An Expressions tailor-made holiday to Calabria offers a traditional, magical glimpse of Italy that few visitors get to see. Historically one of Italy's poorest regions, Calabria - the toe of Italy - is a startlingly dramatic place, peppered with stunning hilltop towns that seem to grow right out of the rugged, craggy mountaintops. Formerly the site of rich and powerful Greek settlements, Calabria today is scattered with impressive ruins, and even shelters the odd Greek-speaking village and Albanian communities dating back over 500 years. But historically fascinating as the regions is, its great ancient cities such as Magna Graecia have all but disappeared, vanquished by centuries of fighting and conquest, malaria and earthquakes. Today, it is the region's nearly 500-mile coastline that attracts most visitors, with wonderful, wide beaches and secluded coves lapped by the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas. Inland, Calabria offers superb scenery for walkers and explorers, particularly around La Sila, a breathtakingly dramatic, high-level plain with lakes, snow-capped summits and ancient woodland. Here you'll be able to admire the giganti della Sila, trees which are over 500 years old, six feet across and 130 feet tall, or ride the unforgettably panoramic narrow-gauge railway between Cosenza and San Giovanni in Fiore. A remote land, Calabria is full of unexpected beauty, and wherever you stay here, a drive down the south coast to Capo Colonna is a must. Here, formerly the site of a temple to Hera known throughout the ancient land, a single column sitting at the very edge of the Ionian Sea stands as a devastatingly haunting, wildly romantic metaphor for the entire region.
Frequently Asked Questions
Calabria's obscurity is, in a genuine sense, the reason to go. Historically one of Italy's poorest regions, it was never developed for tourism in the way Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast or even Puglia have been, and its hilltop towns, coastline and ancient sites remain largely as they always were, unpolished and unexploited rather than curated for visitors. For clients who have already explored the more familiar regions of Italy thoroughly and want somewhere that still feels genuinely undiscovered, Calabria offers that rarest of things in Western Europe: a region with a serious depth of history and scenery that has simply not yet been found by significant numbers of foreign visitors. It asks more of the traveller in return, since infrastructure and choice of hotel are both far more limited than elsewhere in Italy, but for the right clients that is precisely the appeal, and we are honest about what to expect before recommending it.
La Sila is a high, wild plateau in the Calabrian interior, an unexpected landscape of lakes, snow-capped summits and ancient woodland that feels closer to the Alps than to the Mediterranean coastline a short drive away. Its ancient pines, known locally as the giganti della Sila, are said to be over 500 years old, some six feet across and 130 feet tall, and stand in the Bosco di Fallistro near the village of Camigliatello, the best base for exploring the plateau on foot. For a different perspective on the same landscape, the narrow-gauge railway between Cosenza and San Giovanni in Fiore is a genuinely scenic journey in its own right, winding through forest and mountain scenery that most visitors to Italy never see. For clients who want walking and dramatic natural scenery alongside their days on the coast, La Sila is Calabria's most distinctive inland landscape.
Calabria formed part of Magna Graecia, the network of Greek settlements that once covered much of southern Italy, and although centuries of conquest, malaria and earthquakes have left little standing above ground, the region's Greek past is still very much present. A handful of villages still preserve a Greek-speaking tradition passed down over centuries, and the museum at Reggio Calabria holds an outstanding collection of Greek and Roman sculpture and artefacts, most famously the Riace Bronzes, among the finest surviving examples of classical Greek statuary anywhere in the world. Perhaps the most haunting reminder of all is Capo Colonna, on the Ionian coast, where a single column is all that remains of a once-famous temple to Hera, standing alone at the edge of the sea. For clients with a genuine interest in the ancient world, Calabria offers a quieter, less-visited counterpart to Sicily's better-known Greek sites.
Calabria's coastline runs along two seas, the Tyrrhenian to the west and the Ionian to the east, and its scale means it remains far less crowded than the Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre, even in high summer. Tropea, perched on cliffs above the sea and known for its sweet red onions, is the most celebrated of the coastal towns, with a beach stretching some twenty miles north towards Capo Vaticano, while Scilla's beaches and the town's dramatic castle offer a quieter alternative nearby. Pizzo, with its intimate central piazza hemmed in by old houses, is worth a stop for its own sake, not least for the local speciality of black truffle ice cream, and Amantea offers a genuinely Italian evening passeggiata rather than a tourist promenade. For clients who want long, wide beaches and secluded coves without the crowds of Italy's more famous coastlines, Calabria's is a considered alternative.
