes) and Reggio (two hours). SAV ( 0963 611 29) buses connect with other towns on the coast.
Vibo Valentia
pop 33,700
About 8km south of Pizzo, up high and slightly inland, is Vibo Valentia, a one-time Greek, then Roman, settlement, good for a brief roam if you’re stuck waiting for public transport. Above the town is its castle, which was built by the Normans and later reinforced by both Frederick II and the Angevins. It offers sweeping panoramas and an excellent small museum ( 0963 4 33 50; adult/child €2/1; 9am-7.30pm Tue-Sun), housing well-displayed artefacts from Hipponion – the original Greek settlement – including 6th-century-BC bronze helmets.
La Locanda Daffinà ( 0963 47 26 69; www.lalocandadaffina.it; Corso Umberto I 160; s/d/ste €75/100/150), near the cathedral, is a 19th-century palace with stately antique-furnished rooms. The restaurant (open Monday to Saturday, meals €50), in the graceful loggia, is the place to go if you deserve a long lunch.
A coastal railway runs around the promontory from Rosarno and Nicotera to Vibo Valentia Marina and Pizzo. SAV ( 0963 6 11 29) buses also connect most resorts with Tropea and Pizzo.
Pizzo
pop 8900
Stacked high up on a sea cliff, pretty little Pizzo is the place to go for tartufo, a death-by-chocolate ice-cream ball, and to see an extraordinary rock-carved grotto church. It’s a popular tourist stop. Piazza della Repubblica is the epicentre, set high above the sea with great views. Settle here at one of the many gelateria terraces for an ice-cream fix.
A kilometre north, the Chiesa di Piedigrotta (admission €2; 9am-1pm & 3-7.30pm) is an underground cave full of carved stone statues. It was carved into the tufa rock by Neapolitan shipwreck survivors in the 17th century. Other sculptors added to it and it was eventually turned into a church. Later statues include the less-godly figures of Fidel Castro and JFK. It’s a bizarre, one-of-a-kind mixture of mysticism, mystery and kitsch.
In town, the 16th-century Chiesa Matrice di San Giorgio (Via Marconi), with its dressed-up Madonnas, houses the tomb of Joachim Murat, brother of Napoleon and one-time king of Naples. Although he was the architect of enlightened reforms, the locals showed no great concern when Murat was imprisoned and executed here. At the neat little 15th-century Castello Murat ( 0963 53 25 23; admission €2; 9am-1pm & 3pm-midnight Jun-Sep, 9am-1pm & 3-7pm Oct-May), south of Piazza della Repubblica, you can see Murat’s cell. His last days and death by firing squad are graphically illustrated by waxworks.
Armonia B&B ( 0963 53 33 37; www.casaarmonia.com; Via Armonia 9; s without bathroom €35-60, d without bathroom €50-80) is a great choice. Run by charismatic Franco in his 18th-century family home, the atmosphere is homey and welcoming. Eat at equally welcoming Pizzeria Ruota ( 0963 53 24 27; Piazza della Republica 36; pizzas from €4; 11am-3.30pm & 7.30pm-midnight Thu-Tue), which has splendid, big pizzas; try the namesake Ruota with pomodori (tomatoes), mozzarella, olives, tuna and peppers (€6).