7 must see places in Calabria

If you are headed for Italy and you are to choose where to go and what to see, Calabira might not be your first choice – for a number of reasons: there is rarely a direct flight to reach it, it is very much on the south and sometimes perceived as very hot and then, there is the competition from Sicily, which might be the first choice of those Italy travellers headed for the south.

When you look at the suggestions from travellers on places to visit in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Italy you find quite a lot of information on Rome and Florence and Venice and very little about Calabria. Just have a look at our own categories on Italy Travel Notes and see how many we have on Rome and Florence and until now we have not had a single submission or traveller’s advice on Calabria.

Discovering Calabria ourselves, we decided to share our insights with you –because there are so many beautiful places to visit in Calabria, it is alluring and the water in the sea is crystal-clean, there are some amazing and unique spots to see and delicious sea food to taste.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> So here comes our suggestions on the must see places when you go to Calabria:  

1. Tropea

Probably the best known of the touristy spots in Calabria – Tropea has been long discovered by the German, the Austrian and the French tourists. The town of Tropea carries that typical Italian atmosphere – full of life and light and sounds in the summer and it is very cosy and not so cold in the winter either. And then there are the white sand beaches of Tropea – spreading for 35 kilometres from Pizzo up to Capo Vaticano. As for its culinary contribution to the world – Tropea is proud to offer the red onions of Tropea – very sweet and recognized by connoisseurs throughout the world. The moment you land at Lamezia Terme airport and you head south in the direction of Tropea you start noticing these off the motorway artesian stands selling different vegetables among them the red onions of Tropea – of course.  

2. Amantea

Amantea might not be so popular as Tropea, but it is another charming town on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria – a bit on the north from the Lamezia Terme airport. And what Amantea offers is the relaxed atmosphere of the Italian sea towns with wide-spreading beaches, a remarkable sea-front full with places to stop by and pick an ice-cream or listen to the street musicians or just walk along in the evenings. Amantea also offers a good shopping experience with boutiques lining up its main street open until late in the evening. 

3. Pizzo

Another marvel on the Calabrain coast which you drive through on your way to Tropea is Pizzo - deliciously known in Italy for its tartuffo – and that being not the very expensive mushrooms known as truffles (tartuffo – the same word is used in Italian for both), but the tartuffo as an ice-cream. Delicious like most Italian ice-creams, the black tartuffo, which originates from Pizzo, is very tasty and with a core of pure chocolate, which surprises you with more sweetness at the end of your ice-cream enjoyment.  

And then, there is the cosy piazza of Pizzo, where you are surrounded by the facades of houses which for centuries have been witnessing visitors who come to wonder and admire the beauty of Pizzo and to sit outside in one of the numerous cafés and taste their own tartuffo. Definitely worth a visit for all of your senses.

 

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