Calabria is the least-visited region in mainland Italy. Which means its borghi are the most authentic, the cheapest, and the emptiest.
Plan a trip here →Tropea: cliff above turquoise sea. Santa Maria dell'Isola on the rock. Famous red onions. Stay: €50–80/night.
Scylla from Homer's Odyssey — the monster lived here. Chianalea fishing quarter: houses built into the sea, fishermen mending nets, swordfish season (May–July). Pop: 5,000.
Largest Romanesque cathedral in Calabria, Norman castle ruins, Byzantine churches. On a cliff in the Aspromonte. Pop: 2,700.
An Arbëreshë (Albanian) village: residents still speak 15th-century Albanian, practice Byzantine rites, and celebrate Albanian festivals. Ponte del Diavolo over the Raganello gorge. Pop: 900.
5. Morano Calabro — conical hillside, Norman castle, entirely photogenic. 6. Altomonte — Angevin church with Simone Martini paintings (in Calabria!). 7. Pizzo — tartufo gelato (invented here: chocolate shell, hazelnut center), Murat Castle.
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