We had spent the night at the beautiful Capo Vaticano, from where we had great views along the coast, to Sicily and the Aeolian islands. We visited Tropea next, which lies splendidly on a cliff above the sea. The church dedicated to St. Mary of Romania was built in the Norman style on the foundations …
Our first impression of Reggio was not extremely wonderful, but the next morning we enjoyed the view of Mount Etna, took a stroll along the Lungomare, a beautiful promenade, and visited the very interesting Archeological Museum. A harsh wind was blowing through the Strait of Messina between the mainland and Sicily and we were fighting …
We had spent the night at one of the endless sand beaches of this region, just in front of the archaeological site of Scolacium. Our next stop was at Stilo, where a little church is an exceptional remnant of the time, when Calabria was part of the Byzantine Empire. The site tells the story of …
We had spent the night at the parking of Bosco Pantano, a protected area along the coast, where the WWF is looking over a natural forest and a beach, which is used by sea turtles to lay their eggs. After a walk to explore the area, we continued to Rossano to find the famous Codex. …
With Matera we had reached the region of Basilicata. The town lies above a canyon carved by a river. The part known as la città sotterranea (“the underground city”) is a complex of cave dwellings carved into the ancient river canyon. From the other side of the canyon we had a great view over the town. The cathedral …
After spending the night outside of Taranto, we found a parking near the old town and went for a walk. The historic centre lies on an island, separating the Mare Piccolo (more like a big lagoon) and the Mare Grande (the sea), a perfect location for a town with a secure harbour. Founded by Spartans …
We wanted to explore more of the rough and rocky coast around Gallipoli and went on a hike to one of the view beaches: Spiaggia di Porto Selvaggio. The karst along the sea is craggy and sharp-edged. Just one little bay offers a beach, which is surely well visited in summer. The Porto Selvaggio Regional …
Gallipoli was founded by Greek settlers and until today the Greek dialect Griko is spoken here. It is located on an island connected with a bridge to the mainland. Specialising in olive oil, it became the largest olive oil market in the Mediterranean. Olive oil mills can still be found in many old houses. We came past …
When we left Otranto, we stopped just outside of town to walk around the “Cava de Bauxite”, a lake where bauxite was once extracted and which is striking due to its intense colours. We continued along the coast, past the most eastern point of Italy to the most southern point of Apulia. With Santa Maria …
We stopped at different places along the coast to look at the coastline and went for a hike between Torre dell’ Orso and Torre Sant’Andrea, where fascinating rock formations can be found. Afterwards we drove south to Otranto. The small holiday villages were all deserted, so we continued our way to Otranto, where we managed …
