Calabria Tours – 10 Days | Small group tours

Join us for the in-depth Discovery of Calabria Tours. This is the Goinitaly small group tour to the undiscovered region of Calabria, the toe of Italy’s boot.

This Southern Italian region is famous for its spicy and robust cuisine. Emphasizing powerful ingredients like garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and red-hot chili peppers.

It was the cradle of Magna Graecia and land of ancient settlements. It is full of splendid churches, monasteries, castles, palaces and towns where age-old traditions still survive.

We will discover places that were once part of the Grand Tour, from the 16th to 19th centuries. Artists, painters, musicians, writers, and aristocrats traveled by foot, horse, and carriage to explore Calabria.

Calabria has an incredibly long coastline of beaches and rocky cliffs. With access to the clear water of the Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian, and Ionian Seas. However, as magnificent as the Calabrian coast may be, the interior of the region is equally beautiful and wild. There are mountains and hills rolling down right up to the sea. In just a few kilometers, the traveler can move from a hot and sunny seaside landscape to mountain scenery with beautiful forests and pastures.

For more details: https://www.italia.it/en/calabria

Check out for more offers:

https://www.goinitaly.com/product/amalfi-coast-tours/

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What's included

MINI-COACH TRANSPORTATION

EXPERIENCED GOINITALY DRIVER / TOUR LEADER

9 NIGHTS ACCOMODATION IN 3 AND 4-STAR HOTEL

9 BREAKFASTS, 5 LUNCHES, 2 DINNERS

ENTRANCE FEES TO INCLUDED SITES

WINE TASTING

Gallery

DAY 1 : REGGIO CALABRIA - FARM - PENTEDATTILO - SIDERNO

Benvenuti in Calabria! Welcome to Calabria!

We meet at our hotel in Reggio Calabria, briefing about the itinerary, then we load our bags and board our minibus, to start this amazing journey.

On the way out from Reggio Calabria, we stop at a family farm where they specialize in the production of Bergamot: a fragrant citrus fruit almost as big as an orange but similar in color to a lime. Its essential oil is extracted from the rind and used in perfume, scented soaps, and herbal tea.

Drive to the ghost town of Pentedattilo, an abandoned ancient village perched on the cliffs of Mount Calvary, from where you can see Mount Etna and Sicily. Time to explore the village before having lunch at the home of Rossella, the only inhabitant of Pentedattilo.

After lunch, we drive on the coastline of Calabria and reach Siderno where we will spend two nights.

Included Meals: Lunch with Wine.

DAY 2 : GERACE - MAMMOLA - SIDERNO

After breakfast, we have a short drive to reach the incredibly well-preserved medieval town of Gerace, also known as the Town of 100 Churches! In Gerace we will admire 360° hilltop views of the surrounding countryside, explore its narrow streets, visit the main Norman Cathedral in the town square, discover smaller churches with detailed marble decorations, and walk in the shade of beautiful palaces.

Lunch at a trattoria before a short drive to Mammola where we visit the amazing open-air art museum of MUSABA, created by a local artist and his Dutch wife. Here you can admire the Sistine Chapel of Calabria, which occupies a former 10th-century Church of Santa Barbara.

Drive back to Siderno for the night.

Included Meals: Breakfast, and Lunch.

DAY 3 : STILO - BADOLATO - TROPEA

Today we have a full program. We leave Siderno after breakfast and in less than an hour we reach Stilo to visit the 9th-century Byzantine chapel, Cattolica of Stilo. Located at the foot of Mount Consolino overlooking the countryside, the chapel has the remains of ancient frescoes of the Madonna, Christ, and St. Nicholas.

We then drive along the coastal road on our way to the picturesque medieval village of Badolato. There we will explore its narrow alleyways, architecture, and meet locals in the square, before enjoying a lunch paired with wine at a nearby vineyard.

Afterward, we drive through the scenic Serre Mountains, reaching an altitude over 1100 meters (3600 feet) above sea level, and we arrive to the sea resort town of Tropea where we will spend the next three nights.

Included Meals: Breakfast, and Lunch with Wine.

DAY 4 : TROPEA - FREE DAY

Today is a free day for optional activities.

You can chill out on the beach, visit the Sanctuary of Saint Mary dell’ Isola, shop for souvenirs, or choose from a number of optional acitivities:

Aeolian Islands Boat Tour
Wine tasting
Cooking class
Visit an ancient olive mill in a nearby village
Visit a modern olive mill in Mafrica
Visit the village of Zungri and its stone houses

Your tour leader will provide details and can assist you with booking your optional activities.

Included Meal: Breakfast

DAY 5 : PIZZO - LE CASTELLA - CROTONE

After breakfast, we say arrivederci to Tropea and continue our exploration of Calabria.

Short drive to the enchanting seaside town of Pizzo. According to legend, Pizzo was built on the ruins of the ancient town of Napitia founded by Phoenicians who had escaped the destruction of Troy and settled here. Pizzo is famous in the area for its Tartufo, a large ball of ice cream filled with molten chocolate. We can choose one of the cafes in the square to try this local delicacy.

We then drive for 90 minutes to reach the touristy coastal town of Le Castella. We visit a 15th-century Aragonese castle built on an island linked to the coast only by a small sandy strip of land.

In the late afternoon we arrive in Crotone, one of the most important centers of Magna Graecia. We check into our hotel where we will stay for the next three nights.

Included Meals: Breakfast

DAY 6 : CAPO COLONNA - WINE TASTING

In the morning we have a short drive to Capo Colonna. We visit the Archaeological Museum and the sacred ruins of the Sanctuary dedicated to the goddesses Hera and Persephone.

Lunch at a vineyard to enjoy a local meal paired with wines.

Free afternoon and evening to furthur explore the old town of Crotone. The old town features a maze of narrow streets, massive noble palaces, the cathedral, as well as the central Pythagoras square, the contact point between the “old” and “new” town.

Included Meals: Breakfast, and Lunch with Wine.

DAY 7 : SANTA SEVERINA - CROTONE

After breakfast, we drive for less than an hour to reach the village of Santa Severina, one of the most beautiful ancient villages of Italy.

We start with a guided visit to the impressive 11th-century Carafa Castle. We then visit the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art, the Cathedral and its Byzantine Baptistery.

Lunch at an osteria before having free time in the village and then we drive back to Crotone.

Included Meals: Breakfast, and Lunch with Wine.

DAY 8: GIANTS OF SILA - COSENZA

After breakfast, we leave Crotone to reach the hamlet of Croce di Magara. This ancient woodland features more than 60 Calabrian pine trees and sycamore trees planted in the 17th century by the Mollo family. The highlight of this area are the “Giants of Sila”: 350-year-old trees that are 45 meters (148 feet) in height with trunks 2 meters (over 6 feet) wide.

Scenic short drive to reach the city of Cosenza and check in to our hotel.

Afterward, we have an included walking tour through the historical center of Cosenza: explore the tiny alleyways, admire beautiful palaces, old shops, street art, the fountain of the Tredici Canali, and visit the 12th-century Cathedral of Cosenza.

Light lunch in the old town, and then off for a cooking class to give you a real taste of Calabrian food. We then feast on the fruits of our labor in an included dinner.

Included Meals: Breakfast, and Dinner with Wine.

DAY 9: ROSSANO CALABRO - COSENZA

After breakfast we drive to the town of Rossano to visit the Cathedral and the fascinating Diocesan Museum, one of the first in Italy, it showcases pieces from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, Mannerism and Baroque Art, plus collections from the 18th and 19th centuries. But the most precious work of art preserved in the Museum is the Codex Purpureus Rossanensis: a 6th-century illuminated manuscript containing the Gospel of Matthew, almost all the Gospel of Mark, and part of a letter from Eusebio to Carpiano about the concordance of the Gospels. It’s one of the oldest surviving illuminated manuscripts of the New Testament.

We then visit an 11th-century Cathedral that displays an ancient image of the Madonna Acheropita, Madonna and Child, supposedly not painted by human hand and dated sometime between the 6th and 8th century.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

Drive back to Cosenza, and farewell dinner at a restaurant where we will enjoy a delicious final meal and raise one last toast to our Calabria adventure.

Included Meals: Breakfast, and Dinner.

DAY 10: END OF TOUR

Enjoy breakfast at your leisure.

Tour ends after breakfast. Your tour leader can assist you with additional tours, post-tour accommodation.

Transfers to the Lamezia Terme Airport (1 hour) can be arranged.

Included Meals: Breakfast.