Calabria genuinely suits some clients more than others, and we say so plainly. Public transport is limited outside the main towns, so a hire car, which we include with every Calabria holiday, is essential to reach the interior and the quieter coastal villages, and the choice of hotel is far smaller than in better-established Italian regions; Villa Paola, an elegant boutique hotel in Tropea, is among the few properties we can currently recommend with confidence. For clients drawn to genuine discovery rather than density of five-star choice, this is part of the appeal rather than a drawback. Calabria also combines naturally with a wider southern Italian itinerary: our Naples to the Toe of Italy and Sicily touring holiday links Sorrento, Maratea, Tropea and Taormina, allowing a few days in Calabria to sit alongside more established stops rather than requiring a holiday built around the region alone.
Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be
● Single centre or multi-centre● Long or short stays
● Combine a number of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements to Italy and within Italy, combining flights, hire-car, rail, ferries and private transfers
Our special interest holidays to Calabria
● Food and wine holidays● Art, history and heritage holidays
● Family holidays
Included in all our holidays
● Concierge service● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday
Call us on 01392 441245
Highlights of Calabria
Cosenza, the largest town in Calabria, with a magnificent 12th century Norman hilltop castle and cathedral, and a beautiful, cobbled Old Town centred round picturesque Piazza XV Marzo; the serene cloisters of San Domenic chapel in Cosenza, and the 13th century San Francesco d'Assisi church; Camigliatello, a classic alpine village, and best base for exploring La Sila, especially the 130ft high, 500-year old pines in Bosco di Fallistro; the village of Taverna, where the church of San Domenico houses seven paintings by Calabria's most famous artist, Mattia Preti; the dramatic, superbly scenic narrow-gauge railway between Cosenza and San Giovanni in Fiore; the hill town of Caccuri, built around a restored castle; the museum at Reggio Calabria, housing a superb collection of Greek and Roman sculptures and artefacts; the seaside resort of Tropea, famous for its delicious red onions, and a 20-mile beach stretches all the way from Pizzo up to Capo Vaticano; the beaches of Scilla; the passeggiatta at Amantea, a lovely seaside town with lively nightlife; Pizzo, whose intimate central piazza, hemmed in by ancient houses, is a superb spot to sit and enjoy the local delicacy of black truffle ice cream.
Calabria Travel Arrangements
By air
Calabria has two airports, one at Reggio Calabria(called Svincolo) and the other at Lamezia Terme. Alternatively, you can fly to Naples with daily flights with British Airways from London Gatwick, or charter airlines from UK regional airports. EasyJet also flies from Stansted to Naples. Ask us for a fare quote at the time of booking if you are interested in this route. You may collect and return the hire-car from and to different locations at no additional cost, ideal for a two-centre holiday.Car hire
We include a hire-car with all our holidays in Calabria. Unusually for Italy, Calabria's public transport links are not that extensive, and if you do want to reach its remote interior and explore its quiet coastal villages then a hire-car is essential. Drive inland from Paolo on the coast to the old Calabrian town of Cosenza through vineyards and orchards, forests of oak and chestnut and enjoy the panorama as far at the volcanic Aeolian island of Stromboli.Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be
● Single centre or multi-centre● Long or short stays
● Combine a number of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements to Italy and within Italy, combining flights, hire-car, rail, ferries and private transfers
Our special interest holidays to Calabria
● Food and wine holidays● Art, history and heritage holidays
● Family holidays
Included in all our holidays
● Concierge service● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday
Call us on 01392 441245
Here you will find a map of Calabria showing the locations of the hotels that we offer
Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be
● Single centre or multi-centre● Long or short stays
● Combine a number of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements to Italy and within Italy, combining flights, hire-car, rail, ferries and private transfers
Our special interest holidays to Calabria
● Food and wine holidays● Art, history and heritage holidays
● Family holidays
Included in all our holidays
● Concierge service● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday
