Program
1st day: Arrival in Calabria. Transfer to the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.
2nd day: Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer to Le Castella with a visit to the famous and evocative Aragonese Castle, perched on an islet connected to the coast by a thin strip of land. The visit continues to the ancient Doric temple of Hera Lacinia and Isola Capo Rizzuto, the marine reserve. Lunch during the excursion. In the afternoon transfer to Santa Severina, a small town rich in history and art on the slopes of Sila Piccola. Visit to the beautiful 16th-century castle. and the Cathedral (13th century) which still retains the ancient and original portal. In the evening return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.
3rd day: Breakfast in the hotel. Visit to the historic center of Tropea and the Sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Isola located on a rock overlooking the sea. Not far away is Capo Vaticano, a modern tourist center, offering a natural setting of incomparable beauty. Lunch during the excursion. We continue towards Pizzo Calabro characterized by the Aragonese castle built in 1486 by Ferdinand of Aragon where Gioacchino Murat was locked up. Visit to the small church of Piedigrotta entirely dug into the tuff. Possibility to taste the typical ice cream (truffle). I’m going back to the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.
4th day: Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Gerace, visit to the village where the potters’ workshops are located, created inside natural cavities in the rock and the Byzantine-Norman style Cathedral of the Assumption. Lunch in a typical restaurant. In the afternoon transfer to Stilo, a town rich in art and history; it preserves precious treasures of Byzantine art, such as the Catholic church dating back to the 10th century. I’m going back to the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.
5th day: Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for Sila and an entire day dedicated to visiting the great forest of Italy, a state heritage site since Roman times. It is best known for its famous National Park with its nature museum, botanical garden, and geological garden. Lunch in a restaurant during the excursion. In the evening return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.
6th day: Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer and guided tour of Reggio Calabria with its splendid seafront defined as “the most beautiful kilometer in Italy” by G. D’Annunzio and the famous Riace Bronzes, kept in the recently renovated National Museum of Magna Grecia. We continue to Scilla, a well-known seaside resort, whose thousand-year-old castle belonging to the Ruffo family of Calabria, juts out over the sea. The Chianalea neighborhood is beautiful, an ancient fishing village developed entirely on the sea, with small houses piled up on the rocks and lapped by seawater that reaches right under the door, small alleys, and narrow stairways. Lunch in a restaurant during the excursion. Free dinner. In the evening return to the hotel, an overnight stay.
7th day: Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for Pentedattilo, from the Greek name “penta dactyls”, meaning “five fingers” is remembered by the shape of the mountain rock, Mount Calvario, which dominates and protects this ancient village. Its history dates back to several centuries before Christ, to the times of the Greek colonists, and falls within the Grecanica area a few kilometers from Reggio Calabria. After Pentedattilo, a short visit to the Ruffo Castle of Amendolea. Lunch based on typical local products in Bova, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy; an ancient village forming part of the Greek area of Aspromonte, a colony of Magna Graecia besieged by Saracens, Arabs, and Normans of which the Castle remains. Ancient episcopal seat, it followed the Greek rite which was then replaced by the Roman rite; numerous churches remain with stone portals and streets written in Greek and Italian. Return to the hotel in the evening. Free dinner.
8th day: Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer to the airport for the conclusion of the cultural tour of Calabria and the end of our services.
